hi! i went today to the library and got 3 tao-te-ching books, and they are differenT!! I know that translations are not easy, but i don´t know which one i should read or if i should read the 3(maybe it´s what i am gonna do) . THere are some details that are different, but those details are quite...important in my opinion...so i don´t know which one is the closest to the original one...any idea to solve this "problem"???
If you could give a couple of instances of the differences, and say why they seem important, it might be possible to offer some comment.
well, they are not that different and i am reading them in spanish so it would not help either cause my translation will be worse. it´s just that maybe one of them can be interprated in a way, and the other can be interprated in a different way, if u know what i mean... like if with the translation the interparation could change aswell...
I guess the only advice I could offer would be to try to find a kind of 'average' between different translations. You may be right that different translations may distort the meaning - perhaps the thing is to try to read a few different ones, and look for the core meaning. But with taoism, it's not a question of a kind of minute intellectual analysis, but seeing/feeling/knowing the principles - beyond the text.
I don't know about Spanish but I've read that the best English translations are: The large formatt edition with pictures translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English (the smaller version is edited by Jacob Needleman and he goofed it up), 1972. A translation by Robert G. Hendricks based on the Ma-wang-tui Texts which are the oldest manuscripts available, 1989. And "The Way and its Power" by Arthur Waley. This is mainly paraphraseing, 1958. The only one of these three I've read is Feng and Englishes'.
I suggest the book by Johnathan Star, which includes all the individual word meanings and so you can try and construct a translationt hat speaks best to you.
I have the one by my writing professor The Daodejing of Laozi by Philip J Ivanhoe...its set up quiet nicely and any comentary is in the back...so you can interpret it all your own. And he's a pretty nice guy too (not like it matters too much) hehe...
I love the translation at http://www.religiousworlds.com/taoism/ttcstan3.html, I preffer it over the other two translations Ive read, I also like this one called The Wisdom of Lao Tzu its a bit of an elaborate interpretion peice containing a base translation as a frame, I liked the translation and the interpretation was quite intresting, but it may have taken away the effect of realiztion through the self through its liberties and gotten a little to far into the world of form and definition from what was meant to be abstraction
Sorry I can't be of better help but meditation and "finding" the book you need may take a little more research than one may anticipate. Don't don't freak out. Just go to the library with a level head and endure any hardships: you'll find the book you'll need.
