Tao Te Ching...

verse for today (*):

20

When we renounce learning we have no troubles.
The (ready) 'yes,' and (flattering) 'yea;'
--Small is the difference they display.
But mark their issues, good and ill;
--What space the gulf between shall fill?

What all men fear is indeed to be feared;
but how wide and without end
is the range of questions (asking to be discussed)!

The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased;
as if enjoying a full banquet,
as if mounted on a tower in spring.
I alone seem listless and still,
my desires having as yet
given no indication of their presence.
I am like an infant which has not yet smiled.
I look dejected and forlorn,
as if I had no home to go to.
The multitude of men all have enough and to spare.
I alone seem to have lost everything.
My mind is that of a stupid man;
I am in a state of chaos.

Ordinary men look bright and intelligent,
while I alone seem to be benighted.
They look full of discrimination,
while I alone am dull and confused.
I seem to be carried about as on the sea,
drifting as if I had nowhere to rest.
All men have their spheres of action,
while I alone seem dull and incapable,
like a rude borderer.
(Thus) I alone am different from other men,
but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).

(translation by James Legge, 1891)
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Stop thinking, and end your problems.
What difference between yes and no?
What difference between success and failure?
Must you value what others value,
avoid what others avoid?
How ridiculous!

Other people are excited,
as though they were at a parade.
I alone don't care,
I alone am expressionless,
like an infant before it can smile.

Other people have what they need;
I alone possess nothing.
I alone drift about,
like someone without a home.
I am like an idiot, my mind is so empty.

Other people are bright;
I alone am dark.
Other people are sharper;
I alone am dull.
Other people have a purpose;
I alone don't know.
I drift like a wave on the ocean,
I blow as aimless as the wind.

I am different from ordinary people.
I drink from the Great Mother's breasts.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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Cease learning, no more worries
Respectful response and scornful response
How much is the difference?
Goodness and evil
How much do they differ?
What the people fear, I cannot be unafraid

So desolate! How limitless it is!
The people are excited
As if enjoying a great feast
As if climbing up to the terrace in spring
I alone am quiet and uninvolved
Like an infant not yet smiling
So weary, like having no place to return
The people all have surplus
While I alone seem lacking
I have the heart of a fool indeed - so ignorant!
Ordinary people are bright
I alone am muddled
Ordinary people are scrutinizing
I alone am obtuse
Such tranquility, like the ocean
Such high wind, as if without limits

The people all have goals
And I alone am stubborn and lowly
I alone am different from them
And value the nourishing mother

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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In the festival
Are untold wonders.
Each is false.
Each leads to suffering.
In the outskirts sits a Sage in shadows.
Internally the Sage lives in heaven.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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