When people try,
They usually fail just on the brink of success.
If one is as cautious at the outset as at the end,
One cannot fail.
Therefore the Sage desires nothing so much
as to be desireless.
She does not value rare and expensive goods.
She unlearns what she was once taught
And helps the people regain what they have lost;
To help every being assume its natura way of being,
And not dare to force anything.
65
In ancient times those who followed the Tao
Did not try to educate the people.
They chose to let them be.
The reason people become hard to govern
Is that they think they know it all.
So, if a leader tries to lead through cleverness,
He is nothing but a liability.
But if a leader leads, not through cleverness, but
through goodness, this is a blessing to all.
To be always conscious of the Great Pattern
Is a spiritua virtue.
Spiritua virtue is awesome and infinite
And it leads All things back to their Source.
Then there emerges the Great Harmony.
66
Rivers and the sea are able to rule the streams of a hundred valleys.
Because they are good at taking the lower position,
The streams of a hundred valleys run to them.
Therefore, if you want to rule effectively over people
You must surely speak as if below them.
If you want to lead well,
You must surely walk behind them.
That way when the Sage takes a position of power
The people will not fee oppressed.
And when the Sage leads
The people will not think he is in the way.
Therefore the whole world joyfully praises him
and does not tire of him.
Because he refuses to compete,
The world cannot compete with him.
67
Everyone says this Tao of mine is great and nebulous.
So great, in fact, that it is too nebulous
To be of any use.
I have three treasures that I hold and cherish:
One is called "compassion"
Another is called "moderation"
And the third is called "daring not to compete."
With compassion, one is able to be brave.
With moderation, one has enough to be generous with others.
Without competition, one is fit to lead.
Nowadays people don't bother with compassion But just try to be brave.
They scoff at moderation
And find they have little enough for themselves.
They step on people in their rush to be first---
This is death!
One who is compassionate in warfare is victorious
And in defense he holds fast.
When Heaven moves to save someone
It protects him through compassion.
68
The best soldier is not violent.
The best fighter is not driven by anger.
The true conqueror wins without confrontation.
The best employer is humble before his employees.
I say there is much good in not competing.
I call it using the power of the people.
This is known as being in tune with Heaven, Like the Sages of old.
69
The military has a saying:
"I would rather be passive, like a guest
than aggressive, like a host.
I would rather retreat a foot
than advance an inch."
This is called going forward without instigating,
Engaging without force
Defense without hatred
Victory without weapons.
There is no greater calamity than underestimating the enemy.
If I take my enemy too lightly, I am in danger of losing my
compassion, moderation and non-competitive spirit.
So, when two armies confront each other
Victory will go to them that grieve.
70
My words are very easy to understand
And very easy to practice.
Yet the World is not able to understand
Nor able to put them into practice.
My words speak of the primal.
My deeds are but service.
Unless people understand this
They won't understand me.
And since so few understand me,
Then such understanding is rare and valuable indeed.
Therefore the Sage wears common clothes
And hides his treasures only in his heart.
71
She who knows that she does not know is the best off.
He who pretends to know but doesn't is ill.
Only someone who realizes he is ill can become whole.
The sage is not il because she recognizes this illness as illness,
Therefore she is not ill.
72
When people lose their fear of power
Then great power has indeed arrived.
Do not intrude on the people's materia living.
Do not despise their spiritua lives, either.
If you respect them, you will be respected.
Therefore the Sage knows himself,
But he is not opinionated.
He loves himself, but he is not arrogant.
He lets go of conceit and opinion, and embraces self-knowledge and
love.
73
A soldier who has the courage to fight will eventually be killed.
But one who has the courage not to fight will live.
In these two, one is good and the other harmful.
Who knows why Heaven allows some things to happen?
Even the Sage is stumped sometimes.
The Way of Heaven Does not compete, but is good at winning;
Does not speak, yet always responds;
Does not demand, but is usually obeyed;
Seems chaotic, but unfolds a most excellent plan.
Heaven's net is cast wide
And though its meshes are loose,
Nothing is ever lost.
74
If people do not fear death
How can you threaten them with it?
If people live in constant fear of death,
Because those who break the law are seized and killed,
Who would dare to break the law?
There has always been an officia executioner.
If you take the law into your own hands
And try to take his place, It is like trying to take the place of a
master carpenter
In which case you would probably hurt your hands.
75
The people are starving because their leaders eat up
All their money in taxes.
And so, they are hungry.
The people are rebellious
Because their leaders are intrusive.
And so, they protest.
The people make light of death because their leaders
live so well at their expense.
And so, they expect death.
Therefore, it seems that one who does not grasp this life
too tightly is better off than one who clings.
76
When people are alive they are soft and weak.
At their death they are hard and rigid.
All young things, including grass and trees
Are soft and frail.
At their death they are withered and dry.
So, All that are hard and rigid take the company of death.
Those who are soft and weak take the company of life.
Therefore, powerfu weapons will not succeed
(Remember that strong and tal trees
are the ones that are cut down).
The strong and rigid are broken and laid low.
The soft and weak will always overcome.
77
The Tao of Heaven is like the stringing of a bow.
The high is pressed down and the low is raised up.
The string that is too long is shortened
and the string that is too short is added to.
Heaven's Way is to take from what has too much
And give it to what does not have enough.
This is not the way of men, however,
For they take from those who have little
To increase the wealth of the rich.
So who is it that has too much
and offers it to a needy World?
Only someone who knows the Tao.
Therefore, the Sage works anonymously.
She achieves great things
But does not wait around for praise.
She does not want her talents to attract attention to her.
78
In the whole World nothing is softer or weaker than water.
And yet even those who succeed when attacking the hard and the strong
cannot overcome it
Because nothing can harm it.
The weak overcomes the strong.
The soft conquers the hard.
No one in the World can deny this
Yet no one seems to know how to put it into practice.
Therefore the Sage says
"One who accepts a peoples" shame is qualified to rule it.
One who embraces a condemned people.
is called the king of the Universe."
True words seem paradoxical.
79
When enemies are reconciled, some resentment invariably remains.
How can this be healed?
Therefore the Sage makes good on his half of the deal
And demands nothing of others.
One who is truly good will keep his promise.
One who is not good will take what he can.
Heaven doesn't choose sides
It is always with the good people.
80
It is best to have smal communities with few people.
And although they have goods and equipment in abundance
few of them are even used.
They have great love of life,
and are content to be right where they are.
And although they have boats and carriages,
There is no place they particularly want to go.
And although they have access to weapons and machineries
of war, they have no desire to show them off.
Let people return to simplicity, working with their own hands.
Then they will find joy in their food
Beauty in their simple clothes
Peace in their living
Fulfillment in their traditions.
And although they live within sight of neighboring states
And their roosters and dogs are heard by one another
The people are content to grow old and die
Without having gone to see their neighbor states.
81
True words are not beautifull.
Beautifu words are not true.
Good people do not argue.
Argumentative people are not good.
The wise are not necessarily well-educated.
The well-educated are not necessarily wise.
The Sage does not hoard things.
The more she does for others
The more she finds she has.
The more she gives to others
The more she finds she gains.
Heaven's Way is to nourish, not to harm.
The Sage's Way is to work, yet not compete.
English_MacHovec_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
English interpretation by
Frank J. MacHovec, 1962
Vorwort/Foreword
Within the pages of
this little book
lies the key to the
Mastery of Life
THE Tao Teh Ching, 擳he book of Tao and how to attain it? is at least 2.500 years old. As an ancient nature philosophy it is surely much older, having been passed down from one generation to another before the advent of writing.
Tao (pronounced Dow) is a word which defies literal translation into English. It has been translated as Nature, The Way, Ultimate Reality, Truth, God, Enlightenment, or The Absolute. None of these is adequate.
Teh (pronounced Duh) has also been variously translated: as Integrity, Virtue, Character, Honor, Reason, Best Conduct, Intelligence or True Wisdom. It is the highest human attainment; but again, it defies accurate translation.
Ching means 攂ook?
Legend has it that the Tao Teh Ching was written by Laotse ?which in Chinese would sound like Louis. Laots means 攚orshipful master?or 攚ise teacher? When Laotse was ninety years old, so the legend goes, he left his work as Keeper of the Archives to go into the hills, there to await death. But the frontier guards would not let him pass until he had written down his wisdom for future generations. Thus, the Tao Teh Ching was written.
There is no known original manuscript of The Book of Tao in existence; all we have are copies of copies. It is composed of eighty-one sutras or 攕trands of thought?in five thousand Chinese picture-words. Most translations list the sutras in strict numerical order despite the fact that, over the centuries, they appear to have become disarranged. The present version is devided into four parts, with sutras arranged according to content. The traditional sutra number is listed in brackets at the end of each.
The symbol of Tao is Yin-Yang. The basic circle of this symbol denotes the universality of its application. The black portion (Yin) and the white portion (Yang) allude to the nature of conflict, of differences, of paradox. In it is the interrelationship of male and female, the interplay of winter and summer, day and night, right and wrong, liberal and conservative, simple and difficult, etc. In the darkest Yin there is a spot of Yang; in the lightest Yang there is a trace of Yin.
The Book of Tao was never meant to be scholarly. It was spoken, perhaps chanted, before writing was known, in simple language so that everyone could, with thought, understand it. That is also the object of this translation.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Note: For the collections technical demands, the chapters were rearranged to their common order. The four parts defined by the author, are the following:
PART I ? TAO
SUTRAS ON THE NATURE OF TAO
Chapters: 1, 25, 4, 14, 32, 34, 41, 47, 56, 77, 51, 62, 73, 40
PART II ? TEH
SUTRAS ON THE NATURE OF TEH
Chapters: 21, 8, 78, 23, 5, 54, 38, 81, 33, 44, 67, 55, 16, 27, 49, 12, 26, 10, 50, 50, 20, 70
PART III ? YIN-YANG
SUTRAS ON THE NATURE OF PARADOX
Chapters: 35, 2, 9, 24, 29, 28, 43, 63, 42, 45, 64, 76, 13, 11, 48, 7, 52, 22, 37, 6
PART IV ? TAO AND THE STATE
Taoist philosophy in leadership, education, government, and war
Chapters: 15, 53, 46, 71, 19 (*20), 17, 66, 3, 39, 58, 59, 65, 60, 36, 57, 72, 75, 61, 79, 80, 74, 31, 30, 69, 68
1
The Tao described in words is not the real Tao. Words cannot describe it. Nameless it is the source of creation; named it is the mother of all things.
To see Tao the observer must be motiveless. Those with selfish motives see only the surface, not the innermost depths. These two kinds of observers look alike but differ in the insight of their observations.
They look alike because they are both human; within humanity is the key to the door of creation.
2
Whenever the most beautiful is perceived, ugliness arises, the least beautiful. Whenever good is perceived, evil exists, its natural opposite.
Thus, perception involves opposites; reality and fantasy are opposing thoughts; difficult and simple oppose in degree; long and short oppose in distance; high and low oppose in height; shrill and deep oppose in tone; before and after oppose in sequence.
The truly wise accept this and they work diligently without allegiance to words. They teach by doing, not by saying; are genuinely helpful, not discriminating; are positive, not possessive; do not proclaim their accomplishments, and because they do not proclaim them, credit for them can never be taken away.
