My friends... you will find the introduction and the first set of quotes of Lao Tzu in the post just below this. Having lived and worked in Southeast and East Asia, I was always interested in seeking the wisdom of the ancient Chinese sages, which I am sure was also a part of the knowledge base available to Gauthama The Buddha during his life time. His thoughtful and caring sieving of this knowledge together with that of the Indian Brahamin tradition, in my mind, is the outcome of the philosophy, the way of life and the religion we have for our benefit. With the advent of the Western dominant thought we began to see most of the gems of Asian ancient wisdom only with academic interest and began seeking the way based on seeking and fulfilling unlimited wants and feeding our greed.
The objective in presenting this series is to focus attention to this body of knowledge available to us. with the hope that we may .... our leaders and us ordinary citizens impacted by what they do and where they take us to think afresh.
Please do not think of my post as and expose on religion but as an attempt to make clearer the way we see our life and the way forward for our economic social and cultural development.
I present two more verses from the Tao Te Ching,
translated as the Law (or Canon) of Virtue and it's Way, belonging to 6th Century BC, with its Sinhala translation by me
The five
colours blind the eye.
The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavours dull the taste.
Racing and hunting madden the mind.
Precious things lead one astray.
The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavours dull the taste.
Racing and hunting madden the mind.
Precious things lead one astray.
නෙත් අන්ධ කරනා වර්ණ පහකි
කන් බිහිරි කරනා ශබ්ද පහකි
දිව රස නහර නසනා රස පහකි
අධිවේගී තරඟ හා දඩයම මනස විකෟති කරවයි
වටනේයයි අප හඟින සමහර දෑ අප නොමග යවනුයේය.
කන් බිහිරි කරනා ශබ්ද පහකි
දිව රස නහර නසනා රස පහකි
අධිවේගී තරඟ හා දඩයම මනස විකෟති කරවයි
වටනේයයි අප හඟින සමහර දෑ අප නොමග යවනුයේය.
Look, it cannot be seen - it is beyond form.
Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound.
Grasp, it cannot be held - it is intangible.
These three are indefinable, they are one.
Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound.
Grasp, it cannot be held - it is intangible.
These three are indefinable, they are one.
නෙත් හෙලා බලනු මැන! දැකිය හැකි දෙයකින් ඔබ්බට ගිය හෙයින් දැකිය හැකි දෙයක්
නැත
අසනු මැන! හඬකින් ඔබ්බට ගිය හෙයින් ඇසිය හැකි දෙයත් නැත
වටහාගත මැන! දැනෙනා දෙයක් නොවනා හෙයින් අත මිට මොලවා ගත නොහැක
මෙ ත්‍රිත්වයටම නිර්වචන නැත. ඒ නයින් ඒ සියල්ලම එකකි.
අසනු මැන! හඬකින් ඔබ්බට ගිය හෙයින් ඇසිය හැකි දෙයත් නැත
වටහාගත මැන! දැනෙනා දෙයක් නොවනා හෙයින් අත මිට මොලවා ගත නොහැක
මෙ ත්‍රිත්වයටම නිර්වචන නැත. ඒ නයින් ඒ සියල්ලම එකකි.
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