But because the people do not dare to see this
They are not able to understand me
There are only a few who understand me and to them I am most precious
One who is wise therefore acts unnoticed, but remains oneself
71
Realizing you can抰 know anything, is wise
One who does not understand he can抰 know anything, is insane
One who realizes his insanity,
Is able to get rid of it
One who is wise is not insane anymore,
Because he has disposed of his insanity
Therefore he has a clear view
72
When people have forgotten what to be afraid of,
They will live in vague fear
Why do they come to terms with this miserable way of living?
Why don抰 they see the beauty of life?
Why are they so scared of escaping their rut?
One who is wise understands this, and won抰 flaunt it
He enjoys it but doesn抰 consider it as his own merit
He abandons his old way of living and embraces true life
73
Having guts and being reckless will lead to death
Having guts and being cautious saves life
The first is useless; the other useful
Only one who is wise understands the course of things
Therefore he won抰 intervene
It is easy to infringe upon the eternal laws of nature
But they always triumph
They don抰 speak, yet they do answer
They don抰 yell, yet everybody hears them
Like a net, the original order protects the Universe
Though its meshes seem wide, nothing can come through
74
When people no longer fear death
How can one threaten them with it?
But if people are afraid of death and other people threaten to kill them
When they infringe upon the law
Well, who is still going to break the law?
But there is only One who commands life and death
Since people started to decide about life and death themselves
They have actually taken a place on that One抯 chair
Then they behave like sorcerer抯 apprentices
Who assault the works of their master,
With disastrous consequences for themselves
75
People starve
Because the wealthy enrich themselves off other people抯 backs
That抯 why people starve
People cannot be kept under control
Because their leaders don抰 know what they抮e doing
That抯 why people cannot be kept under control
People want to die
Because they don抰 want to live this way
Therefore people want to die
Only the one who is not afraid to live,
Is not afraid of dying
76
When a human being is born, it抯 supple and weak
When it dies it抯 stiff and strong
Everything that抯 alive (take a look at grass and trees for example)
Is supple and flexible
And when they die they are shriveled and parched
Therefore hardness and inflexibility are companions of death
And suppleness and softness, companions of life
That抯 why a rigid troublemaker will never win
And an inflexible tree is doomed to death
Inflexibility and power won抰 get you very far
Suppleness and softness get you everywhere
77
The natural order is like stretching a bow
The low bow gets pushed up high
And the high tendon pulled downwards
Where there is too much, it takes away
Where there is not enough, it fills
Nature strives for harmony all the time
Decreases where there is too much
And increases where there is too little
But how opposite are the people in their behaviour
The poor get poorer while the rich tend to get richer
But one who is wise realizes that possession is burglary to community
Therefore he disposes himself of that which belongs to the community
So only one who is wise is detached
He does what others ask him to, but nothing for himself
Without taking credit for it
78
Nothing in life is so soft and compliant as water
Nothing is stronger in breaking what is hard and strong
Nothing can exceed it in doing this
Weak overcomes strong
Soft overcomes hard
Nobody knows this
And no one practices it
Therefore the sage says:
One who is the least in the world, will be the greatest in life
One who carries the sorrow of the world, is the greatest among mankind
It sounds odd, but it抯 true
79
When people make peace after violent hostility
Then it抯 an armed peace
How can it be right?
One who is wise only takes a look at his own share in the conflict
And never blames his opponent
So one who is fair only faces his own part
While one who is not daring enough to look at oneself, blames the other
The road to self-knowledge knows no partiality
But it does benefit the sincere
80
May mankind live in freedom, equality and brotherhood again,
So that there will be no need for leaders and superiors
Then people won抰 fear death any longer
And won't try to escape death
May it be that people don抰 feel the need anymore,
To move themselves about in vehicles
And that they will have nothing to defend anymore
May humankind abandon their instruments and machines,
And enjoy the seeds of the fruit-bearing plants
Those were meant as our food
May they feel shamelessly proud of their natural beauty again
May they stop locking themselves away in cities and houses,
And start enjoying creation
And if some fools still lock themselves away in nations,
Civilizations, cities and houses
May the wise men keep themselves far from this,
And live happily ever after
81
True words are not pretty
Pretty words are not true
Wise men do not talk about the Unspeakable
One who talks about the Unspeakable is not wise
Wise men are not learned
And learned ones aren抰 wise
A wise man doesn抰 gather possessions
He gives what he has
And therefore he is worthy of living
He shares his wisdom with others
His wisdom is never-ending
Living according to nature never harms
The life of a wise man is unselfish and peaceful
English_Antonov_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
Russian by
Vladimir Antonov
Russian - English by
Mikhail Nikolenko
Vorwort/Foreword
The book Tao Te Ching was written by great Chinese spiritual adept Lao Tse about 2500 years ago. In that incarnation, Lao Tse was a disciple of non-incarnate Huang Di* and achieved full spiritual self-realization. At present time, Lao Tse provides spiritual help to incarnate people.
The work on creating this edition of translation of Tao Te Ching was performed at personal request of Lao Tse** and with His help.
The book Tao Te Ching is one of the most fundamental textbooks on philosophy and methodology of spiritual development.
* One can find more details in the books God Speaks. Divine Teachers ?about Themselves and How God Can Be Cognized. Book 2. Autobiographies of God抯 Students under editorship of Vladimir Antonov.
** In this request He added that a competent translation of Tao Te Ching can be made only by person who walked the entire Path to cognition of Tao.
1
One cannot know Tao* only by speaking about It.
One cannot name by human name that Origin of the sky and earth Which is the Mother of everything.
Only he who is free from worldly passions can see It; and he who has such passions can see only Its Creation.
Tao and Its Creation are One in essence though called by different names. The passage which exists between them is the door to all the miraculous.
* Synonyms of this word of Chinese origin are the words Primordial Consciousness, Creator, God-the-Father, Allah, Svarog, etc.
2
When people know what is beautiful, they understand also what is ugly.
When they learn what is good, they realize also what is evil.
In this way, beingness and non-beingness, hard and easy, long and short, high and low allow knowing each other.
Different sounds mix and create harmony. And so the preceding and the succeeding follow each other harmoniously.
The wise prefers non-doing* and lives in quietness**. Everything happens around such a person as if by itself. He is not attached to anything on the Earth. He does not own anything made by him. He is not proud about his works.
Since he does not exalt himself, does not boast, does not require special respect from others ?he is pleasant to all.
* Calm of mind and body including stopping of the flow of thoughts. It allows mastering the art of meditation and developing oneself as a consciousness. (Those who are not used to the word non-doing, can mentally replace it with the word mediation, when reading this text).
** Here the author means inner quietness, which is called hesychia in Greek. The ancient direction of the Christian mysticism Hesychasm is named after it (see the book Practice of the Modern Hesychasm by Vladimir Antonov).
3
If the chosen are not exalted, no one envies them. If material treasures are not praised, no one steals them. In other words, if the objects of passions are not shown off, there are no temptations.
The wise ruler does not create such temptations to people but takes care that people have enough food. This eliminates passions and strengthens people抯 health. Yes, the wise ruler always strives to prevent temptations and passions and does not let evil people act.
The absence of these problems brings calm.
4
Tao looks like void. Yet, It is omnipotent!
It is in the Depth.*
It is the Origin of everything.
It controls everything.
It pervades everything.
It is Shining Light.
It is the subtlest!
It is the Main Essence of everything!
One cannot describe Its origin, for It is Primal.
* In the depth of multidimensionality. In other words, at the 搒ubtle?end of the multidimensional scale.
5
The matter ?both in the sky and on the earth ?is dispassionate toward all creatures, be they plants, animals, people. Though, it is the base for all of them.
In the same way, the wise is dispassionate toward others.
The space above the earth is void and free like the space inside a bellows or a flute. The more there is space for action, the more efficient the action can be.
He, who interferes with actions of others and talks too much becomes unbearable for people.
Therefore, it is always better to follow the principle of non-interference and keep calm.
6
The life and development of the Subtlest* are eternal and infinite.
It is the Deepest Base of everything.
On It the material world exists.
It acts without violence.
* Tao.
7
The sky and the Earth are lasting. They last long because they exist not on themselves and not for the sake of themselves. They are created by Tao and exist for It.
The wise places himself behind others and thus does not hinder other people and can lead them. He does not treasure the life of his body, and his life is guarded by Tao.
This happens because he also exists here not for the sake of himself. This is why his personal needs are realized for him.
The wise exists for Tao and serves It.
8
The wise lives like water. Water serves all beings and does not require anything for itself. It exists below all things. In this respect, it is similar to Tao.
Life has to follow the principle of naturalness.
Follow the path of heart! Be friendly!
Tell only truth!
When guiding others, follow the principle of keeping calm!
Every action has to be realizable and done in time.
He who does not strive to be ahead of others can avoid many mistakes.
9
One should not pour water into a full vessel. And there is no sense to sharpen the edge too much. And if the room is overfilled with gold and jasper who will guard it?
Excessiveness in everything leads to troubles.
When the work is finished, one should retire.
Such are the laws of harmony suggested by Tao.
10
In order to maintain calm, one has to feel the Unity with Everything*. Then one does not develop false egocentric desires.
One has to refine the consciousness. Let man become in this respect to a newborn baby. He who became so subtle becomes free from delusions.**
One has to rule the country and people with love for them and without violence.
The gate from the world of matter to the hidden world is open when one stays in calm. Understanding of this truth comes in non-doing.
To educate without violence, to create without boasting, to produce without possessing the products, to be older than others and do not command them: this is the true righteousness of the Great Te***!
* Feeling of being an integral part of the Absolute.
** Only through this one can cognize Tao.
*** The higher morality suggested by Te ?the Holy Spirit (Brahman).
11
Thirty spokes are united in one bicycle wheel. But the use of wheel depends also on the space between the spokes.
Vessels are made of clay. Yet their usefulness depends on the empty space inside them.
Buildings consist of walls, doors, windows. Yet building抯 usefulness depends also on the space in it.
This is the relation between usefulness of objects and emptiness.
12
He who sees only five colors in the world is like the blind.
He who hears only the sounds of the material world is similar to the deaf.
He who partakes and feels only the taste of the material food is deluded.
He who rushes at full speed after his prey is insane.
By accumulating wealth and adornments, you act to the detriment of yourself.
The efforts of the wise are directed at having enough food, not at accumulating many objects. He, satisfied with little in the world of matter, chooses the Primordial.
13
Glory and disgrace are equally feared of. Fame is a great distress in life.
What does it mean that glory and disgrace are equally feared of? It means that people fight for glory and then fear to lose it.
And what does it mean that fame is a great distress in life? It means that I suffer a great distress because I treasure my name.
When I cease treasuring my name, I will have no distress.
Thus, the wise does not seek praising himself. He just serves people self-sacrificingly. Therefore, he can live among people in peace. He does not fight with anyone for something ?therefore he is invincible.
14
If you look at Tao, you cannot notice It at once. This is why It is called hard-to-be-seen.
