One of my favorite things to do, when I was in acupuncture school, was to practice copying the Chinese characters for the names of the acupuncture points that I was learning. My calligraphy was not so good, but nevertheless it always felt wonderful to do this - as though there were something in the character itself - a treasure-trove of vital information - that wasn't in the English translation.

Later, when I began comparing English translations of the Daode Jing, I was faced with a similar issue. With translations varying so widely, how could I hope to gain access to the full potency of the original? And how could it be that a single text could give rise to such a dizzying array of interpretations? In the introduction to his translation of the Daode Jing, Jonathan Star offers this explanation:

"Ancient Chinese is a conceptual language; it is unlike English and other Western languages, which are perceptual. Western languages are rooted in grammar that frames events in real time, identifies subject and object, clarifies relationships, and establishes temporal sequences. Ancient Chinese is based on pictorial representations, without grammar. Characters symbolize concepts that can be interpreted as singular or plural; as a noun, a verb, or an adjective; as happening in the past, present, or future."

The result of all this is an extreme flexibility of meaning, for each Chinese character - a meaning which ultimately is determined only by the textual and social context in which the character appears. Hence, the seemingly infinite possibilities for translating the Chinese characters comprising Laozi's Daode Jing into the English language.

Is there any hope, then - for those of us unable to read the text in its original langauge - of accessing the true meaning of the Daode Jing, or other Taoist texts? The answer I've most frequently (and thankfully!) received is that yes, this is indeed possible. How? Through practice under the guidance of an authentic teacher, which offers the possibility of entering the non-conceptual terrain out of which the original was born.

May we all succeed, brilliantly!