20
If we stop fussing about grammatical trivialities, we will get along much better. The difference between "Yes" and "ya" is insignificant as compared with a genuine distinction like "Good" and "Bad".
Yet some people are as fearful of making a grammatical mistake as of committing a vital error. How stupid to waste our lives in infinite details!
While others enjoy devoting themselves to ceremonious holiday celebrations, such as the spring festivals, I stay at home as unperturbed as a helpless babe.
So while others are feasting, I appear neglected. Am I the one who is a misguided fool?
When everyone else is exuberant, I continue to be disinterested. When everyone else is alert to the niceties of etiquette, I persist in being indifferent. I am as unconcerned as the rolling ocean, without a care to bother me.
While others behave like busybodies, I alone remain placid and resist arousement. How can I withstand the pressure of public opinion? Because I am succored by Mother Nature herself.
21
Intelligence consists in acting according to Nature.
Nature is something which can neither be seen nor touched. Yet all of the forms which can possibly be seen or touched are latent within it. And all of the things that will actually be seen or touched are embedded as potentialities within it. Deep in its depths are activating forces. No matter how unplumbable the depths, these forces unfailingly sustain the world as it appears to us.
From the beginning until now, they have never ceased to express themselves in appearances.
How do I know all this to be so? It is intuitively self-evident, for every existing thing testifies to it, including what appears right here and now.
22
Submit to Nature if you would reach your goal. For, whoever deviates from Nature's way, nature forces back again. Whoever gives up his desire to improve upon Nature will find Nature satisfying all his needs. Whoever finds his desires extinguished will find more desires arising of their own accord. Whoever desires little is easily satisfied. Whoever desires much suffers frustration.
Therefore, the intelligent person is at one with Nature, and so serves as a model for others.
By not showing off, he is exemplary. By not asserting that he is right, he does the right thing. By not boasting of what he will do, he succeeds in doing more than he promises.
By not gloating over his successes, his achievements are acclaimed by others. By not competing with others, he achieves without opposition.
Therefore the old saying is not idle talk: "Submit to Nature if you would reach your goal." For that is the only genuine way.
23
Things which act naturally do not need to be told how to act. The wind and rain begin without being ordered, and quit without being commanded. This is the way with all natural beginnings and endings.
If Nature does not have to instruct the wind and the rain, how much less should man try to direct them?
Whoever acts naturally is Nature itself acting. And whoever acts unintelligently is unintelligence in action.
By acting naturally, one reaps Nature's rewards. So by acting intelligently, one achieves intelligent goals. Whereas by acting unintelligently, one comes to an unintelligent end.
Those who do not trust Nature as a model cannot be trusted as guides.
24
One who tries to stand on tiptoe cannot stand still. One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk.
One who advertises himself to much is ignored. One who is too insistent on his own views finds few to agree with him.
One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves. One who is too proud is soon humiliated.
These, when judged by the standards of Nature, are condemned as "Extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity." Therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremes.
25
There exists something which is prior to all beginnings and endings, Which, unmoved and unmanifest, itself neither begins nor ends. All-pervasive and inexhaustible, it is the perpetual source of everything else,
For want of a better name, I call it Nature. If I am forced to describe it, I speak of it as "ultimate reality."
Ultimate reality involves initiation of growth, initiation of growth involves completion of growth, and completion of growth involves returning to that whence it came.
Nature is ultimate, the principle of initiating is ultimate, and the principle of perfecting is ultimate. And the intelligent person is also ultimate. Four kinds of ultimate, then, exist, and the intelligent man is one of them.
Man devotes himself to satisfying his desires, fulfilling his purposes, realizing his ideals, or achieving his goals. But goals are derived from aims. And all aiming is Nature's aiming, and is Nature's way of being itself.
26
Saneness or sobriety is more basic than frivolity. Calmness or self-sufficiency is superior to being agitated.
Therefore the intelligent man, though he goes on a long journey, will never depart far from his means of conveyance. No matter how exciting the distractions, he never submits to their lures.
What would happen if Nature were to act frivolously?
If it became frivolous, it would be deprived of its sanity. If it became agitated, it would lose control of itself.
27
The wise traveler has no need to retrace his steps. The effective speaker does not need to repeat himself. The generous trader needs no scales.
The self-closing door needs no bolt, for it will not open itself even though it is not forced to stay t. Things which go together naturally do not have to be tied; for they will not separate even without bonds.
Therefore the intelligent man expresses his beneficence to other men by accepting each man's own way as best for himself. And he performs the same service for all other beings, for he willingly recognizes that, by following its own nature, each thing does the best that can be done for it.
This may be called the two-pronged lesson: Bad men can learn from the good man's successes. Good men can learn from the bad man's failures.
Whoever despises such teachers, whether good or bad, or who fails to appreciate such lessons, Even though he may be a "walking encyclopedia," is really a misguided fool. This is the secret of wisdom.
28
He who knows how to be aggressive, and yet remains patient, becomes a receptacle for all Nature's lessons. Being thus receptive, he continually reembodies intelligence, and recuperates his primal nature.
He who knows how to be brilliant, and yet remains demure, becomes the ideal which all things have as their ultimate goal. Being thus the ideal, he actualizes the unending goal of existence, and reinstates his primordial condition of perfect self sufficiency.
He who know how to be proud, and yet remains humble, becomes the recipient of all Nature's bounties. Being thus receptive, he reintegrates intrinsic goodness, and restores primitive wholeness.
Intrinsic goodness, when devoted to varieties of uses, functions as instrumental value. When the intelligent man employs instrumental values, he treats them as means to ends, For he is concerned with the ultimate ends, never mistaking the means as ends in themselves.
29
Whenever someone sets out to remold the world, experience teaches that he is bound to fail.
For Nature is already as good as it can be. It cannot be improved upon. He who tries to redesign it, spoils it. He who tries to redirect it, misleads it.
Consider how Natures operates: Some things precede while others follow. Some things blow one way while some blow another. Some things are strong while others are weak. Some things are going up while others are going down.
Therefore the intelligent man avoids both extremes, nning excess in one way as well as in the other.
30
Whoever tries to help Nature run itself does not need to use force. For force will be met with force, and wherever force is used fighting and devastation follows.
After the battle come years of destitution.
He who is wise lets well enough alone. He does not press a victory by further conquest.
When peace has been restored, he does not behave like an arrogant victor. When security has been regained, he does not gloat like a conqueror. When he gets what he needs, he does not destroy those who have been defeated. Whenever he does something which he has to do, he does it without cruelty.
When things reach maturity, they decay of themselves. So cruelty is unnatural. Whoever acts unnaturally will come to an unnatural finish.
31
Weapons have a negative value, for they create fear in others. Therefore, the follower of Nature avoids them.
For when among intimates, one naturally prefers the gentler, more trusting, position on the left. And when among enemies, one naturally jockeys for the more strategic position on the right.
Since weapons have a negative value, the intelligent man will have nothing to do with them if he can. But when he is forced to use them, he does so with reluctance and restraint.
He does not admire conquest. For whoever desires to conquer desires to kill. And whoever delights in murder, cannot inherit the earth.
When things go well, we signify this by honouring the position on the left. When ills prevail, we symbolize this by giving precedence to the position on the right. In military parades, the second in command, who is ordered to give orders, takes his place on the left, While the first in command, who by himself undertakes to give orders, takes the right hand position. There is a significant similarity between fighting and funerals.
Just as the slaughter of many people should be accomplished by weeping and mourning, So the positions in a victory parade should properly parallel those in a funeral procession.
32
Nature is always indeterminable. Although, in its original simplicity, it may appear to be helpless, no one else can tell it what to do.
If legislators and administrators could keep this in mind, everybody would obey their laws without enforcement.
When opposites supplement each other, everything is harmonious. Without compulsion, each supports the other.
But when boundaries between opposites appear, then the boundary lines are marked out. Once one begins to differentiate between one thing and another, how will we know where to stop? To know when to stop making distinctions is to be free from error.
The true relationship of every determinate thing to Nature is reintegrative, like all the rivers and rivulets ever running to their ocean.
33
He who knows much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more intelligent.
He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.
He who receives his happiness from others may be rich, but he who whose contentment is self-willed has inexhaustible wealth.
He who occupies a place provided for him by others may live a long life, but he who dwells in his own self-contained place, even though he decays, is eternal.
34
Ultimate reality is all-pervasive; it is immanent everywhere.
All other things owe their existence to it and draw their sustenance from it, without anyone being refused. Having created and and nurtured them, it does not demand title to them. Even though it has provided for all, it refuses to dominate over a single one.
Since it asks nothing in return for its services, it may appear as of little worth.
But all things return home to it again, even though they do not know that they are being called home. Therefore it may be thought of as ultimate.
Since it never claims ultimacy for itself, it is, by that very fact, ultimate indeed.
35
He who grasps the ultimate structure of reality draws everyone to him. They approach him without being harmed, but find security, satisfaction, and contentment.
Particular goods of various kinds attract the interests of men as they travel through life.
But the all-pervasive way of Nature attracts no attention to itself (for its true nature is not found to be in particulars). Even though it is present in the mouth, it remains untasted. Even though it is embedded in all objects, it remains unseen. Even though it permeates sound, it remains unheard. Yet, no matter how much we use it, it can never be exhausted.
36
The purpose of contracting (returning to Nature) is served by expanding (emerging out of Nature in the first place). The purpose of weakening (subsiding or satisfying of desire) is served by strengthening (arousing the will to live). The purpose of decline (of individual self-assertion) is served by arising (of individuality). The purpose of taking away (culminating or perfecting life) is served by being given (ie., "the last of life for which the first was made").
This is the most penetrating insight into the way of life. The giving in or finishing always triumphs over the starting out.
Just as a fish should not be taken out of water, So a sword should never be taken from its scabbard.
37
Nature never acts, yet it activates everything.
If legislators and administrators would behave likewise, each thing would develop in accordance with its own nature. Just as, when things develop, those which become passionate are restrained by that passionless one which activates them,
So the way to restrain men's passions is by dispassionate restraint. And thus all passions will subside.
38
Intelligent control appears as uncontrol or freedom. And for that reason it is genuinely intelligent control. Unintelligent control appears as external domination. And for that reason it is really unintelligent control.
Intelligent control exerts influence without appearing to do so. Unintelligent control tries to influence by making a show of it.
The generous giver gives because he wants to give. The dutiful giver gives because he wants to receive. Whenever a regulation is imposed from above, it is not willingly obeyed. Then effort is used to enforce it.
But when Nature's spontaneous activity disappears, then intelligent action is called for. But when intelligent action is unavailable, then intuitive generosity may be appealed to. But when intuitive sympathy is lacking, principles of morality may be invoked. But where morality is ineffective, laws are enacted.
But where law is enforced, spontaneous and sincere loyalty declines, and disintegration of the harmonious society sets in. Thus valuing law as an end in itself results in minimizing fidelity to Nature itself. Knowledge of law appears at once as a flowering of Nature's way and as the source of error.
