Ta-Te Ching Translation

Do you remember playing the game of ‘whispers’ when you were a child? It was the game where everybody would sit in a circle, and a whispered phrase would be passed from one person to the next. When the phrase reached the last person, they would announce it to the group. And in just about every game, the final phrase would be a warped and distorted version of the original!

This is a great example of how people can misinterpret and misunderstand a simple phrase, even when it’s communicated in the same language.

Now imagine the problems that a translation can create for someone trying to comprehend a tricky subject like truth realisation! Every language has its own subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, differences. And there is often a

And I’m always shocked at the variety of interpretations that can come from just a single passage, or even a line! Some will differ by an occasional word or phrase, but others are so different that it’s difficult to tell that they came from the same text!

The problem with translating words and ideas doesn’t end with the differences in language. If the translator doesn’t fully understand the subject, or fails to grasp the minute distinctions that a guru will often make, then the translation will be wrong.

And if you take into account the effect that different cultural backgrounds have on the way we comprehend concepts and ideas, then it’s easy to see why so many genuine seekers over the years have failed to uncover the truth!

In a similar way, many false beliefs have sprung up because of the difficulty of putting tricky ideas and concepts into words. Take the example of a guru or teacher who offers an analogy to help clarify a particular point for one of his students.

His student understands the analogy, and passes it on to others. But as the analogy gets passed from person to person its meaning slowly changes. And what was once an analogy now gets taken literally. And over time, this literal interpretation becomes the accepted ‘truth’ and gets passed on for generations to

With the advent of the Internet we now have a global version of the game of ‘whispers’ that allows misinterpretations, lies, and half-truths to spread like wild-fire!

In most cases, the false information is spread accidently, when a person hears something that is true and then repeats it incorrectly. Someone else will then read that snippet of false information and repeat it on any number of websites and forums. The false information then spreads through the net like a virus. And before long, people will believe that the false information is true, simply because it has been heard by so many different people, in so many different places!

Unfortunately, the internet circulates a lot of false information that only serves to ‘muddy’ mankind’s ‘spiritual’ knowledge bank. A knowledge bank that is already overflowing with false concepts, erroneous ideas, and increasingly nonsensical notions!

But even if you record a truth realised person’s words accurately there is still a potential problem waiting to trap the unsuspecting seeker. And that problem exists because any explanation is only a mental interpretation of the