These sayings,
"To remain whole, be twisted," or
"Yield and overcome," or
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,"
are not idle words.
It is the way of the earth.
23
Silence is our natural state.
Tornadoes don't last all afternoon, nor rainstorms all day.
Stars collapse and planets decay.
Does somebody create these things?
No.
It is the nature of universe.
And if neither the universe nor the earth
can make something last forever, how can humanity?
So it is that those who use natural law as their teacher
will be at one with nature and the universe.
Truth to truth, power to power.
Let go of truth or power, and both will let go of you,
weakness to weakness.
For those who take the path of natural law,
nature is always giving.
For those who take the path of human order and control,
disorder and chaos will be everywhere.
As you trust in the universe
so will you be trusted by others.
24
On tiptoes
I am not steady.
With long strides
I do not walk the fastest or the farthest.
Looking around to see who can be seen
is blindness.
Making myself the center of attention
I am lost.
Judging others
I find myself lacking.
With great claims and projects
I will accomplish nothing.
Pride will bring me a future
in which no one knows who I am.
In nature such traits
are excessive and wasteful.
They rot the person.
Natural beings
avoid them.
25
Even before the earth and the sky existed,
there was already something
something not material, something silent.
Something free -- dependent on nothing, being nothing in itself,
empty and silent, everywhere yet unchanging and inexhaustible.
What was there before the Big Bang?
One can think of it as the pre-origin of the universe,
or god or goddess, or natural law, or physics.
Still, it really has no name.
The way, or the Dao, is simply the nickname I give it.
If I felt compelled to call it something else,
I'd call it "great" because it extends forever
and in going on forever,
it returns back to itself.
The Dao is great, so is the sky, the earth,
and also the human being.
In the universe there are four great things,
and humanity is one of them.
Humanity follows the nature of the earth,
earth follows the nature of the sky,
the sky follows the nature of the Dao,
and the Dao follows its own way -- naturally.
26
Gravity is the basis for judging what is light.
Stasis is the basis for judging activity.
So it is that when wise people travel
they don't stray far from the vehicle.
Even though everything about may be breathtaking,
a wise one
sits
quietly
and peacefully.
Responsibility requires
focus and calm.
One who takes oneself too lightly
loses touch
with the foundation
and ground of being.
One who becomes too active
loses touch
with reality.
27
The best walkers leave no trail
the best speakers neither slip nor offend
the best accountants need no calculator
the safest places have no bolts or locks,
the best friendships have no need of vows or promises,
yet they cannot be broken
the best theology has no god or heaven
yet everyone is saved.
Thus the wise person
helps people, never becoming callous;
helps all living things, never becoming superior.
No one refused, no thing abandoned,
following an inner self-knowledge.
Although the educated are the teachers of the ignorant,
ignorance remains the foundation of knowledge and education.
When teachers lose respect
and students are not cared for,
ignorance prevails.
This is no secret.
28
One who knows religion
and holds close to atheism
is like the valley of the world
into which everything flows.
Being the valley
everything is drawn to it
like the actions of a young child.
Learn the simple and easy, the myths and traditions,
but study the deep and profound, the experiences and insights,
become the model of being.
By becoming the model of being,
loosing the boundaries and limits,
return to the source.
A person who has experienced glory and honor
yet lives a quiet and meager existence
is like the valley of the world.
Everything is drawn to it.
All power is there
all simplicity
all wholeness.
When power is divided, it is cut up up into departments, chain stores,churches, vice presidencies and district managers, ...
So they say, "the best sculptor does the least carving."
29
The person who believes that inner experience
can be governed or controlled or taught
will simply fail.
A person's inner universe is like a house of cards
beautiful, delicate, in perfect balance.
Tamper with it -- it falls.
Glue it together -- it serves no purpose.
In the world of religion
there are leaders and there are followers.
Some people speak a lot while others remain silent.
Some are active, some are passive.
Some ideas remain, others disappear.
The atheist has nothing to do with
absolutes, logical necessity, or agnosticism.
30
If you talk with others about the ways of the dao or atheism
advise them not to use force in action or word
because force returns upon its user
and creates resistance.
Where force is used
to convince or control,
nothing will grow.
Great campaigns against an enemy belief
bring years of animosity and withdrawal.
Do what you must, then withdraw.
Succeed, but do not revel in the results.
Keep your commitments, but do not boast about it.
Accomplish your objective, and be satisfied.
Do what you must, but only because it is the next step
that must be taken to keep from falling.
Without violence, without pride,
nature's way.
Remember that entropy begins
at the moment of accomplishment.
What is not natural will soon perish.
31
Weapons, whether
material, textual, verbal or rational,
are still instruments of fear and violence,
and at times even good people bear them.
Still, the atheist never considers them as proper tools.
To consider weapons adequate tools
means to use them
and to use them
means to hurt and destroy.
The person who enjoys hurting and destroying
will never learn the meaning of life or pleasure.
If in winning, you hurt or destroy,
accept it without joy, as at a funeral
with grief and mourning.
32
The Dao is eternal yet has no definition.
Such a minor concept of no great religion,
it is yet larger than everything put together.
If politicians and priests were able to use it
all beings and things would naturally obey,
the earth would heal,
and prosperity would cover the world.
Without laws there would be peace.
But as soon as a distinction is made,
wondering if it is atheist or theist,
and names given to every type of thing and idea,
definitions come in.
As soon as there are definitions ...
stop.
Knowing that enough is enough prevents trouble.
Like the river to the sea,
everything will come
to the person who is in unison with the Dao.
33
Understanding other people is wisdom,
understanding other religions is knowledge,
understanding oneself is enlightenment.
Strength is necessary to overcome others
power is necessary to overcome oneself.
Being content with what one already has is wealth.
Violence may achieve a quick result
but nothing permanent.
Stay in place, content with what you have,
to live a long life.
Death is a return to the native elements.
34
The follower of the way
is like a hawk
drifting
on unseen currents
back and forth
up and down.
All beings and things
are connected to it
solid or gas
bad or good
fact or fiction
sexual or neuter
nothing is denied
nor is anything controlled.
The way,
although existing in everything,
controls nothing
and seems nonexistent.
Everything follows it
although none of us know how
so it must be something great.
Quality is known
by the lack of its demonstration.
35
The person who follows the way
is invisible to others.
The earth is at one, quiet and peaceful.
Music, good smells, flashing lights
make people curious and want to stop.
Dao, though, is silent, tasteless,
and quite boring to the traveler.
Nothing to see, nothing to hear,
nothing to read, ...
just a tiny pool of water
on the prairie
always there
doing nothing.
36
Shrink to extend
exercise in order to weaken
stabilize for revolt
give in order to receive
die to live.
This is the balance of nature
soft overcomes hard,
weak overcomes strong.
Like a fish below the surface,
power should remain hidden.
37
The way never moves
or does anything
still, everything is done.
If politicians and priests knew this,
everything would be transformed by itself.
If they knew this and still wanted to do something
nothing would happen.
Change would become meaningless,
desire would be lost,
nature would return
to quiet.
38
Intelligent people have no need of degrees or titles or recognitionto display their true knowledge.
Ignorant people need to demonstrate their intelligence in every waypossible, and cannot shake the image of ignorance.
A truly good person does good unconsciously,
has no need of goodness or morality or ethics,
and is not viewed as being good.
An average person works hard at doing
good works and acting morally
but is still regarded as average.
Goodness is complete,
justice is always only partial.
When proper procedure is not followed
righteous people roll up their sleeves and enforce it.
When the path is lost, power remains;
when power is lost, religion remains;
when religion is lost, morality remains;
when morality is lost, patriotism remains.
Patriotism is only the appearance of civility
and is the first step to fighting and war.
Predicting what will happen is only a mirage of the way
and a step off of the path.
The wise person dwells in the here and now
and not in the past, the future, or the may-be,
choosing the fruit for sustenance, not the flower.
Embrace one, reject the other.
39
There are old things that have understood the unity of all ...
the sky is one and clear
the earth is one and solid
beauty is strong
space is one and empty
plants and animals reproduce
politicians and priests govern their people
... all because they are one with the way.
Clearness keeps the sky from falling
solidness keeps the earth from crumbling
meaning allows for beauty
emptiness allows for space and time
sex creates being
people create governments and honor and stability.
Humility is the root of greatness.
The low is the foundation of the high.
That's why politicians and priests make sure that
everybody knows they came from underprivileged families.
A simple case of basing political gain upon humble beginnings.
A list of parts still cannot explain the whole
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Why sound like bells when others sound like chimes?
Why sound at all?
40
Returning is the natural movement of nature.
Letting go is nature's predominant quality.
Even though all being comes from something,
something itself comes from nothing.
41
When good persons hear of the way
they do their best to practice it.
When average persons hear of the way
they like to talk about it.
When lesser persons hear of the way
they disparage it by calling it godless or foreign.
If there were no derision, it would not be the way.
They say the true way,
compared to the light, often looks the darkest;
forward often looks like it goes backward;
flattest often looks the hilliest.
The best looks like the worst,
the clearest is the most obscure,
the most satisfying looks too little,
the strongest looks the weakest,
the most natural looks old and artificial.
The largest circle has no curves
great abilities take the longest to develop
the finest music has the faintest notes
the universe has no shape
the way is hidden, has no name, no map.
How can it? It is everywhere.
42
The way
is one
but soon one is made into two
and two becomes three and four ...
and everything else
all of which contain the elements of yin and yang
dark and light, water and fire, hard and soft, male and female
in whose blend and harmony all existence depends.
No one likes
to come from the lower class
to be poor, hungry, needy
yet politicians and priests gain by calling themselves such.
Still, a person
gains by losing
and loses by gaining,
becomes wise from disadvantage
and ignorant from privilege.
The truths of other religions and philosophies
are the same:
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,
turn the other cheek,
a violent person will die a violent death.
43
The softest
overcomes the hardest.
Having no form to maintain
it can go where there is no space.
Water wears down and splits rock with no intention
this is how I know the value of action that has no motivation.
