Tao Te Ching, Passage 4

The translation I will use this time is from Lao Tsu: Tao Te Ching, a new translation by Gia Fu Feng and Jane English.

"The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled.
Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things!
Blunt the sharpness,
Untangle the knot,
Soften the glare,
Merge with dust,
Oh, hidden deep but ever present!
I do not know from when it comes.
It is the forefather of the emperors."

The tao is something that can never be used up nor filled; it is inexhaustable. It's the source of every single thing that has ever come into existence, is now in existence or will ever be in existence; it is the sum total of all that is, has been, and ever will be and is even more than that.

Used properly, the Tao can help deal with the harsher realities of life; it can "blunt the sharpness" of those things that would other injure us emotionally, mentally or spiritually in our everyday lives.

The Tao can help us "untangle the knot" of the various problems that we run into in our lives. It can "soften the glare" of what goes on around us, what we feel others think about us; it can "merge with dust" in that it is the greatest of all things and it is the simplest of all things, both at the same time.

The Tao is everyone around is; it is always present, yet no one knows where it come from. If came "before the emperors", in this translation; other translations have it as "a preface to God"; "it seems to have even preceded the Lord" and "it came even before God."

I don't like those last translations since they adhere to much to the concept of the Christian God. In the translation that I used, the Tao can be equated with God/Goddess/All that Is/Great Creator, etc. in that it has always been and gave rise to the "ten thousand things" including the emperors of China. If we translation it as coming before God, the Lord, etc, then it sets up the Tao as something that is totally distinct from whatever Deity/Deities (if any) actually exist. I guess it's a matter of personal preference, but this translation makes the most sense to me.

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Tao Te Ching, Passage 4

The translation I will use this time is from Lao Tsu: Tao Te Ching, a new translation by Gia Fu Feng and Jane English.

"The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled. Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things! Blunt the sharpness, Untangle the knot, Soften the glare, Merge with dust, Oh, hidden deep but ever present! I do not know from when it comes. It is the forefather of the emperors."

The tao is something that can never be used up nor filled; it is inexhaustable. It's the source of every single thing that has ever come into existence, is now in existence or will ever be in existence; it is the sum total of all that is, has been, and ever will be and is even more than that.

Used properly, the Tao can help deal with the harsher realities of life; it can "blunt the sharpness" of those things that would other injure us emotionally, mentally or spiritually in our everyday lives.

The Tao is everyone around is; it is always present, yet no one knows where it come from. If came "before the emperors", in this translation; other translations have it as "a preface to God"; "it seems to have even preceded the Lord" and "it came even before God."

"The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled.
Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things!
Blunt the sharpness,
Untangle the knot,
Soften the glare,
Merge with dust,
Oh, hidden deep but ever present!
I do not know from when it comes.
It is the forefather of the emperors."