Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching - A Modern Interpretation by Ron Hogan (52pp) PDF
Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching - A Modern Interpretation by Ron Hogan (52pp) PDF
In the spring of 1994, I was handed a master's degree "The Tao that can be named
in film studies and politely invited not to return to is not the eternal Tao.
graduate school in the fall. So I went to work at The name that can be named
Dutton's, a fantastic indie bookstore in Brentwood, less is not the eternal Name."
than a mile from the Simpson condo, but that's another
story. Doug, the owner, lets his employees borrow At the time, I was newly infatuated with the writing of
books from the inventory, on the principle that you can Quentin Tarantino and David Mamet, so my dream
sell books better if you know them better, and that's version of a TTC reflected the simplicity and grit of their
how I discovered the Tao Te Ching (or TTC, as I'll dialogue:
abbreviate it from now on).
"If you can talk about it, it ain't Tao.
Oh, I knew about the book beforehand. I knew it If it has a name, it's just another thing."
existed, anyway, and I knew it was a classic of Eastern
philosophy. But that's all I knew. Not that there's that Anyway, I grabbed a couple other translations and
much to know after that, about all anybody can really started looking at the different ways they expressed the
say about Lao Tzu is that according to legend, about same sentiments--or, as I quickly discovered, how much
six centuries before Christ, he got fed up with the royal poetic license Mitchell and other translators were willing
court's inability to take his advice and decided to leave. to take with the original text. I don't think this
Then, the story goes, he was stopped at the Great Wall necessarily matters all that much; many current English-
by a guard who begged him to write down some of his language versions are by people who don't know
teachings for posterity, and the result was this slim Chinese well, if at all, and I can't read or speak it myself.
volume. Once I actually started to read the thing, I was To that extent, then, we're *all* (unless we're fluent in
hooked. Here was a book that managed to say with Chinese, that is) at the mercy of, at best, a secondhand
clarity what I'd been struggling to figure out about understanding of what Lao Tzu said.
spirituality for several years.
Once I thought I had a rough idea what was behind the
The TTC I found at Dutton's was written by Stephen words, though, I went about rephrasing the chapters in
Mitchell, a version which remains popular nearly twenty my own voice. My guiding principle was to take out as
years after its original composition. Having read a much of the "poetry" as possible, to make the text
couple dozen translations since, it's still one of the most sound like dialogue, so the reader could imagine
accessible versions I've seen, but even then, I found his someone telling him or her what Tao's all about. You
style a bit too refined, too full of a certain "wisdom of can't take the "poetry" out completely, because the TTC
is always going to have those lines about Tao being an
"eternal mystery" and whatnot. Hinton is somewhat more poetic, but I think he does a
wonderful job of capturing what Lao Tzu may have
But the beauty of the book isn't in its language, at least actually sounded like to his contemporaries. And Ursula
not for me--it's in the practical advice Lao Tzu offers us K. LeGuin strikes a balance between the modern and
about how to live a productive, meaningful life on a day classical voices that gave me a new perspective on Tao;
to day basis. What I wanted to do was to make that her commentaries on several chapters are enlightening
advice as clear to a modern American reader as it would as well.
have been to the guard who first asked Lao Tzu to write
it down. I wish I could say that I wrote the remaining sixty-one
chapters in a hurried creative frenzy, but things took a
I worked through the first twenty chapters, then put the little longer than I thought. I got distracted by the
rough draft up on my website under a pseudonym I decision to move to New York City, and though I did get
used online back in those days. A bunch of fan mail some work done on the book, it was a little over a year
came in, so I kept plugging away at the text, then my later, when (and, yes, I know how cliched this sounds)
hard drive collapsed and all my files were completely the planes crashed into the World Trade Center and I
erased. I was freelancing pretty steadily then, and what realized I'd still been wasting too much of my life on
little free time I had I spent building my own website, so things that didn't pan out. Instead of talking about
the TTC went on hold. I got an occasional email asking getting serious about my life, it was time to actually do
about the other chapters, and I developed a stock it. (Living through the following two and a half years
answer. When it was time for me to finish the job, I has also made me appreciate chapters 30 and 31 a lot
told people, I would. more, for reasons that will become readily apparent.)
Years went by. I'd left LA for San Francisco, then So here you are--with my own name attached, as the
moved up to Seattle, chasing after big dotcom money. pseudonym has long since fallen away. From a scholar's
It was great for a while, but as Lao Tzu says, "If you point of view, this TTC is unfaithful to the original text
give things too much value, you're going to get ripped on more than one occasion, if not in every single line.
off." In the middle of the worst of the frustration, I Case in point: in chapter 20, Lao Tzu didn't exactly say,
rediscovered the Tao Te Ching, and realized I needed to "Don't spend too much time thinking about stupid shit."
finish what I started. For all the liberties I've taken with his words, however,
I've made every attempt to stay true to his message,
I dug out all my old copies of the TTC and went and I hope you'll find something useful in my efforts.
shopping for more versions, some of which were even
better than the ones I'd found the first time. Brian --Ron Hogan
Browne Walker's translation comes close to the modern (tao@beatrice.com)
oral quality I was striving for, though his voice is still January 2004
much more of an "Eastern sage" voice than mine. David
PART ONE
TAO (THE WAY)
1.
When things around them fall apart, Stop doing stuff all the time,
they stay cool. and watch what happens.
They don't own much,
but they use whatever's at hand.
They do the work
without expecting any favors.
When they're done,
they move on to the next job.
That's why their work is so damn good.
4. 5.
Be cool.
6. 7.
"Doing the right thing" is like water. If you drink too much, you get drunk.
It's good for all living things, and flows without thinking The engine won't start
about where it's going if you're always tinkering with it.
If you don't
compare yourself to others,
nobody can compare to you.
10. 11.
Can you relax your mind and body A pot is made out of clay or glass,
and brace yourself for a new life? but you keep things in the space inside.
What does
"confidence can mess you up
just as much as fear" mean?
When you have nothing to say, Keep your feet firmly planted
you may as well keep your mouth shut. unless you want to fall on your face.
The wind and the rain Learn how to pace yourself
don't go on forever. if you want to get anywhere.
If nature knows enough Don't call attention to yourself
to give it a rest sometimes, if you want people to notice your work.
so should you.
Nobody respects people
If you're ready for Tao, who always have excuses.
you can live with Tao. Nobody gives credit to people
If you're ready to succeed, who always take it.
you can live with success. People who hype themselves
If you're ready to fail, have nothing else to offer.
you can live with failure.
Think of being in touch with Tao
Trust your instincts, like eating at a buffet:
and others will trust you. Take only what you need.
Save some for everybody else.
25. 26.
Tao's great.
Heaven's great.
Earth's great.
And someone in touch with Tao
is great, too.
Those are the four greatest things
in the universe.
If our leaders
could get in touch with Tao,
the world would take care of itself.
Even if they wanted
to impose their own ideas,
they'd be drawn back to Tao's
nameless simplicity.
Be strong,
but pay no attention to hollow praise.
Don't call attention to yourself.
Don't make a scene.
40. 41.
Tao is hidden to us
and it has no name.
It is the source and the strength of all things.
42. 43.
"When the world is right with Tao," You don't have to leave your room
Lao Tzu said, to understand what's happening in the world.
"horses haul fertilizer to the fields.
When the world loses touch with Tao, You don't have to look out the window
horses are trained for cavalry." to appreciate the beauty of heaven.
Tao's power is so deeply entrenched A person filled with the power of Tao
it can never be uprooted. is like a baby boy:
Tao's power clings so tightly bees can't sting him,
it can never slip away. wild beasts can't attack him.
It will endure for generations.
A baby has soft bones
If you get in touch and weak muscles,
with the power of Tao, but a firm grip.
it will become real. He hasn't had sex,
If your family gets in touch but he can get an erection.
with the power of Tao, That's because he's got lots of energy.
the power will flourish. He can cry all day
and never lose his voice.
If your community gets in touch That's because he's at one with his world.
with the power of Tao,
the power will grow even stronger. If you're at one with the world,
If your country gets in touch you know constancy.
with the power of Tao, And if you know constancy,
the power will become abundant. you've been enlightened.
Attacking an enemy
you've underestimated
is a costly mistake.
When two forces oppose each other,
the winner is the one most reluctant to fight.
70. 71.
When you show no fear at all, Those who dare to be bold die.
the universe gives you something Those who dare to be careful survive.
to really be afraid of. So--what do you want to do?
Don't try to fence people in Why is life like that, you ask?
or grind them down. I don't know.
Just let them be,
and they'll always be on your side. This is how Tao works:
It doesn't push itself,
The Masters know themselves, and it always succeeds.
but they don't reveal themselves. It acts silently, and it always reacts.
They love themselves, It can't be summoned;
but they know it comes whenever it's ready.
what their lives are worth. It can't be rushed; it's always on time.
They let go of all that
to concentrate on this. "Heaven casts a wide net,
with big holes,"
Lao Tzu used to say,
"but nothing ever gets by it."
74. 75.
A baby's body is soft and gentle. Lao Tzu said using Tao
A corpse is hard and stiff. was like pulling on a bowstring:
Plants and trees are tender The top bends down,
and full of sap. the bottom bends up,
Dead leaves are brittle and dry. and all the energy
is focused in the middle.
If you are rigid and unyielding,
you might as well be dead. Tao takes energy from where it is,
If you are soft and flexible, and sends it where it needs to be.
you are truly alive. But most people take from those
who don't have enough,
Soldiers trained to fight to the death will die. so those who have too much already
A tree that cannot bend with the wind can have more.
will snap.
So who in this world
Here's a useful saying: is truly generous to others?
The harder they come, People who are in touch with Tao.
the harder they fall. They do their work
without taking credit.
Here's another: They get the job done and move on.
The meek shall inherit the earth. They aren't interested in showing off.
78. 79.
They enjoyed simple foods, If you want to get right with Tao,
dressed plainly, help other people, don't hurt them.
lived comfortably, The Masters always work with people,
and kept their traditions alive. never against them.
1. Definitions
8. Miscellaneous