Many articles were posted in this blog since I
started translating Rohden's writings in mid July 2012 while living in China,
experiencing the teachings of Buddha, Lao-Tze, Kong Fuzi and Mengzi
Tze.
Not long before this experience, I read one of
Rohden's books that impressed me most, related to the interpretation of the
Sermon on the Mount, and I have to confess that I became so fascinated with his
insights that I made to myself the proposition to translate his writings into
English, in an attempt to broaden the number of his readers outside
Brazil.
Now, I'm revisiting and reviewing every article,
adding extra thoughts from different writers which in some way Rohden was
attuned, giving the opportunity to readers not only to grasp the meaning of his
ideas, but to comprehend the intimate experience of the reality and life that he
experienced.
The language of Shakespeare, was not my first
language. In fact, the languages at home while living in Brazil, were at an
early age, Hungarian and after, Portuguese. Spanish was in addition, plus
Latin, French, Italian and English, during my school days as a young adult and
later on while travelling and studying overseas due to my professional duties.
In 1994 I came do Australia where I am still living today. However, this move
does not confirm that I reached the pinnacle of knowledge of this
rich language and more studies needs to be done.
Rohden's writings has astonishing power, subtly,
rich, poetic and range. Indeed, he makes use of sounds and words associations
in the manner of a poet of genius. His language has a vitality rare in the
literature and perhaps unique due to his creation of neologisms, inventing words
and phrases, which demands a constant search in order to find the correlated
idea in our modern days and way.
Needless to say, these very qualities face the
translator with difficulties which are almost insurmountable, and I hope that I
have done justice to the original text. In translating it, I am constantly
haunted by his warnings regarding the idea of the "traduttore
traditore" - translator traitor – and this gives me the absolute
certainty that his writings must have the respect and validity the author
deserves.
However, all what is written here is somehow
preliminary, nothing is definitive... as Rohden says. The definitive comes from
the reader and not from the author. The reader, after taking the right
direction, should make the content of the messages, day by day, year by year...
for a lifetime.
Here, absolute truths are not written, nor should
serve as an elementary book to be followed. Rohden's writings are the result of
his personal experience, whose ideas, the reader must filter out the wheat from
the chaff, and if accepted, to incorporate that knowledge and realize its own
experiences.
"After all the noise, after reading, listening,
thinking, is when comes the great silence of dynamic realization and the
experiences of reality".
I have to remind readers that the language used
here is simple and colloquial, easy terms for an easy reading. All that I can
hope for in the meantime, is that I may have given English readers the best
approximate idea of the merits of this great writer. Finally, no matter how
often this writings are observed, some mistakes will remain and I am very sorry
if happens... those are my fault and further discussions can be carried
on.
Flavio de Mello
demello.aflavio@gmail.com
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