(transcript from Clubhouse recording)
Hi there, this is Joy returning with more words in this installment number five of All the Words Have Been Said. Maybe in the next episode I will clarify what I mean by all the words have been said, but not today.
Today, just getting a little perspective with words from the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Ching) by Lao Tzu (Laozi/Laou-tsze, choose your preferred romanized spelling) as translated by Legge in 1891, Yutang in 1948, and Addiss and Lombardo in 1993. Here is chapter one–and they are very short chapters. I imagine that you have probably heard of the Tao Te Ching, know its structure, and that kind of thing.
Tao Te Ching, chapter 1
I wanna shout out to a version with images that I’ve enjoyed, but won’t read from, translated by Gia-Fu Feng and photographer Jane English. You might want to check that out. That’s it. Thank you for listening. That’s all for now.
. . .
– Lao Tsu translated by Gia-Fu FengThe Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring one can see the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name;
This appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.
Read from and shout outs:
- https://sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm
- https://labcit.ligo.caltech.edu/~mevans/docs/DDJ-LinYutang.html
- Tao Te Ching with photographs by Jane English
- https://hackettpublishing.com/tao-te-ching
Post postscript, May 11, 2026
Turns out, that was all for the short lived audio series. Perhaps it will be revived one day…