But a society based on materialism and the conquest of nature works to overcome these cycles. If some is good, more must be better, and an absolute glut seems best. At the same time, those who have little get even less.
The wise leader follows the natural order of events and does not take the consumer society for a model.
By serving others and being generous, the leader knows abundance. By being selfless, the leader helps others realize themselves. By being a disinterested facilitation, unconcerned with praise or pay, the leader becomes potent and successful.
The leader's behaviour works because it is based on an understanding of opposites and cycles.
Effective behaviour only seems backwards.
78
Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield.
As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard.
The wise leader knows that yielding overcomes resistances, and gentleness melts rigid defenses.
The leader does not fight the force of the group's energy, but flows and yields and absorbs and lets go. A leader must endure a great deal of abuse. If the leader were not like water, the leader would break. The ability to be soft is what makes the leader a leader.
This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.
79
If you get into an argument with a group member, and it does not come out the way you wish it would, do not pretend to compromise while withholding your true feelings.
Yield your position gracefully. Return to facilitating what is happening.
It is not your business to be right or to win arguments. It is not your business to find the flaws in the other person's position. It is not your business to feel belittled if the other person wins.
It is your business to facilitate whatever is happening, win or lose.
Because we are all one, there are no sides to take. When all is said and done, the wise leader goes along with what is happening anyway.
80
If you want to be free, learn to live simply.
Use what you have and be content where you are. Quit trying to solve your problems by moving to another place, by changing mates or careers.
Leave your car in the garage. If you have a gun, put it away. Sell that complex computer and go back to using pencil and paper. Rather than read every new book that comes along, reread the classics.
Eat food grown locally. Wear simple, durable clothing. Keep a small home, uncluttered and easy to clean. Keep an open calendar with periods of uncommitted time. Have a spiritual practice and let family customs grow.
Of course, the world is full of novelty and adventures. New opportunities come along every day.
So what?
81
It is more important to tell the simple, blunt truth than it is to say things that sound good. The group is not a contest of eloquence.
It is more important to act in behalf of everyone than it is to win arguments. The group is not a debating society.
It is more important to react wisely to what is happening than it is to be able to explain everything in terms of certain theories. The group is not a final examination for a college courses.
The wise leader is not collecting a string of successes. The leader is helping others to find their own success. There is plenty to go around. Sharing success with others is very successful.
The single principle behind all creation teaches us that true benefit blesses everyone and diminishes no one.
The wise leader knows that the reward for doing the work arises naturally out of the work.
English_Henricks_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
Chinese (Mawang Dui) - English by
Robert G. Henricks, 1989
1
As for the Way, the Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way;
As for names, the name that can be named is not the constant name.
The nameless is the beginning of the ten thousand things;
The named is the mother of the ten thousand things.
Therefore, those constantly without desires, by this means will perceive its subtlety.
Those constantly with desires, by this means will see only that which they yearn for and seek.
These two together emerge;
They have different names yet they're called the same;
That which is even more profound that the profound?br> The gateway of all subtleties.
2
When everyone in the world knows the beautiful as beautiful, ugliness comes into being;
When everyone knows the good, then the not good comes to be.
The mutual production of being and nonbeing,
The mutual completion of difficult and easy,
The mutual formation of long and short,
The mutual filling of high and low,
The mutual harmony of tone and voice,
The mutual following of front and back?br> These are all constants.
Therefore the Sage dwells in nonactive affairs and practices the wordless teaching.
The ten thousand things arise, but he doesn't begin them;
He acts on their behalf, but he doesn't make them dependent;
He accomplishes his tasks, but he doesn't dwell on them;
It is only because he doesn't dwell on them, that they therefore do not leave them.
3
By not elevating the worthy, you bring it about that people will not compete.
By not valuing goods that are hard to obtain, you bring it about that people will not act like thieves.
By not displaying the desirable you bring it about that people will not be confused.
Therefore, in the government of the Sage:
He empties their minds,
An fills their bellies.
Weakens their ambition,
And strengthens their bones.
He constantly causes the people to be without knowledge and without desires.
If he can bring it about that those with knowledge simply do not dare to act,
Then there is nothing that will not be in order.
4
The Way is empty;
Yet when you use it, you never need fill it again.
Like an abyss! It seems to be the ancestor of the ten thousand things.
If files down sharp edges;
Unties the tangles;
Softens the glare;
And settles the dust.
Submerged! It seems perhaps to exist.
We don't know whose child it is;
It seems to have [even] preceded the Lord.
5
Heaven and Earth are not humane;
They regard the the thousand things as straw dogs.
The Sage is not humane;
He regards the common people as straw dogs.
The space between Heaven and Earth梚s it not like a bellow?
It is empty and yet not depleted;
Move it and more [always] comes out.
Much learning means frequent exhaustions.
That's not so good as holding on to the mean.
6
The valley spirit never dies;
We call it the mysterious female.
The gates of the mysterious female?br> These we call the roots of Heaven and Earth.
Subtle yet everlasting! It seems to exist.
In being used, it is not exhausted.
7
Heaven endures; Earth lasts a long time.
The reason why Heaven and Earth can endure and last a long time?br> Is that they do not live for themselves.
Therefore they can long endure.
Therefore the Sage:
Puts himself in the background yet finds himself in the foreground;
Puts self-concern out of [his mind], yet finds self-concern in the fore;
Puts self-concern out of [his mind], yet finds that his self-concern is preserved.
Is it not because he has no self-interest,
That he is therefore able to realize his self-interest?
8
The highest good is like water;
Water is good at benefiting the ten thousand things and yet it [does not] compete [with them].
It dwells in places the masses of people detest,
Therefore it is close to the Way.
In dwelling, the good thing is the land;
In the mind, the good thing is depth;
In giving, the good thing is [being like] Heaven;
In speaking, the good thing is sincerity;
In governing, the good thing is order;
In affairs, the good thing is ability;
In activity, the good thing is timeliness.
It is only because it does not compete, that therefore it is without fault.
9
To hold it upright and fill it,
Is not so good as stopping [in time].
When you pound it out and give it a point,
It won't be preserved very long.
When gold and jade fill your rooms,
You'll never be able to protect them.
Arrogance and pride with wealth and rank,
On their own bring on disaster.
When the deed is accomplished you retire;
Such is Heaven's Way!
10
In nourishing the soul and embracing the One梒an you do it without letting them leave?
In concentrating your breath and making it soft梒an you [make it like that of] a child?
In cultivating and cleaning your profound mirror梒an you do it so that it has no blemish?
In loving the people and giving life to the state梒an you do it without using knowledge?
In opening and closing the gates of Heaven梒an you play the part of the female?
In understanding all within the four reaches梒an you do it without using knowledge?
Give birth to them and nourish them.
Give birth to them but don't try to own them;
Help them to grow but don't rule them.
This is called Profound Virtue.
11
Thirty spokes unite in one hub;
It is precisely where there is nothing, that we find the usefulness of the wheel.
We fire clay and make vessels;
It is precisely where there's no substance, that we find the usefulness of clay pots.
We chisel out doors and windows;
It is precisely in these empty spaces, that we find the usefulness of the room.
Therefore, we regard having something as beneficial;
But having nothing as useful.
12
The five colors cause one's eyes to go blind.
Racing horses and hunting cause one's mind to go mad.
Goods that are hard to obtain pose an obstacle to one's travels.
The five flavors confuse one's palate.
The five tones cause one's ears to go deaf.
Therefore, in the government of the Sage:
He's for the belly and not for the eyes.
Thus he rejects that and take this.
13
"Regard favor and disgrace with alarm."
"Respect great distress as you do your own person."
What do I mean I say "Regard favor and disgrace with alarm"?
Favor is inferior.
If you get it梑e alarmed!
If you lose it梑e alarmed!
This is what I mean when I say "Regard favor and disgrace with alarm."
What do I mean when I say "Respect great distress as you do your won person"?
The reason why I have distress
Is that I have a body.
If I had no body, what distress would I have?
Therefore, to one who values acting for himself over acting on behalf of the world,
You can entrust the world.
And to one who in being parsimonious regards his person as equal to the world,
You can turn over the world.
14
We look at it but do not see it;
We name this "the minute."
We listen to it but do not hear it;
We name this "the rarefied."
We touch it but do not hold it;
We name this "the level and smooth."
These three cannot be examined to the limit.
Thus they merge together as one.
"One"梩here is nothing more encompassing above it,
And nothing smaller below it.
Boundless, formless! It cannot be named,
And returns to the state of no-thing.
This is called the formless form,
The substanceless image.
This is called the subtle and indistinct.
Follow it and you won't see its back;
Greet it and you won't see its head.
Hold on to the Way of the present?br> To manage the things of the present,
And to know the ancient beginning.
This is called the beginning of the thread of the Way.
15
The one who was skilled at practicing the Way in antiquity,
Was subtle and profound, mysterious and penetratingly wise.
His depth cannot be known.
It is only because he cannot be known
That therefore were I forced to describe him I'd say:
Hesitant was he! Like someone crossing a river in winter.
Undecided was he! As though in fear of his neighbors on all four sides.
Solemn and polite was he! Like a guest.
Scattered and dispersed was he! Like an ice as it melts
Genuine, unformed was he! Like uncarved wood.
Merged, undifferentiated was he! Like muddy water.
Broad and expansive was he! Like a valley.
If you take muddy water and still it, it gradually becomes clear.
If you bring something to rest in order to move it, it gradually comes alive.
The one who preserved this Way does not desire to be full;
Therefore he can wear out with no need to be renewed.
16
Take emptiness to the limit;
Maintain tranquility in the center.
The ten thousand things梥ide-by-side they arise;
And by this I see their return.
Things [come forth] in great numbers;
Each one returns to its root.
This is called tranquility.
"Tranquility"桾his means to return to your fate.
To return to your fate is to be constant;
To know the constant is to be wise.
Not to know the constant is to be reckless and wild;
If you're reckless and wild, your actions will lead to misfortune.
To know the constant is to be all-embracing;
To be all-embracing is to be impartial;
To be impartial is to be kingly;
To be kingly is to be [like] Heaven;
To be [like] Heaven is to be [one with] the Dao;
If you're [one with] the Dao, to the end of your days you'll suffer no harm.
17
With the highest [kind of rulers], those below simply know they exist.
With those one step down梩hey love and praise them.
With those one further step down梩hey fear them.
And with those at the bottom梩hey ridicule and insult them.
When trust is insufficient, there will be no trust [in them].
Hesitant, undecided! Like this is his respect for speaking.
18
Therefore, when the Great Way is rejected, it is then that we have the virtues of humanity and righteousness;
When knowledge and wisdom appear, it is then that there is great hypocrisy;
When the six relations are not in harmony, it is then that we have filial piety and compassion;
