Compassion confers a capacity for courage
Economy confers a capacity for breadth
Never presuming to act as the world抯 leader
confers a capacity to develop enduring talents
To right away set aside compassion
in order to be more courageous
To set aside economy in order to be more expansive
To set aside following in order to be more advanced
Is truly deadly
Now compassion used in combat means triumph
Used in defense means security
Those whom heaven would redeem
With compassion it protects them
68
The student skilled at action is not aggressive
The one skilled at combat is not angry
The one at besting opponents does not participate
The one skilled at employing others behaves as their subordinate
This may be styled the 搗irtue of not contending?br> It may be styled 揳pplying another抯 power?br> It may be styled 搒iding with heaven,?br> The consummation of antiquity
69
Military strategists have a saying:
揑 will not dare to act as host,
But rather, act as guest,
Will not presume to advance an inch,
But rather, retreat a foot?br> This may be called 搕o move without movement,
To roll up sleeves without baring arms,
To depose without a fight
To capture without force?br> There is no danger greater than underestimating a foe
Underestimate a foe will risk losing what we value
And so when opposing forces meet each other
The one sympathetic will truly succeed
70
My words are very easy to understand
Very easy to practice
(But) nobody in the world can understand
Nobody can practice
Expressions presume a lineage
Endeavors presume a master
Insofar as these are unknown
So it is that we are not known
Those who know me are few
Accordingly I am valued
This is why wise ones wear common cloth
Concealing jade in the heart
71
To know without knowledge is best
To not understand knowledge is affliction
Now (it is) because afflictions afflict
That there is a way to avoid affliction
Wise ones avoid disease
Because they are made ill by illness
This is the way to avoid the disease
72
(When) the people do not heed the imposing
Then great impositions come to pass
Do not constrict the places where they live
Do not overtax their means of living
Only when there is no oppressing
Will there then be no oppression
This is how wise ones know themselves
Without displaying themselves
Love themselves
Without venerating themselves
And so dismiss That to choose This
73
Courage atop presumption suggests dying
Courage in avoiding presumption suggests survival
(Yet) either of these may be sometimes beneficial,
other times harmful
That which heaven holds in contempt -
Who knows as to the reasons?
This is why wise ones watch for things to get complicated
Heaven抯 way does not compete, yet skillfully overcomes
Does not speak, yet skillfully replies
Does not summon, yet naturally attracts
Is above all of this, yet skillfully arranges
Heaven抯 net is vast & encompassing
Loosely meshed, and yet nothing escapes
74
(If) the people do not fear death
Then why use death to intimidate them?
Suppose it were so that the people always feared death
And still they behaved perversely
(When) we seized, detained and executed them
Who would be bold?
There will always be a master executioner to do the killing
Now to take the place of the master executioner
& do the killing
May be likened to taking the place of the master carpenter
in hewing
Now (of) those who take the place of the master carpenter
in hewing
Few indeed will not harm their own hands!
75
The hunger of the people
Is from their superiors eating up so much of their tax grain
This is behind the hunger
The difficulties in governing the people
Are due to their superiors having to take action
This is behind the difficulties in government
The people come to take death lightly
Because they pursue life抯 riches
This is behind their taking death lightly
Only when one does not think life a performance
Will there be skill in valuing life
76
People, while they live, are adaptable & soft
When they are dead, are hard & stiff
The myriad beings, the plants and the trees,
while they live, are supple & delicate
When they are dead, are weathered & tough
And so the hard & inflexible are companions to death
The adaptable & soft are companions to life
This is why the unbending military will not,
in due course, be triumphant
The rigid tree is then struck down
The strong & great belong underneath
The adaptable & soft belong above
77
Heaven has its path
Compare it to the drawing of a bow
What is high comes to be lowered
What is lowly comes to be raised
What has abundance will be diminished
What is incomplete will be added to
Heaven抯 way decreases where there is surplus
And adds to what is insufficient
Humanity抯 path is normally not like this,
Decreasing what is not enough
in order to give to what is excessive
Who can claim an abundance
in order to offer to nature?
Only those who keep the way
This is why wise ones develop but do not expect
Accomplish works but do not linger
They have no ambition to show merit
78
(In all) the world there is nothing
as adaptable & soft as water
Yet of that which attacks the hard & inflexible
Nothing can surpass it
Because there is no way easier than this
The gentle finally overcomes the firm
The adaptable finally overcomes the persistent
There is no one under heaven
who cannot comprehend (this)
(But) no one can practice (it)
So it is that wise ones maintain:
To accept the country抯 soil
May in truth be called mastering the altars of place & grain
To accept the realm抯 misfortunes
Is in truth to serve as sovereign to the world
Straightforward words may seem turned around
79
(When) reconciling a great grievance
There will surely be lingering resentments
(And) how can this be regarded as good?
This is why wise ones will post the greater bond
And will not press upon others
To have character is to look after obligations
To lack character is to look for entitlements
Heaven抯 way has no favorites
But usually sides with the right person
80
Shrink the domain, spread out the people
Let there be tens & hundreds of people with specialties
But unemployed
Let the people feel the weight of death
And not wander far
Though there be boats & wagons
No place to ride them
Though there be armor & weapons
No reason to show them
Let the people return to knotting cords
And counting on these
(To) sweetening their own food
Embroidering their own clothing
Secure in their own homes
Rejoicing in their own customs
Neighboring realms overlook one another
The sounds of each other抯 roosters and dogs are heard
(Yet) the people grow old & die
Without goings & comings between them
81
True words are not embellished
Embellished words are not truthful
To be right is not to be argumentative
To be argumentative is not to be right
To be knowing is not to be sophisticated
To be sophisticated is not to be knowing
Wise ones do not accumulate
Though intending to act on behalf of another
The more they themselves have gained
Though intending to give to another
The more they themselves are increased
Heaven抯 way is to benefit, but without doing harm
The wise ones?way is to work, but without competition
English_Heider_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
English by
John Heider, 1985
1
Tao means how: how things happen, how things work. Tao is the single principle underlying all creation. Tao is God.
Tao cannot be defined, because it applies to everything. You cannot define something in terms of itself.
If you can define a principle, it is not Tao.
Tao is a principle. Creation, on the other hand, is a process. That is all there is: principle and process, how and what.
All creation unfolds according to Tao. There is no other way.
Tao cannot be defined, but Tao can be known. The method is meditation, or being aware of what is happening. Being aware of what is happening, I begin to see how it is happening. I begin to sense Tao.
To become aware of what is happening, I must pay attention with an open mind. I must set aside my personal prejudices of bias. Prejudiced people see only what fits those prejudices.
The method of meditation works, because principle and process are inseparable. All process reveals the underlying principle. This means that I can know Tao. I can know God.
By knowing Tao, I know how things happen.
2
All behaviour consists of opposites or polarities. If I do anything more and more, over and over, its polarity will appear. For example, striving to be beautiful makes a person ugly, and trying too hard to be kind is a form of selfishness.
Any over-determined behaviour produces its opposite:
- An obsession with living suggests worry about dying.
- True simplicity is not easy.
- Is it a long time or a short time since we last met?
- The braggart probably feels small and insecure.
- Who would be first ends up last.
Knowing how polarities work, the wise leader does not push to make things happen, but allows process to unfold on its own.
The leader teaches by example rather than by lecturing others on how they ought to be.
The leader knows that constant interventions will block the group's process. The leader does not insist that things come out a certain way.
The wise leader does not seek a lot of money or a lot of praise. Nevertheless, there is plenty of both.
3
The wise leader does not make a show of holiness or pass out grades for good performance. That would create a climate of success and failure. Competition and jealousy follow.
Emphasizing material success is the same: those who have a lot become greedy, and those who have little become thieves.
When you reinforce appearances, people scramble to please.
The wise leader pays respectful attention to all behaviour. Thus the group becomes open to more and more possibilities of behaviour. People learn a great deal when they are open to everything and not just figuring out what pleases the teacher.
The leader shows that style is no substitute for substance, that knowing certain facts is not more powerful than simple wisdom, that creating an impression is not more potent than acting from one's center.
The students learn that effective action arises out of silence and a clear sense of being. In this they find a source of peace. They discover that the person who is down-to-earth can do what needs doing more effectively than the person who is merely busy.
4
Dig as deep as you will, you will never come to a thing called Tao or God. Tao is not a thing. Tao is a principle or law. Tao means how.
All things behave according to Tao, but Tao does not behave. Tao is never an object or a process.
Tao is the law of all things, of all events. Tao is the common ground of all creation.
Creation consists of things and events. All things and events are vibratory. Vibration consists of opposites or polarities. Polarities may cooperate with one another, or they may conflict to varying degrees.
All things and events, whether they are cooperative or conflicting, harmonious or turbulent, take their form and become resolved in accordance with Tao.
But Tao is not a vibratory event. Tao is not, for example, a sound. Tao has no opposites or polarities. Tao is one; Tao is unity.
As far as I know, nothing comes before Tao. Nothing made Tao. Nothing created God.
5
Natural law is blind, its justice evenhanded. The consequences of one's behaviour are inescapable. Being human is no excuse.
The wise leader does not try to protect people from themselves. The light of awareness shines equally on what is pleasant and what is not pleasant.
People are not better than the rest of creation. The same principle which underlies human beings underlies everything equally.
Neither is one person or one people better than the rest of humanity. The same principle is everywhere. One person is as worthy of the next. Why play favourites?
Everything demonstrates the law. Just because God is not a thing does not mean God is nothing. A little humility is in order.
Knowing this, the leader does not pretend to be special. The leader does not gossip about others or waste breath arguing the merits of competing theories.
Silence is a great source of strength.
6
Can you learn to become open and receptive, quiet and without desires or the need to do something? Being open and receptive is called Yin, the feminine, or the valley.
Imagine that there is a pond in this valley. When no fears or desires stir the surface of the pond, the water forms a perfect mirror.
In this mirror, you can see the reflection of Tao. You can see God and you can see creation.
Go into the valley, be still, and watch the pond. Go as often as you wish. Your silence will grow. The pond will never run dry.
The valley, the pond, and Tao are all within you.
7
True self-interest teaches selflessness.
Heaven and earth endure because they are not simply selfish but exist in behalf of all creation.
The wise leader, knowing this, keeps egocentricity in check and by doing so becomes even more effective.
Enlightened leadership is service, not selfishness. The leader grows more and lasts longer by placing the well-being of all above the well-being of self alone.
Paradox: By being selfless, the leader enhances self.
8
The wise leader is like water.
Consider water: water cleanses and refreshes all creatures without distinction and without judgement; water freely and fearlessly goes deep beneath the surface of things; water is fluid and responsive; water follows the law freely.
