The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2024 - 20

How Literally
Should
Spiritual Texts
Be Translated?
Do translations of spiritual texts
have to be so foreign-sounding?
Do non-literal translations distort the
words of the prophets and sages?
A translator of Chinese Buddhist
and Taoist scripture weighs in on
the subject.
By Eric R. Stone
I
f you've read enough translated spiritual or
philosophical works, you've probably come across
a few lines that made you think, " This seems
grammatically correct but it just doesn't sound
right, " or " I understand every word I'm reading
but I just don't get what they're saying. " Or maybe
the text makes total sense but just sounds foreign,
robotic, or meandering, leaving you wondering why
these translations are so clunky, rhythmless, and
even taxing to read. Is this just the way translations
of such works are supposed to be? Consider the
following two alternative translations of a quote
by Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming1
early 1500s:
from the
" In all things and matters, to seek Ultimate
Good, on the contrary, would be outside
[the bounds] of the [way] that is just. "
Or:
" It would be counter to Reason to seek
Goodness in objects. "
(At left) Artist George W. Hood, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons
20 The ATA Chronicle | July/August 2024
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The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2024

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The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2024 - Cover
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The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2024 - Cover4
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