The Contemporary Tao of Peace and Harmony

The Tao te Ching by Dr. John WorldPeace JD. The Tao te Ching was allegedly written by LaoTzu about 2,500 years ago. It is not known if hesimply wrote down oral traditions or whether hehad some unique insights. It is not even known ifthe Tao was written by Lao Tzu or compiled byseveral others after his death.We also do not know how many manipulationsthe text has endured over the last 2,500 years. We cannot even be sure that the traditional Tao isthe original Tao.What we do know is that this body of ideashas survived for 2,500 years. Therefore, we mustacknowledge that these ideas have validity whenapplied to humanity.The Tao has been translated by manycompetent scholars into English. However, thewords used in the various translations are ratherdiverse.A translation compares one language toanother. Translating Chinese into English istricky because one is translating abstractpictographs into a linear language. Words cannever fully translate a pictograph. This probablyaccounts for the wide variation in words used inthe various translations.I am not a scholar. I did not translate evenone pictograph. What I did was to look for theconsensus among the various translations. Therefore, the result is more an interpretationthan a translation.In addition, I tried to relate all the ideas toan underlying theme of peace and harmony. "Howdoes a particular passage relate to themanifestation of peace and harmony?", is thequestion I asked about every idea. I tried torelate every word to a peace and harmony themebecause I believe that this was the original intentof the Tao.Further, I tried, where appropriate, toreplace some of the abstract concepts withsomething more concrete. I believe this allowsmore of a consensus of what is being communicatedand makes it easier to determine whether or notwhat is being communicated fosters peace andharmony.In essence, I have simply done what manyothers have done over the last 2,500 years. Ihave tried to relate the Tao in contemporarylanguage with the hope that the level of peace andharmony in the world will increase.My objective has been peace and harmony andnot a literal translation. The following is simplymy personal perspective of peace and harmony asseen through the Tao te Ching.