Merel 2.07 vs Merel 4.1: Two translations side by side

[Mike Rambling]

Edited July 23, 2007 by Mike Rambling

[thelerner]

Thanks, it reminds me that sooner or later everyone should translate & write down there holy books (or portions within) by hand.

 

Back to the subject. I like the second abrieviated one more. KISP I always say.

 

 

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

 

keep it short & poetic

[Eric23]

Thanks Mike. Very interesting comparison. Kind of with Learner, like the poetic v.4.1

 

Learner- Could you please expand on your idea of translating and writing down holy books? Are you refering to translating from the original texts (and language) or getting it down as you read it in your own mind?

[beancurdturtle]

Cool!

 

Nice document to have.

 

If you like comparisons, check this out...

 

Go here: http://home.pages.at/onkellotus/TTK/_IndexTTK.html

 

Click on Compare Vertikal

 

Then choose a translation on the top left, and another on the top right.

 

Play with the little buttons and numbers in the top middle. You can choosetranslations, change chapters, keep both sides in synch & etc.

 

Quite cool!

[thelerner]

There is a gulf between learning and integrating, a huge one. Take the TTC, you read and think, that great, very deep, then we walk away and kick the dog.

 

Writing it down, by hand, neatly, with full concentration is an age old mostly ignored tradition. It a way to connect w/ the writings on a deeper level, bridging the gulf. Making it yours.

 

Translating it is egotistic, but forces you to think, to go to bed with the material. . If words are holy, it makes sense to connect deeper to them.

 

 

Michael

 

Errata

I think one of the ancient 613 Judaic Mitzvahs is to write down a torah scroll. Many of the great Martial artists of the past were great calligraphers.

[Eric23]

Thanks Learner. Coming from an artist's perspective, the same sort of process happens with drawing and your subject. They say that a drawing is with you forever. A very helpful artistic exercise is to re-draw a subject from memory. Very interesting approach, thanks again for bringing it up.

[beancurdturtle]

[zenbrook]

Writing it down, by hand, neatly, with full concentration is an age old mostly ignored tradition. It a way to connect w/ the writings on a deeper level, bridging the gulf. Making it yours.

When I first approached the Tao, many moons ago, I copied out by hand the TTC as a gift and request for teaching from my first teacher. Though I was meticulous in this task, I didn't have a clue as to the meaning of the words I wrote or of their implications for the path ahead. I simply copied out each chapter because it seemed like a nice thing to do and I had no artistic talent whatsoever so a picture or poem was out of the question. My teacher, despite having translated the TTC himself, seemed to appreciate my more humble effort, or at least was kind enough to not laugh out loud at this innocent petitioner.

 

Later on I became much cleverer. The TTC became just one among the many spiritual tomes I mastered and I completed my own translations of texts from Sanskrit and Tibetan and encouraged others to appreciate and understand them all just as I had. So clever did I become that some called me teacher and after a while my understanding became their understanding and the 'Tao of ZenBrook' was born.

 

Still later, I became stupid again. Now I realize that first copy I made was the only version truly worth having. And though I'll never quite be that innocent again, I can at least try.

 

Making it ours.

 

Peace,

ZenB

[Mike Rambling]

Writing it down, by hand, neatly, with full concentration is an age old mostly ignored tradition. It a way to connect w/ the writings on a deeper level, bridging the gulf. Making it yours.

 

Write it down by hand ... That's a very helpful recommendation.

 

I think that it echoes the old advice that the best way to learn something is to try to teach it to someone else. Starting a blog about Taoism was an attempt to follow just that advice. By forcing myself to talk about these matters and engage with others, I force myself to decide what I believe and to discover what I do (and don't) understand.

 

Peace.

 

My Rules - 我的规则

Turtle: I've just realised that I have no idea what my rules are.

 

Wow.

 

I really have to rectify this.

 

Thank you.

[beancurdturtle]

Turtle: I've just realised that I have no idea what my rules are.

 

Wow.

 

I really have to rectify this.

 

Thank you.

Your rules should be a stepping stone in your cultivation. A way to turn your behaviors to what you eventually want them to be. Ask yourself, "how will I act and be when I have actualized The Way?" It's a blunt stick approach to breaking old habits to allow your harmonious nature to emerge.

 

Eventually, through actualizing The Way, your harmonious natural way of being will fit into the rules (assuming your rules were correct). Then you can leave that stepping stone behind.

 

The rules will change as you grow until you change enough to let go of them and still act rightly.

 

Peace,