the thing about the tao te ching is it is like water; it will reflect back virtually any world view that it is presented with. What you are seeing in the varying translations is more the mindset of those who translated it than anything else, although the power of the book is such that some of the truths shine through despite that.
So the thing you get when you first translate the book for yourself is, insight into who you are.
Some people stop there as it is kind of a vanity thing to see yourself clearly... others go on to question if there is somehow more to it than that?
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Yes, if you want to take it seriously, understanding it goes hand in hand with self-discovery, with learning who 'you' really is. But really, there is nothing in the book you can't discover on your own just by honestly observing yourself and your own reactions to what is happening. However, it is frowned upon to deal with life honestly in the dominant social climates so most of us need help...
I found that with some clever thinking and a lot of willingness to disbelieve everyone who wants to tell me about what isn't possible and why, I could adequately translate the book in under a year starting from scratch. It is a relatively small book, after all... But I've also found that it can take a lifetime of self-discovery to really understand the nuance in what is being said.
Lonely not to be able to share what has been found because one didn't follow the proper channels in finding it so one gets rejected if one opens one's mouth... but kinda ok anyway. The sages had good reasons for shutting up, after all... it wasn't just some random ritual. And actually, there are more interesting things to do than simply to try to get some point across to others...
as far as the book, as with all books there is a lot more to things than simply the words you see on paper... but still, with some imagination and daring one can infer some very powerful techniques from what is said.
but IMO, to get to the deepest parts one has to be willing to disbelieve what others are telling oneself about what 'life' is all about and how one is 'allowed' to relate to the various stimulous that comes one's way, and come to one's own conclusions about things... which apparently is a very hard thing to do.
