Tao Te Ching, best version?

Discussion in 'Religion, Beliefs and Spirituality' started by Ganja Art, Jan 12, 2011.

  1. The tittle read itself.

    Much appreciated if you guys could recommend the best edition of this amazing piece.

    Peace:smoke:
     
  2. if you meant like site for it to be read?

    Tao Te Ching

    ive always liked this one cause its real simple
     
  3. Thanks dude :hello:
     
  4. yeah if you want it prettied up theres this

    TaoTeChing.org

    but like i said i like that one cause its more simple
     
  5. I'll second Stephen Mitchell's translation... it is a bit interpretive, but he has spent a lot of time studying Taosim and various Eastern traditions and has worked extensively as a translator. I find that he understands the ideas represented in Tao Te Ching and has conveyed them well.
     
  6. Lol, you just beat me to it! :p

    I second this guy's opinion. Stephen Mitchell does an excellent job translating the Tao te Ching. It's very easy to understand, and phrased so that you don't get lost in the language.
     
  7. The Tao of Pooh
     
  8. Shit man, like in... Kung Fu Panda? :eek:
     
  9. I liked the Tao Te Ching. I think I have Mitchells version but I'm not too sure. There's not a lot of info though. It pretty much just tells you to be chill, but in a very chill way. It's a very chill book. A very chill book indeed.
     

  10. this is by far the best version i have read in english for you to read
     
  11. #11 Ganja Art, Jan 13, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 13, 2011
    Thanks alot guys, this is defently some good shit. Not that i want to smoke the book, but you know what i mean:smoke:

    Before, i read the Tao Te Ching by this scholar dude, that tried translate it into this hip version, with slang and stuff. And then there was this fucked piece with alot of metaphores and other words in the back of the english dictionary. It's like reading different books..
    This is by far the best version indeed :hello:
     
  12. Try Tao Of Wisdom: The Tao Te Ching (available as iPad or iPhone): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/taoofwisdom-tao-te-ching-by/id493759939?mt=8

    An excerpt:
    25. There is Something
    There is something beneath everything
    There is something above all
    It is silent, depthless
    Its is by itself, alone.
    It is the mother of all things
    It does not have a name, but I call it the Tao
    Limitless, it strikes out in all directions
    Limitless, all roads lead back to it
    It is great as kingdoms are great
    As storms are great
    As love is great
    As great is great.

    Man follows the heavens
    The heaves follow the Tao
    The Tao follows what is natural
     
     
  13. I think Mitchell's version should only be read as a companion to a more accurate, scholarly translation. After all, Mitchell's is more of a paraphrasing than anything else. And I don't think he's spent much time studying Taoism at all. He's a student of Zen, which is similar, sure, but come one, the guy doesn't even know Chinese. I'd go with Victor Mair's translation, over anyone else.
     
  14. I hear time and time again how Mitchell's translation isn't 'scholarly.' Nonetheless, I have also tried a number of times to read other translations, and I find myself always coming back to Mitchell's...maybe I just haven't found the right alternate translation, I don't know, but from what I have seen he truly does convey the Tao best, even if his version was only done through sifting through other translations, or whatever his method was.
     
  15. ive found that unmentionables are the best way for the modern man to understand the intricacys of the tao.
     
  16. #16 smokerings, Aug 8, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 8, 2014
     
    Well I would think there are better ways to teach people than drugging them up.  It goes against the very essence of spirituality.  But still, I fully get where you're coming from.  I've had many trips of absolute fucking bliss where any sense of ego was completely suspended, laughing for hours out of pure joy and whatever problems I might have been worried about just the day before seemed completely ridiculous and again, funny as all hell.  I swear thinking at the time I awoke to some kind of higher existence, wiggly walls and all.  I said to my friend I hope I remember this tomorrow, but of course you never do.  I'm not sure if he got exactly what I meant.
     
    Edit: As for the best version, my favourite is still the first one I read by Ursula K. Le Guin.
     

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