Sin salir de casa

不出戶知天下

不窺牖見天道。

其出彌遠其知彌少。

是以聖人不行而知

不見而明不為而成

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Without going outside his door,
one understands (all that takes place) under the sky;
without looking out from his window,
one sees the Tao of Heaven.
The farther that one goes out (from himself),
the less he knows.

Therefore the sages got their knowledge without travelling;
gave their (right) names to things without seeing them;
and accomplished their ends without any purpose of doing so.

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Sin salir de casa,
se puede conocer el mundo;
Sin mirar por la ventana,
se puede observar el Tao del Cielo.
Cuanto más se recorre, tanto menos se sabe.

Así, el sabio conoce sin viajar;
nombra, sin haber visto;
cumple sus metas sin tener objetivos.

This is poem number 47 from Lao-Tze's milestone book Dao De Jing (道德經). It is perhaps my favouritest poem among all in the book. Actually, I though naming this blog "The further you go..." as a hint to this poem.

Very obscure poem, as many include in Dao De Jing, althought meaningful at times. I still do not know how I am suppose to know more about the world without leaving home. Perhaps I am getting to know more about myself...

By the way, the original text in Chinese is impressive.

Este es el poema número XLVII del famoso libro Dao De Jing (道德經) escrito por Lao-Tze en el siglo VI a.C. Es quizás mi poema favorito de todos los que se incluyen en el libro. La verdad es que pensé poner por título a este blog "Cuanto más se recorre...", en homenaje a este poema.

Poema un poco obscuro, como la mayoría que aparecen en el libro, aunque vislumbro su significado a ratos. Todavía no comprendo como puedo llegar a conocer el mundo sin salir de casa. Aunque quizás este conociendo más de mi mismo...

Por cierto, impresionante el texto original en chino.

PS: If you are interested on knowing more about Dao De Jing I strongly recommend you this site. It includes original text in Chinese, as well as three different translations. When hovering a hanzi some text come up showing information on possible readings and meanings. Very useful!