Revision as of 13:58, 19 April 2009

part of the Sacred Chao Te Ching

Chapter 31

Original:

Weapons are tools of destruction hated by people.
Therefore followers of the Way never use them.
In peace leaders favor the creative left.
In war they favor the destructive right.

Weapons are tools of destruction,
not used by good leaders.
When their use cannot be avoided,
the best policy is calm restraint.

Even in victory there is no glory.
Those who celebrate victory delight in slaughter.
Those who delight in slaughter
will not be successful leaders.
The killing of many should be mourned with sorrow.
A victory should be celebrated with funeral ceremonies.

Stephen Mitchell Translation:

Weapons are the tools of violence;

all decent men detest them.

Weapons are the tools of fear;

a decent man will avoid them

except in the direst necessity

and, if compelled, will use them

only with the utmost restraint.

Peace is his highest value.

If the peace has been shattered,

how can he be content?

His enemies are not demons,

but human beings like himself.

He doesn't wish them personal harm.

Nor does he rejoice in victory.

How could he rejoice in victory

and delight in the slaughter of men?

He enters a battle gravely,

with sorrow and with great compassion,

as if he were attending a funeral.

Our Translation:

Gray is the color of destruction hated by people
therefore followers of the Way never use destructive disorder.
Instead the wise spag uses the creative trip left
or the destructive trip right

Destructive disorder is not used by good leaders.
When its use cannot be avoided
the best policy is to banish with laughter.

In wartime victory there are no lulz.
Those who celebrate war delight in destructive disorder.
Those who use destruction with no creative silver lining
will not be successful leaders.
The killing of laughter should be mourned with sorrow.

We stand hand in hand in aftermath.

(Honey)

Rigidity makes oppression simple;

free spirits resist.

Rules disguise suspicion;

only follow with care,

the brave man will break them

& proceed from his heart.

Rewarded with sovereignty,

being free his intent.

If freedom is in danger,

how can he rest?

Those who oppose him are not evil,

but trapped in a cage.

He speaks of a jail break &

rattles their chains,

rekindles a smoldering

to burn down the place.

He enters the idiot asylum

with care & consideration

as if crossing a battlefield.

Chapter 32

Original:

The Way is absolute and undefined.
Like natural uncarved wood in simplicity,
yet none in the world can overcome it.
If leaders would hold to it,
the whole world would serve them spontaneously.

Heaven and earth join, and gentle rain falls,
beyond the command of anyone, evenly upon all.
When civilization arose, names began.
With names, one should know when to stop.
Knowing when to stop, frees one from danger.
The Way in the world is like
rivers and streams flowing into the sea.

Our Translation:

Chaos cannot be labled,
Because it contains all lables.
Therefore, all definitions are incomplete.
It's Gödels, all the way down.

Order and Disorder unite,
And Illusion slips into Chaos.
When spags learn language, labels begin.
With labels, one should know when to stop.
Knowing when to stop, the wise spags see the Illusion;
And are free to create as they see fit.

Chapter 33

Original:

Those who know others are wise.
Those who know themselves are enlightened.
Those who overcome others require force.
Those who overcome themselves need strength.
Those who are content are wealthy.
Those who persevere have will power.
Those who do not lose their center endure.
Those who die but maintain their power live eternally.

Our Translation:

Those who question others are wise.
Those who questions themselves are enlightened.
Those who revolt against the masses seek attention.
Those who revolt against their own biases are brave.
Those who accept through faith are blind.
Those who reject the unproven are foolish.

Chapter 34

Original:

The great Way flows everywhere, both left and right.
All things derive their life from it,
and it does not turn away from them.
It accomplishes its work, but does not take possession.
It provides for and nourishes everything,
but does not control them.

Always without desires, it may be considered small.
The destination of all things, yet claiming nothing,
it may be considered great.
Because it never claims greatness,
its greatness is achieved.

Our Translation:

Chaos embraces the Illusions of Order and Disorder.
It contains all things,
Even that which is not there.
It does not judge, 
It has no subjectivity.

It has no meta,
For even thoughts outside Chaos
Are found within Chaos.
If all things that change are within it,
Then it does not change;
Because there is no Other.

Chapter 35

Original:

All men will come to him who keeps to the one,
For there lie rest and happiness and peace.

Passers by may stop for music and good food,
But a description of the Tao seems without substance or flavor.
It cannot be seen, it cannot be heard,
And yet it cannot be exhausted.

Our Translation:

Everyone digs the one who balances the chao
because within it live shits, giggles, and 3D movies

The Cabbage on the street may be starving
but the chao on the menu still doesn't taste like hamburger

(by Hoops)

Chapter 36

Original:

In order to contract, it is necessary first to expand.
In order to weaken, it is necessary first to strengthen.
In order to reduce, it is necessary first to build up.
In order to receive, it is necessary first to give.
This is called the mystic Light.
The soft and gentle overcome the hard and strong.
As fish stay in the deep water,
so sharp weapons of the state should not be displayed.

Stephen Mitchell Transaltion:

If you want to shrink something,

you must first allow it to expand.

If you want to get rid of something,

you must first allow it to flourish.

If you want to take something,

you must first allow it to be given.

This is called the subtle perception

of the way things are.

The soft overcomes the hard.

The slow overcomes the fast.

Let your workings remain a mystery.

Just show people the results.

Our Translation:

Translation TK

Movement is the mother of experience.

If you want something,

allow it to be given away.

The Chao is never lost

although easily found.

Pure space is without limits;

no room for right or wrong, yes or no.

Decisions float to the surface.

We love with the body,

but fuck with the mind.

Understanding is delusion,

not understanding indifference.

Chapter 37

Original:

The Way never interferes,
yet through it everything is done.
If leaders would follow the Way,
the world would be reformed of its own accord.
When reformed and desiring to act,
let them be restrained by what is simply natural.
Undefined simplicity is free of desires.
Being free of desires, it is serene;
and the world finds peace of its own accord.

Our Translation:

Chaos is not subjective,
And so creates no Illusions.
If people tried to act this way,
Authority could not lead through Fear.
When making observations and judgments,
Take care when creating your Illusions;
And recognize them as such.
Doing so will relieve you of many burdens.

Chapter 38

Original:

Superior power does not emphasize its power,
and thus is powerful.
Inferior power never forgets its power,
and thus is powerless.
Superior power never interferes nor has an ulterior motive.
Inferior power interferes and has an ulterior motive.
Superior humanity takes action but has no ulterior motive.
Superior morality takes action and has an ulterior motive.
Superior custom takes action, and finding no response,
stretches out arms to force it on them.

Therefore when the Way is lost, power arises.
When power is lost, humanity arises.
When humanity is lost, morality arises.
When morality is lost, custom arises.
Now custom is a superficial expression
of loyalty and faithfulness, and the beginning of disorder.

Foreknowledge is the flowering of the Way
and the beginning of folly.
Therefore the mature dwell in the depth, not in the thin,
in the fruit and not in the flowering.
They reject one and accept the other.

Our Translation:

Translation TK

Chapter 39

Original:

The ancients attained oneness.
Heaven attained oneness and became clear.
Earth attained oneness and became stable.
Spirits attained oneness and became divine.
The valleys attained oneness and became fertile.
Creatures attained oneness and lived and grew.
Kings and nobles attained oneness and became leaders.
What made them so is oneness.

Without clarity, heaven would crack.
Without stability, the earth would quake.
Without divinity, spirits would dissipate.
Without fertility, the valleys would be barren.
Without life and growth, creatures would die off.
Without leadership, kings and nobles would fall.

Therefore humility is the basis for nobility,
and the low is the basis for the high.
Thus kings and nobles call themselves
orphans, lonely, and unworthy.
Do they not depend upon the common people for support?
Dismantle the parts of a chariot, and there is no chariot.
Rather than tinkle like jade, rumble like rocks.

Stephen Mitchell Translation

In harmony with the Tao,

the sky is clear and spacious,

the earth is solid and full,

all creature flourish together,

content with the way they are,

endlessly repeating themselves,

endlessly renewed.

When man interferes with the Tao,

the sky becomes filthy,

the earth becomes depleted,

the equilibrium crumbles,

creatures become extinct.

The Master views the parts with compassion,

because he understands the whole.

His constant practice is humility.

He doesn't glitter like a jewel

but lets himself be shaped by the Tao,

as rugged and common as stone.

Our Translation:

Riding waves of Chaos,

sea is salty & warm.

All beings are permeable

to the pull of its flow,

undertow seduces,

ebbing, surging,

give receiving.

When man tries to order the Chaos

sky becomes dingy dirty

worlds are angry sterile

the looking glass shattered

& the sea washes away all the trace.

When your sense of wonder arouses

even more questions than it counters,

hearts become as like mirrors,

absorb, echo, reflecting

tsunamis inside

the surface remains tranquil.

Translation TK

Chapter 40

Original:

Returning is the movement of the Way.
Gentleness is the method of the Way.
All things in the world come from being,
and being comes from non-being.

Our Translation:

Incomprehensible Totality is the nature of Chaos.
The absence of Illusion is the state of Chaos.
All spags in the world create their own Illusions,
And then spend the rest of their lives bound by them.