The Former You
Translation by Tree Buffalo
Be wary of praise, and welcoming of pain.
What does it mean to be wary of praise?
Praise can make the former you seem inferior.
Receiving it can feel like shock, as can losing it.
So both praise and the withholding of praise can feel like shock.
What does it mean to be welcoming of pain?
I exist, so I have pain because I have a body.
After I’m without a body, what trouble could I have?
This is why those who regard their inner selves as the world can be trusted to govern the world.
And those who love their body as the world can be trusted to care for the world.
Read some of the first English translations of Chapter 13 here.
