Showing posts with label knowledge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knowledge. Show all posts

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu - Web Resources

The First Chapter Translations (175+)

https://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/tao-te-ching.htm


John Chalmers Translation (1868)

Frederic Henry Balfour Translation (1884)

James Legge Translation (1891)


Stephen Mitchell, 1995

https://docdrop.org/download_annotation_doc/-Perennial-Classics-Lao-Tzu-Stephen-Mitchell---Tao-Te-Ching_-A-New-English-Version-Harper-Perennial-Modern-Classics-2006-2-4--pDMw9.pdf


https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/u.osu.edu/dist/5/25851/files/2016/02/taoteching-Stephen-Mitchell-translation-v9deoq.pdf


https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/services/dropoff/china_civ_temp/week03/pdfs/taoteching2.pdf


Jonathan Star, 2001

https://ia802905.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/32/items/plus-mystics/PLUS%20MYSTICS.rar&file=PLUS%20MYSTICS%2FEBOOK%2FENG%2FTAO%2FOKE%2FTao%20Te%20Ching%20The%20New%20Translation%20from%20Tao%20Te%20Ching%2C%20The%20Definitive%20Edition.pdf


Derek Lin, 2006

Jeremy M. Miller, 2013


A. Charles Muller (Online Interactive Version)

https://labcit.ligo.caltech.edu/~mevans/docs/DDJ-CharlesMuller


http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/daodejing.html


Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English

Blog Documentation (Best Ever Found)

https://blog.creaders.net/u/980/201811/335171.html


http://14.139.58.199:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/13520/1/26031%20Book.pdf


A Key Text to Understand Lao Tzu and Taoism

Parting of the Way: Lao Tzu and the Taoist Movement by Holmes Welch

https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/15688.pdf


Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu - Translated by John Minford (2018)

The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Book of the Tao

https://virtualmmx.ddns.net/gbooks/TaoTeChingTheEssentialTranslationoftheAncientChineseBookoftheTao.pdf


Anonymous Resource

https://www.with.org/tao_te_ching_en.pdf


Tao Te Ching - Annotated and Explained

https://ia601409.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/29/items/rekap-sd-08072023/REKAP%20SD%2008072023.zip&file=REKAP%20SD%2008072023%2F1%20DATA%2F2%20EXTRA%2FEBOOK%2FEBOOK%20TAO%2FTao%20te%20ching_%20annotated%20_%20expla%20-%20Derek%20Lin%20ENG.pdf


J. H. McDonald, 1996

https://faculty.mnsu.edu/scottgr/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2014/08/TaoTeChing.pdf


From www.tclt.org.uk 2005 (With detailed original annotation and glossary)

http://www.tclt.org.uk/laozi/Daode_Jing_2011.pdf


The Tao Te Ching: A Translation by Stan Rosenthal

https://irp.cdn-website.com/e401e78b/files/uploaded/tao_te_ching.pdf


Thank you for your interest and curiosity.

Stay tuned for more.

Tuesday, 30 September 2025

People Can't Ruin What They Don't Know - A Critique on a Popular AI Meme

Hi all.

I hope everyone has some internet and free time to redefine their own life through atomic changes in daily life. Also hoping you're in a good company that endures all of the changes and thrives along with you.

There's a popular AI-generated meme that has gone viral for a few weeks. The meme contains two chocolates, one wrapped in plastic and another without any wrapping. Wrapped chocolate is free from germs and ants, but the open chocolate is surrounded by ants and insects. It is created with a specific intention to pass a message about privacy, and the quote goes like this: "Privacy is power. What people don't know, they can't ruin."


The viral meme


I'm still wondering why humans are still compared with ants and insects. I also see how humans tend to compare themselves with shallow things, such as chocolate. Or let me be convinced that humans have taken their animalistic instincts for granted and still function as primitive animals in the fully evolved conscious human body.

Behaviour creates culture. Culture is made up of opinions and beliefs that are collectively accepted by society. We often talk about rape-culture, brain-drain culture, hire-and-fire culture, vote-for-note culture, revdi culture, red-carpet culture, mall culture, VIP culture, suicide epidemics, divorce culture, feudalistic culture, corporate culture, coaching culture, climate culture, and so on. By focusing on such heavy entities, I thought, from which class of society is this meme and quote coming from?

And many other 'wh' questions hover over the mind while I'm looking at this meme. Who controls what defines privacy? From whom can such thoughts come? How does one define privacy, and what does s/he try to protect?

Another question can come from something abstract, that is, fear. Fear is the driving force of human life. Agreed. People run after safety and "feel" safe for a while. But let's face this: The more people run after safety, the more they justify their fear.

Ok, let me state some more questions that again connect this meme with culture.

To what extent do fear dynamics help to create cultures? I'm talking about multiple cultures here. Is it so that I am afraid of something today and share my anxiety or grievance with another fellow, and s/he agrees or approves all of my fears? What point of view should one carry to share something with someone? How far is it true that one should have some non-judgmental, critical, and practical ears to create a sharp listening habit? To what extent is the listener who's paying attention to someone's private affairs afraid of himself or herself? Who and what decides the environmental safety where someone "subjectively feels comfortable to share"?

"Privacy is power. What people don't know, they can't ruin."

Forget about the picture for a while. Let's pose some questions on the quote itself.

What is privacy?
What is Power?
Who are these people who can ruin things?
What is knowledge?
What is there to be known?
What is knowability?
What do we mean by ruining?
What is emotional drainage?
How should emotions be treated when privacy, which is the least valuable thing in the world, is considered as power?
Why is the one who shares something so confident about this flawed fact that knowledge of something can only ruin things?
What does knowledge have to do with the EGO?
Who decides what knowledge can do to a person?
Who decides what should be kept private and what should not?
Why is there a need to keep things private? Is it fear from society or the culture that is created with the collective justification of fear itself?

-----  -----  -----  -----

Thank me later. Find the answers to those questions first. Stop looking at the market, or portfolio, or newspaper, or TV screens, or the bank account statement for a while. Stop that mindless scrolling at those social media apps with lustful consumerist eyes and mind. Stop drinking that soft drink, stop having pizza or ice cream for a while. Stop wasting petrol and diesel on purposeless drives. These questions can change your mental wiring. Be brave about that; you'll surely endure this. Have some silent yet rigorous chit-chat with yourself, and see how far and where your so-called "self-love" takes you. Have the guts to go against yourself and break something bad within? Then this blog is for you.

May you find peace and light in every walk of life.

Thanks for staying tuned.

Sunday, 23 February 2025

Newcomers to Arts and Humanities

Hello Readers!

Finally, after such a long gap, I have found an insightful topic to share. Today's topic is about the class of people who feel bored, tired, and sick of the rat race of chasing after money, mindless scrolling, disturbed social relations, and a meaningless, stressful life. Many of us suffer from anxiety, and stress and seek out the best resort in watching films, listening to songs, and sharing funny short videos and reels with friends. Amidst this practice, there lies a wonderful factor of creativity. A person always finds some songs, films, and stories quite relatable because of the deep charm of creativity behind the content.

Now let me put a debatable topic here.

"People from non-arts backgrounds appreciate the creative and philosophical aspects of enjoyable content, feeling that, despite having all the luxuries and wealth, something meaningful is missing from their lives. Meanwhile, individuals in creative arts and philosophical fields tend to broaden their current knowledge and go beyond the available content."

There are two premises here.

1. People from the STEM field
2. People from creative arts, humanities, and philosophical branches.

There are two points of view as well.

1. People from the STEM field enjoy the depths of all arts and creative materials such as films, songs, and stories, and at one point in life, they think they could have pursued arts and humanities.

2. People from arts and humanities, and creative pursuits undergo a rigorous process of ego clashes with the truth and redefine their understanding while creating anything new and original. This philosophical churning in mind makes them more refined thinkers and clean creators. They think that the world has to see things from their own perspective and think about life with a completely different dimension.

Whoever wishes to make a career in arts and humanities must understand the following things.

1. It is not just a branch of academics but a life-defining pursuit. It is deeply connected with all other branches such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Indeed there is a value of rankings and grades but this branch is more than just academic accolades.

2. The majority of people give very little value to philosophies and stories in their daily lives and they keep talking about money, percentages, and major statistics. If one wants to study arts and humanities with a deeper knowledge, one may go deeper into the nuances of human behavior, the inner areas of the human psyche, and thought processes.

3. This also leads a person to a spiritual dimension and makes him/her rethink all the behaviors and endeavors of human beings. The key questions such as what, why, who, how, when, and where will become the drivers of the human mind rather than having a mind full of numbers that keep thinking about money all day.

4. Those who are not in arts and humanities may think that the people within this field are "lucky" and enjoying all the "luxuries" of life; but here is a myth buster: the real learners, thinkers, and creators don't enjoy the materialistic aspect of life and never expect to live like that. They consume only what they need the most and do only what is the most necessary at the given time and in situations. The only thing they enjoy is the clarity of their wisdom and life.

5. To study arts and humanities, one must be aware of the deeds of past figures and have a sharp historical and political sense to study whatever is happening in today's time. Because students will always have to see things of today with the pastness of the past.

6. During the study the students may get frustrated and tired of the rigorous thought process and discussions he/she has to go through. But no need to worry, to create a new understanding one must have a breakthrough of their own ego and pre-established beliefs. Once the mind is free from all the past conditions, a great highway is there to study further.

7. There should be readiness to leave the ego aside and know something new and fresh. Because no creative field is free from biases and mental conditioning. There might be a few aspects that may affect you directly at the personal level but it is the demand of this discipline that people go through this process and ask questions at deeper levels.

These points will be fruitful to the students and aspirants who want to study arts, humanities, languages, literature, and philosophies. This would definitely establish new perspectives and understanding of the entire world.

Change is inevitable, so the mind, so the body, and so the life. Embrace with all your power and spirit.

Happy learning.
Thank You!