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Light-League away from the diamond

German translation: Lichtjahre entfernt vom Diamanten des kleinen Selbst

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:Light-League away from the diamond of the small self
German translation:Lichtjahre entfernt vom Diamanten des kleinen Selbst
Entered by: Steffen Walter

15:30 May 13, 2007
English to German translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Religion / Set of Beliefs
English term or phrase: Light-League away from the diamond
I am translating a text that is mainly listing sets of belief. Here is another one, same translation as before.
*To love is a fine thing but to love Buddha’s Will is another ballgame altogether.
[Moreover, it must be played a whole Light-League away from the diamond of the small self.]*
I wanted to stay with a picture, but not with the baseball language, because I think that might not be known enough in Germany.
My first attempt:
*Lieben ist etwas Schönes, aber den Willen Buddhas zu lieben ist ein ganz anderes Paar Schuhe.
[Überdies spielt es sich Lichtjahre entfernt vom (Planeten des) eigenen kleinen Selbst ab.]*
My question, is this too liberal? 'Das andere Paar Schuhe' is also not my favorite image.
My second thought pulls the English version together:
*Lieben ist etwas Schönes, aber den Willen Buddhas zu lieben ist Lichtjahre davon entfernt, [Dies spielt sich auf einem ganz anderen Planeten ab, weit weg vom kleinen Selbst]*
Anything better out there?
Thanks to all of you.
Hildegard Klein-Bodenheimer (X)
Germany
Local time: 15:14
Lichtjahre entfernt vom Diamanten des kleinen Selbst
Explanation:
Feel free to play with the author's ballgame metaphor - but I wouldn't play with the author's diamond image when it comes to an article about Buddhism!!







--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2007-05-14 08:47:24 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Post-grading:
:-) hmmm, yes, I know a lot more about Buddhism than about baseball - you are right, the diamond could be a baseball metaphor here as well!! (ballgame - league - diamond)

But your solution seems fine to me.

To explain the meanings of "diamond" in Buddhism would take a while - but start by searching for Vajra, Dordje (as W.Schoeniger commented) and Diamond Sutra, and take it from there if you're interested.
Selected response from:

Craig Meulen
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:14
Grading comment
Craig, thank you for the insight. I went with your caution not to get away from the diamond and I like your suggestion best. For the beginning I went with a less metaphoric translation. I think otherwise it would be too much.
*Lieben ist etwas Schönes, aber den Willen Buddhas zu lieben spielt sich auf einer ganz anderen Ebene ab.
[Diese Liebe ist Lichtjahre entfernt vom Diamanten des kleinen Selbst.]*
To all the others, thanks for your efforts and help.

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1Lichtjahre entfernt vom Diamanten des kleinen Selbst
Craig Meulen
4...steht auf einem ganz anderen Blatt/spielt in einer ganz anderen Liga
Diana Loos
3... ist ein ganz anderes Paar Stiefel (und meilenweit entfernt von ...
NGK
3ist eine andere Spielart
Nadine Kahn
3s.u.
BrigitteHilgner


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
light-league away from the diamond
...steht auf einem ganz anderen Blatt/spielt in einer ganz anderen Liga


Explanation:
Just my thoughts on this - it depends on whether you want to keep the sport image of the first sentence. In fact I find your second solution, "pulling the English version together", very effective!

Diana Loos
Local time: 15:14
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
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11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
... ist ein ganz anderes Paar Stiefel (und meilenweit entfernt von ...


Explanation:
Ein Vorschlag, um bei der "Schuh-Metapher" im Bild zu bleiben.

Im übrigen finde ich deine zweite Lösung (Lichtjahre / Planeten) auch gut.

NGK
United States
Local time: 08:14
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 8
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
ist eine andere Spielart


Explanation:
Gibt's im Deutschen auch.

... diese Liga wäre dann auch Lichtjahre entfernt vom eigenen kleinen Stern.

Sehr wörtlich, aber sinnvoll find ich's allemal.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-05-13 17:14:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

oder:... vom eigenen kleinen Spielfeld.

Je nachdem, wie man es betrachtet. Das sportliche Bild kann man doch hier gut erhalten.

Nadine Kahn
Germany
Local time: 15:14
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
light-league away from the diamond
s.u.


Explanation:
Da mir die verschiedenen Bilder nicht so zusagen, versuche ich es mal ganz einfach:
Lieben ist etwas Schönes, aber den Willen Buddhas zu lieben ist etwas völlig anderes. Außerdem muss diese Liebe auf einer ganz anderen Ebene stattfinden, weit weg vom eigenen kleinen Ich.

BrigitteHilgner
Austria
Local time: 15:14
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
light-league away from the diamond
Lichtjahre entfernt vom Diamanten des kleinen Selbst


Explanation:
Feel free to play with the author's ballgame metaphor - but I wouldn't play with the author's diamond image when it comes to an article about Buddhism!!







--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2007-05-14 08:47:24 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Post-grading:
:-) hmmm, yes, I know a lot more about Buddhism than about baseball - you are right, the diamond could be a baseball metaphor here as well!! (ballgame - league - diamond)

But your solution seems fine to me.

To explain the meanings of "diamond" in Buddhism would take a while - but start by searching for Vajra, Dordje (as W.Schoeniger commented) and Diamond Sutra, and take it from there if you're interested.

Craig Meulen
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Craig, thank you for the insight. I went with your caution not to get away from the diamond and I like your suggestion best. For the beginning I went with a less metaphoric translation. I think otherwise it would be too much.
*Lieben ist etwas Schönes, aber den Willen Buddhas zu lieben spielt sich auf einer ganz anderen Ebene ab.
[Diese Liebe ist Lichtjahre entfernt vom Diamanten des kleinen Selbst.]*
To all the others, thanks for your efforts and help.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Craig, does diamond have a special meaning for Buddhists? I thought it was part of the baseball metaphor. The baseball field as the diamond. I also know that diamond is translated as star, that's where my 'Planet' came in? Do you know more about this? Thank you.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Schtroumpf: "Diamond" (s. Vajra, Dordje...) hat in der Tat eine besondere (und edle) Bedeutung. Hier klingt es aber eigentlich nur so, als ginge es um eine Art von "Juwel". In jedem Fall ist Craigs Empfehlung wichtig: lieber so lassen.
1 hr
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