having great depth beneath it.
the sage rules with compassion,
and his word needs to be trusted.
the sage needs to know like water
how to flow around the blocks
and how to find the way through withoutviolence.
Like water, the sage should wait
for the moment to ripen and be right:
water, you know, never fights
it flows around without harm.
9
Hold yourself back from filling yourselfup,
or you'll tip off your stand.
You can hammer a blade until it's razor-sharp-
and in seconds, it can blunt.
You may amass gold and jade in plenty
but then the more you have, the lesssafety...
Are you strutting your wealth likea peacock?
Then you've set yourself up to beshot.
You bring about your own disaster
Because you've got too much.
Let go, when your work is done:
That is the Way of Heaven.
10
Can you nurture your souls by holdingthem
in unity with the One?
Can you focus your ch'i - your energy
and become as supple, as yieldingas a baby?
Can you clear your mind of all itsdross
without throwing out the Tao withit?
Can you do it without self-interest
so you shine like a diamond?
Can you love the people of your nation
without being pulled into action?
Can you turn yourself around and letHer rise up over you?
The world spans out in four directions-
and can you be as embracing?
Birthing, nurturing and sustaining:
the Tao does this unceasingly...
It gives without holding on to whatit's made,
It gives everything essence, withoutreward
It knows, without flaunting it
It is serene, beyond desiring
- and this is its Virtue and its Source.
11
Thirty spokes on a cartwheel
Go towards the hub that is the centre
- but look, there is nothing at thecentre
and that is precisely why it works!
If you mould a cup you have to makea hollow:
it is the emptiness within it thatmakes it useful.
In a house or room it is the emptyspaces
- the doors, the windows - that makeit useable.
They all use what they are made of
to do what they do,
but without their nothingness theywould be nothing.
12
The five colours blind the eye -
The five notes deafen the ear...
The five tastes deaden the mouth:
Riding the chase on horseback overthe fields
drives you crazy when you overdo it;
And wanting what's precious
you do what distorts your being.
The sage knows this in his gut,
And is guided by his instinct
and not by what his eyes want.
13
Most people fret about themselves andtheir status,
but you don't have to do this.
What is success and what is failure?
If you have prestige and favour,
all you worry about is that it'llget taken away.
And if you have a lowly place,
you are still basically afraid.
So both, at the root, make for fear.
What does it mean that success is aproblem?
It means people are too bound up inthemselves.
If they weren't so self-obsessed
they'd have no need to be worried.
If you can put yourself aside -
then you can do things for the wholeof the world.
And if you love the world, like this
then you are ready to serve it.
14
When you gaze at something but see - nothing;
When you listen for a sound but cannothear it;
When you try to grasp it and find ithas no substance
- then these three things
That go beyond your mind
Are moulded together in the One.
Its surface doesn't shine, but noris its base dull.
Given this, it is only knowable asa no-thing.
Confront it - it has no head;
Come behind it, and it has no tail...
If people could follow the ancientway,
then they would be masters of themoment.
And if you know this way
then you have seen the timeless wayof the Tao.
15
In ancient times, the leaders were assubtle as sorcerers.
No one knew what they were about todo.
How can we describe them to you?
They were like soldiers about to crossa cold river,
hesitant, watchful and uncertain.
They were cautious like people whoknow
there is danger.
They were over-polite, like practisedguests.
They gave way like ice, melting
They were simple like uncarved wood
They were empty like deserted valleys
They were muddy like unreflecting water.
The mud will settle, and it is hardto wait for it.
But if you can, then you can act.
If you follow the Tao without pretension
You will never burn yourself out.
16
The sage rules from the purest motives
Relying wholly on quiet and innerpeace.
He watches the seasons rise and fall
And if he knows how things grow, heknow
They are fed by their roots
And return to their roots;
To grow and flower and flow.
Every thing must have its roots,
and the tendrils work quietly underground.
This quite feeding is the Way of Nature.
If you understand ch'ang - this principleof nurturing,
you can understand everything.
Not understanding it will lead youto disaster.
If a sage knows this, he can rule
And he will do so with patience andjustice.
Any man can become wise in this
And he can walk the Way of Heaven
And if you walk that way
you will be royal in the mastery
Life can end in pain
But if you live like this,
under the Tao
You will fill your days with breath.
17
The highest form of government
Is what people hardly even realizeis there.
Next is that of the sage
Who is seen, and loved, and respected.
Next down is the dictatorship
That thrives on oppression and terror-
And the last is that of those who lie
And end up despised and rejected.
The sage says little -
and does not tie the people down;
And the people stay happy
Believing that what happens
happens, naturally.
18
When the Great Tao is lost sight of -
Then people have to try to be kindand gentle.
They try to compensate by being clever
But this only breeds hypocrisy andsleight-of-hand.
When families fall out
relationships sour into useless formality.
When the nation is misled and in chaos
ministers mouth empty promises.
19
If the sage could abandon his wisdom andskill,
Then everyone would be a hundred timesbetter off.
If the sage could let go of holdingthe scales,
Then everyone would flow in the webof harmony...
And if the sage can give up lookingto gain,
Then there will be no theft or exploitation.
Now while these three things are important
they are not enough:
The people themselves need to learnsimplicity.
They shouldn't need to know more thanthey do,
And should have as few things as possible.
20
Listen, give up trying to be so learned
And things will be a lot easier.
Is there really any difference betweena yes
And a no said insincerely?
Is there really much of a difference
Between being angry and pretendingnot to be?
What the people are afraid of I alsoneed to fear.
And what do most people do? They go
looking for a good time.
They go looking for fool's gold
and auspicious signs.
Only, you see, I am lazy
And I don't give a damn about fameor money.
I am like a child who cannot bringhimself to smile.
What do that people want? Money andthings.
And yet I find I have nothing, andI don't care.
I am as unambitious as any fool.
Most people seem to be bright and sharp
And how do I feel? Like a bluntedsword.
The people, the people are like wavesof sea
And I am drifting between them whereverthey are blown.
And the people, the people are so busy!
But I have nothing to bother about.I am a bumpkin, a lout.
I am different, I am strange.
I live for the Mother.
21
The Body of The Tao
is a mist beyond your eyes
Tao of No Body,
and yet within it is All Creation.
Like a seed in the dark, and a dimlight
And from it, comes everything.
Root, stem, leaf . . . its essenceis in everything.
Everything is born from this Tao
I say so, and I can prove it!
From the beginning of time until now
the Tao is eternal because it is Creation.
How do I know the Tao is the root ofall being?
Because
I know this.
22
Learn to yield and be soft
If you want to survive.
Learn to bow
And you will stand in your full height.
Learn to empty yourself
and be filled by the Tao
. . . the way a valley empties itselfinto a river.
Use up all you are
And then you can be made new.
Learn to have nothing
And you will have everything.
Sages always act like this,
and are Children of the Tao.
Never trying to impress, their beingshines forth
Never saying 'this is it', peoplesee what the truth is -
Never boasting, they leave the spacethey can be valued in
And never claiming to be who theyare, people can see them
And since they never argue, no oneargues with them either . . .
So the ancient ones say
'Bend, and you will rule'.
Is this a lie? You'll find it is true.
Be true to yourself, and all will gowell with you.
23
It is a natural thing
to talk sparingly.
And surely, this is right - becauseeven a great wind
and lashing rain do not go on forever.
It is naturally so. Both Heaven andEarth know it.
And if neither can hold on to suchan outpouring for long
what makes people think they can?
If you follow the Tao,
all you do will belong to it.
If you act with Virtue,
All you do will have its power.
If you lose these -
Then everyway you will be lost.
If you go the Way of Tao, it can onlybe with you.
If you go the Way of Virtue, its puritywill sustain you.
But if you go the way of loss, thenthat will be your name;
And if you cannot trust, no one willtrust you.
24
A man on tiptoe
can't walk easily.
The man who strides on ahead is boundto tire.
The kind of person who always insists
on his way of seeing things
can never learn anything from anyone.
Those who always want to be seen
will never help others to be.
The showman is never
secretly respected by anyone.
People like these, say the Wise Ones
are as useless as the left-over foodat the feast:
No true follower can relate to them.
25
Before the world was
And the sky was filled with stars .. .
There was a strange, unfathomable Body.
This Being, this Body is silent
and beyond all substance and sensing.
It stretches beyond everything
spanning the empyrean.
It has always been here, and it alwayswill be.
Everything comes from it, and then
it is the Mother of Everything.
I do not know its name. So I call itTAO.
I am loath to call it 'greater thaneverything',
but it is.
And being greater, it infuses all things
moving far out and returning to theSource.
Tao is Great,
Tao, the Great!
It is greater than Heaven,
Greater than the Earth -
Greater than the king.
These are the four great things,
and the ruler is the least of them.
Humanity is schooled by the Earth;
Earth is taught by Heaven,
And Heaven is guided by the Tao.
And the Tao
goes with what is absolutely natural.
26
What holds, what you can trust
Is the same as this quietness -
And it is light-hearted.
This quiet light-hearted silence
Is the key to being free from emotion.
The sage never abandons the Tao,
HE never lets its weight out of hissight.
He may live in a fabulous house
But he never gets caught up wantingto -
And though there are always temptations,
He stays unswayed, and smiles.
So why is it that our rulers
Seem so bright, but are
Glib and insubstantial?
Losing the weight of the Tao
Means you lose your root;
And when you can't sit still
You lose
the source.
27
The sage who goes by the way leaves notraces
The sage who speaks the true law neverslips up -
He never calculates what profit hecan make from what he does.
He keeps out thieves with wisdom! He'snever robbed -
He makes sure the rules are binding,then no one can undo them:
He is aware of everyone, leaving noone uncounted;
He cares like a parent, and wastesnothing.
This is the essence of harmony.
So, a good man is a model for a badone
And, misguided, he is touched by hisgoodness.
Not to follow a teacher here
Or to love his precious message
Is to lose the Way, however cleveryou are -
This is the essence of the matter.
28
Understand the thrust of the yang -
But be more like the yin in your being.
Be like a valley
that parts to its stream;
Be like a stream
for the earth . . .
And channel it,
so it flows - to the sea.
Be newborn - be free of yourself,
be humble,
be earthy,
be a valley for the whole world.
Be a channel for the energies here-
weave them in a true and practicalway
so they can link up with the Way andbecome one again.
Oneness generates everything:
When the sage rules in the light ofit,
He rules everything.
A wise man never tries to break upthe Whole.
29
If a rules behaves as if he's inventedthe world,
He will do no good at all.
The earth is a sacred vessel -
and it cannot be owned or improved.
If you try to possess it, you willdestroy it:
If you try to hold on to it - youwill lose it.
Some are leaders, then, and other follow.
Some drift like the wind, and otherdrive hard.
Some are thick-skinned, and otherhave no armour;
