How can this be considered good?
Therefore the sage holds the left part of the contract
But does not demand payment from the other person
Those who have virtue hold the contract
Those without virtue hold the collections
The Heavenly Tao has no favorites
It constantly gives to the kind people
It doesn't matter how we say "no hard feelings," after a bitter dispute, there's bound to be ill-will and negative feelings. This cannot be a good thing.
Sages don't get into disputes in the first place because they give to others without expecting anything in return. It is as if they hold the left half of the lending agreement - the lender's copy - but do not use it to extract loan payments from the borrower.
Those who possess virtue are like the sages. Metaphorically speaking, they also hold the left half of the lending agreement. They give; they do not take.
Those who lack virtue are like the tax collectors. It is as if they hold the collections notice over other people. They take from everyone and give to no one.
Given this is the case, how can it be that generous souls prosper while misers seem to be forever pinching pennies? Shouldn't those who only take end up with more than those who only give?
It is not because the Tao plays favorites and treats giving people better. It is because the karmic principle - the Law of Cause and Effect - ensures that those who give in accordance with the Tao will always receive abundantly.
Notes
When the ancient Chinese people began building their civilization some five thousand years ago, they found themselves in need of a way to keep track of debts.
The method had to somehow be proof against forgery, so less trustworthy individuals wouldn't borrow funds and then deny it or claim a smaller amount. Also, this was back in the days before the invention of paper, so that made the problem even more difficult.
What they came up with was clever. Lender and borrower would get a piece of wood or tree bark, and carve the record of their transaction and agreement on it. Then, this contract would be split apart in the middle. The left part goes to the lender; the right to the borrower.
Thus, the left side of the contract is the lender's proof that he has a right to demand payments. When the loan has been paid, the lender gives the left side to the borrower, thus making the contract whole.
Because the tear in the wood or bark is uneven, it serves as the perfect and natural way to authenticate. A forged left side will never be able to match the right side - a brilliant solution.
The Tao of Giving
Someone who gives in accordance with the Tao observes the following guidelines:
1) Appropriate amount. Tao cultivators would not give so much that they damage their own ability to continue giving in the future. The important thing is to be like a small stream that keeps flowing, as opposed to an upended barrel that splashes water everywhere and has no more to give.
2) Detachment. Tao cultivators give with no expectations or attachments. They give only for the sake of giving, not to win recognition or showcase their generosity.
3) Based on need. Tao cultivators look for opportunities where giving would make the most significant difference for someone in need. In a snowstorm, they would deliver coal to someone who has trouble staying warm. This may not be very expensive to do, but it has meaning for the recipient that is priceless.
4) Not necessarily tangible. Tao cultivators recognize that material things and monetary values are not the only ways to give. They are also ready to give an encouraging word, a cheery greeting, a smile, a blessing, a pat on the back, a helping hand, recognition, forgiveness, courtesy, praise.... The world is full of wonderful ways to give.
80
Small country, few people
Let them have many weapons but not use them
Let the people regard death seriously
And not migrate far away
Although they have boats and chariots
They have no need to take them
Although they have armors and weapons
They have no need to display them
Let the people return to tying knots and using them
Savor their food, admire their clothes
Content in their homes, happy in their customs
Neighboring countries see one another
Hear the sounds of roosters and dogs from one another
The people, until they grow old and die
Do not go back and forth with one another
The ideal place is a small country with few people in it. This place is free of conflict and strife. Even though they have hundreds of military instruments, they don't need to use them. The people treat life-and-death issues with serious regard, and do not need to risk their lives in a dangerous migration to faraway places.
Peace prevails in such a place, so even though the people have boats and chariots, they have no need to use them to get away from this country. Similarly, even though they are no pacifists and possess armors and weapons, they have no need to show aggression by putting them on display.
The people live simply and return to the old way of life. They make full use of simple solutions, such as tying knots to record events. Their food is not elaborate, but they find it delicious; their clothes are not extravagant, and yet beautiful in their elegant simplicity. Their homes are not luxurious, but they feel content, safe and comfortable in them. Their customs are down-to-earth, and yet they find them sincere, direct, and joyful.
This country and its neighbors are not far apart. They are within visual range of one another, as well as hearing range. While in one country, one can hear the dogs and roosters of a neighboring country.
Despite the close distance between them, there is no friction among these countries. The people of the region grow old and die without ever getting into petty squabbles with one another. Because they are content and peaceful, they simply do not engage in back-and-forth deception, contention and retribution with their neighbors.
81
True words are not beautiful
Beautiful words are not true
Those who are good do not debate
Those who debate are not good.
Those who know are not broad of knowledge
Those who are broad of knowledge do not know
Sages do not accumulate
The more they assist others, the more they possess
The more they give to others, the more they gain
The Tao of heaven
Benefits and does not harm
The Tao of sages
Assists and does not contend
Sincere words, spoken honestly, may be blunt and direct. People who wish to avoid the truth will not find them pleasant.
Soothing, flowery words that appeal to vanity are not truthful. Such words distort reality in order to deceive or manipulate.
Those who are good in the art of living recognize the futility of arguments, and therefore wisely refrain from engaging in debates. Sages who possess Te let actions reveal their virtues; they have no need to explain themselves with words.
Conversely, someone who is overly argumentative - and thus constantly debates against others - is a person lacking the skill to live a life free of anger and stress. We should also beware of those who constantly explain themselves with glib words, for they do not possess real virtue.
Those who possess true mastery of knowledge have no wish to acquire shallow learning in a broad spectrum of subjects. Someone who really knows, understands that the great Tao lives in the heart. There is no need to search for the Tao all over the place.
Conversely, if someone claims to know something about everything, then chances are excellent that this person has little mastery of any one subject. Being obsessed with a wide variety of book knowledge is a sign of someone who has not yet found the Tao within.
Sages have no need to accumulate worldly knowledge or goods, because they find contentment and abundance in helping and giving. The more they render assistance, the more fulfillment they possess; the more they give to people, the more blessings and wisdom they acquire.
Sages recognize that the positive, uplifting Tao of heaven benefits all living things and does not harm them. In emulating this, sages also seek to benefit others by helping them, and refrain from harming them with contention.
Notes
The first two lines, True words are not beautiful / Beautiful words are not true, can be misused. Sometimes, people who want to criticize others out of malice may use them as justification.
The difference between such people and sages is in terms of intention. When sages speak plainly and truthfully, they do so out of the intention to assist or benefit others - sages have no wish to harm other people with words, or initiate an argument with them.
Oftentimes we think we are helping friends by arguing with them (to "make them see"), but because this brings contention into the relationship, it is usually more harmful than helpful. People are hardly at their best when a debate causes them to become defensive and unyielding.
Another important point related to the first two lines is that sages do not give insincere praise. Saying what people want to hear (beautiful words) may make them feel comfortable in the short term, but if such words distort or conceal reality, they can only lead to harm in the long run.
English_Lindauer_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
Chinese - English by
David Lindauer
1
A tao that one can tao
Is not the entire tao
A name that one can name
Is not the entire name.
In the absence of names
Lies the origin of heavens and earth
The presence of names
Is mother to the 10000 things.
So viewing entireness without desire
One may see subtleties
Viewing entireness with desire
One may see boundaries.
That which is these both
Goes about as itself yet there are different names.
Categorizing them together there is insight
Very deep insight
The gateway to collective subtleties.
2
In the world each knows how beauty acts
Where there is beauty ugliness begins
Each knows how to value
Where there is value lack of value begins.
In this manner
Presence and absence give birth to each other
Difficult and easy complete each other
Long and short contrast each other
High and low attract each other
Tone and voice harmonize each other
Front and back follow each other.
Appropriately it happens that sages
Dwell absent of acting with effort
Do things without explaining in words
Make the 10000 things blend yet without trying to describe them
Give birth yet without possessing
Act yet without relying on results
Are of outstanding service yet aren't willing to reside therein.
In the end, only be unwilling to reside therein
Appropriately, a lack of detachment happens.
3
Being without esteem for principles
Results in people who do not contend
Being without treasuring goods difficult to obtain
Results in people who do not act as thieves
Being without seeing what one can desire
Results in the minds of people not being confused.
Appropriately the governing of sages happens.
Baring the mind
Solidifying the center
Lessening the will
Strengthening self-nature
These entirely result in people
Who are absent of knowing and absent of desire
In the end they also result in the wise not venturing to act.
Acting absent of acting
An absence of being without governing follows.
4
Tao, like an empty bowl
Being used somehow lacks fullness.
Such breadth!
It seems to be a model for the 10000 things.
Blunting what is sharp
Untying what is tangled
Harmonizing what is bright
Being together with the dusty earth.
Such depth!
It seems to somehow exist.
I have no knowledge whose child it is
It appears to precede the emperors.
5
Heavens and earth are without humanizing
It happens that the 10000 things act as straw dogs
Sages are without humanizing
It happens that one hundred families act as straw dogs.
The space bounding heavens and earth is just like the equal of a bellows
Empty yet not subdued
Stirring yet more goes out.
Much talk counts for little
It can't compare to obeying the center.
6
The valley spirit has no death
It is appropriately called the all-embracing female
The gateway of The all-embracing female
Is appropriately called the root of heavens and earth.
Continuous, soft, it looks like it exists-
It is infrequently used.
7
Heavens, growth, earth, longevity.
In heavens and earth's place
That which is able to grow and further be long-lasting happens
And something lacking existence of a self happens
So it is able to grow and give birth.
Appropriately it happens that sages
Put their bodies behind yet their bodies are ahead
Put their bodies outside yet their bodies are kept in.
Does it not happen they are absent of anomalous self-interest?
So they are able to perfect self-interest.
8
Better value looks like water
The value if water profits the 10000 things yet without contending
It dwells in places the collective mind dislikes-
So it is severed, relating to tao.
The value of a home is in location
The value of a mind is in breadth
The value of a relationship is in humanity
The value of a word is in belief
The value of a government is in governing
The value of an effort is in ability
The value of a movement is in time.
In the end only be without contending
So be absent from reproach.
9
Holding yet being full
Lacks compare to not yet being so
A sword blade being oversharpened
Cannot long remain so
A living room full of gold and jade
There is noone able to guard it
Abundant treasures yet arrogance
Self-condemnation, self-punishment.
Outstanding service performed
The body withdrawing
The tao of the heavens.
10
In containing life-force and embracing oneness
Is the ability to be absent from departing equal?
In gently extending animus alone
Is the ability to be as a newborn child equal?
In cleansing and clearing insightful discernment
Is the ability to be absent of flaws equal?
