He who conquers men has strength,
He who conquers himself has power
He who knows that he has enough is rich,
He who acts with energy has a strong will.
He who fails not to find the Self shall endure,
He who dies, but does not perish, shall endure for ever.
34
Great Tao flows everywhere,
It extends to the left and to the right.
All beings receive It in order to live and be free.
It works out perfectness in them although It possesses not a Name.
It protects them with love and sustains them, but does not claim to be Ruler of their actions.
Always seeking the innermost, you may say that Its Name is in the Small.
All beings return again into It, yet It does not claim to be Ruler of their actions.
You may say that Its Name is in the Great.
That is why, to the end of his life, the self-controlled man is not great in action,
Thus he is able to perfect his greatness.
35
Hold fast the idea of "The Great,"
Then all men will be drawn to you.
They will come to you and receive no hurt,
But rest, peace and great calm.
When you provide music and exquisite food
The traveller will stay with you gladly.
When the Tao flows out from you to him
By his palate he does not detect its savour,
By his eye he cannot perceive it,
By his ears he cannot hear it,
But in using it he finds it to be inexhaustible.
36
If you desire to breathe deeply, you must first empty the lungs.
If you desire to be strong, you must first learn to be weak.
If you desire to be in a lofty position, you must first learn to take a lowly position.
If you desire to be enriched by gifts, you must first give away all that you have.
This is called concealment and enlightenment.
The soft overcomes the hard.
The weak overcomes the strong.
Fish cannot swim safely in shallow waters.
The secrets of government of a kingdom should not be revealed to the people.
37
The activity of Everlasting Tao is in the Inner Kingdom,
It does not act except through the innermost.
If prince and people can maintain it together,
All beings will be transformed from within themselves;
Being transformed, they again desire action.
We must learn to still desire
To obtain in the Inner Life Purity of the Name.
Purity of the Name in the Inner Life
Brings absence of desire;
Absence of desire brings stillness;
Thus shall the world be perfected from within itself.
38
To assume virtue without being really virtuous is to be virtuous from duty;
To be less virtuous, yet not to lose real virtue, is to be virtuous from Inner Life.
Supreme virtue comes through activity of Inner Life; then let us actively seek Inner Life.
TO be less virtuous and to practice it, let us be active in the performance of duty.
To assume benevolence and practice it let us actively seek Inner Life.
To assume right conduct and practice it let us be active in the performance of duty.
To assume expediency and practice it is to find that no one honours it; then it bares the arm, and asserts itself by force.
Therefore, when Tao is lost, follow Virtue; when virtue is lost, follow benevolence; when benevolence is lost, follow right conduct; when right conduct is lost, follow expediency.
Those who are Masters of expediency have in the heart only the shadow of faith; and in the mind only confusion.
Those who are Leaders of politeness have only the husk of Tao, which is the source of ignorance.
That is why the greatest of the Masters abide in the real,
They do not abide in the shadow.
They hold to the fruit, they do not hold to the husk.
Therefore they put away the latter and take hold of the former.
39
These are they which from of Old have obtained Unity.
Heaven obtained Unity by purity;
he earth obtained Unity by repose;
Spiritual beings obtained Unity by lack of bodily form;
The valleys obtained Unity by fulness;
All beings obtained Unity by life;
Princes and people obtained Unity by being under the rule of Heaven.
These all obtained permanence by Unity.
The innermost of Heaven is purity, if not so, it would be obscured;
The innermost of Earth is repose, it not so, it would disintegrate;
The innermost of spiritual beings is lack of bodily form, if not so, they would die;
The innermost of valleys is fulness of water, if not so, they would be sterile;
The innermost of creatures is life, if not so, they would perish.
The high honour of prince and people is in their being together under the rule of Inner Life, if not so, they would soon lose harmony,
The root of honour is in humility,
The standpoint of high estate is in lowliness.
That is why prince and people call themselves orphans, solitary men, chariots without wheels.
The active principle of their Unity is in lowliness.
Who can deny this?
If you take a chariot to pieces, you have no chariot (it has lost its Unity).
Do not desire to be isolated as a single gem, nor to be lost in a crowd as pebbles on the beach.
40
He who returns is sent forth by Tao,
He who is weak is used by Tao.
In the world things are born into existence,
Existing things are born into Inner Life.
41
When great scholars heard of Tao, they diligently followed it.
When mediocre scholars heard of Tao, sometimes they kept it, sometimes they lost it.
When inferior scholars heard of Tao, they laughed at it.
Whether they laugh or whether they follow, Tao remains active.
Therefore the poets have said:
Brightness of Tao seems to be dark,
Progress in Tao seems going back,
The aim of Tao seems confused.
The highest Tao seems lowliest,
Great purity seems full of shame,
The fullest Teh seems incomplete.
Teachers of Teh have lost their zeal
And certain Truth appears to change.
A great square with inner angles,
A great vase unfinished,
A great voice never heard,
A great Image with inner form.
Tao is hid within its Name,
But by Tao the Masters bless,
And all things bring to perfectness.
42
In Tao is Unity of Life,
In Unity is Duality of Life,
In Duality is Trinity of Life,
In Trinity all beings have life.
All beings n the principle of Inertia,
They hold to the principle of Life.
They are brought into deep harmony by the Breath of the Deep.
That which men dislike is to be called orphans, solitary, wheels without naves;
Yet princes and rulers may thus be named.
Therefore some are increased by being diminished,
And some are diminished by being increased.
That which men have taught I also shall teach:
"He who is strong and violent shall not meet with easy death."
I shall in this way teach fundamentals.
43
In the world when we arrive at gentleness we press forward to overcome all hardness.
To possess Inner Life we enter it by our own private doorway.
We do this in order to know in overflowing fulness the possession of activity of Inner Life.
Overflowing fulness of activity of Inner Life
With power to impart it to others without words -
Few men in the world attain to this.
44
Which is more dear to you, your character or your body?
Which do you treasure more, your body or your wealth?
Which makes you more unhappy, to gain or to lose?
But we must sacrifice much to gain true love.
We must suffer great loss to obtain much treasure,
To know contentment is to fear no shame.
To know how to stop is to avoid destruction.
Thus doing, we shall long endure.
45
Esteem lightly your greatest accomplishment, your patience will not fail.
Reckon your great fulness to be emptiness, your strength will not become exhausted.
Count your rectitude as foolishness,
Know your cleverness to be stupidity,
Recognize your eloquence to be stammering words,
And you will find that
As movement overcomes cold, and as stillness overcomes heat, even sol, he who knows the true secret of tranquillity
Will become a pattern for all mankind.
46
When Tao was manifested to men,
Horses were used for cultivating the fields.
When Tao was hid within itself,
War horses were reared on the frontiers.
There is no sin greater than desire,
There is no misfortune greater than discontent,
There is no calamity greater than the wish to acquire,
Therefore to be satisfied is an everlasting sufficiency.
47
Without going out of my door I know the Universe.
Without opening my window I perceive Heavenly Tao.
The more I go abroad, the less I understand.
That is why the self-controlled man arrives without going, names things without seeing them, perfects without activity.
48
By activity in learning we are daily enriched.
By activity of Tao we are daily diminished, diminished and yet more diminished, until we arrive at activity of Inner Life, and activity of Inner Life becomes stillness of Inner Life.
By the practice of Inner Life stillness we can continually conquer all things.
By the practice of returning to possessions, nothing that we conquer will be sufficient for us.
49
The Heart of the self-controlled man is always in the Inner Kingdom.
He draws the hearts of all men into his Heart.
If a man is good, he blesses him;
If a man is not good, still he blesses him with the Blessing of Teh.
If a man is faithful, he is faithful to him,
If a man is not faithful, still he is faithful to him with the Faithfulness of Teh.
The self-controlled man dwells in the world.
Patiently and persistently
He brings the whole world into active community of Heart.
All men turn their ears and their eyes towards him.
They are all children of the self-controlled man.
50
We come into Life, we enter Death.
Three out of ten men follow the way of Life.
Three out of ten men follow the way of Death
Also there are three out of ten who live as men and yet they move on to the place of Death.
What a Master is he, therefore, who takes hold of life, of real Life!
He lives, his ears open to goodness, listening to hidden things.
In travelling, he fears not the rhinoceros nor tiger.
In entering the war-chariot, he dreads not the weapons of the soldier.
Can a rhinoceros with his horn strike the Inner Life?
Can a tiger with his claw tear the Inner Life?
Can a soldier with his weapon pierce the valley of Inner Life?
What a Master is he, therefore, who into the place of Death can bring his Inner Life!
51
Tao gives Life to all beings.
Teh nourishes them.
It gives to each being its form.
It gives the inward urge towards perfectness.
That is why there is no living creature that does not reverence Tao and honour Teh.
The veneration of Tao!
The honour of Teh!
No Master has decreed it,
But eternally it affirms the Self.
Therefore Tao gives Life to all beings,
It nourishes and makes them grow,
It rears them and perfects them,
It sustains, feeds, and protects them.
It gives them Life, but does not possess them.
It gives them activity, but does not depend o them.
It urges them to grow, but does not rule them.
This is called profound Teh.
52
While in the world gain possession of the Life-Spring in order that you may become a World-Mother.
When you have attained to Motherhood you will know your children.
When you know your children you will retain your Motherhood.
Then, though the body may disappear, You will not be hurt.
Close the door of the mouth,
t the doors of the senses,
Throughout life your body will not be fatigued.
Open your mouth,
Increase your business affairs,
Throughout life your body will not be safe.
To perceive the small is called clear vision.
To guard the weak is called strength.
Follow the Light, you will reflect its radiance.
Neglect the Inner Life, your body will meet with calamity.
This is called the eternal heritage.
53
If I have knowledge and resolute faith I shall walk in the Great Tao.
If I fear, I can only behave well outwardly.
Great Tao is very straight, But the people love by-roads.
The palace may be well kept, But the fields may be uncultivated And the granaries empty.
The Princes take more land,
At their girdle they carry a sword,
They eat dainty food,
They take possession of much gold.
That is called glorification of robbery.
It is not Tao.
54
He who is established in goodness shall not be uprooted.
He who cherishes goodness shall not be cast out.
His children to all generations shall be blessed unceasingly.
Cultivate it in the body, your Teh shall become true.
Cultivate it in the family, your Teh shall superabound.
Cultivate it in the village, your Teh shall endure.
Cultivate it in the kingdom, your Teh shall flourish.
Cultivate it in the world, your Teh shall be universal.
Therefore, according to the body, judge the body.
According to the family, judge the family.
According to the village, judge the village.
According to the kingdom, judge the kingdom.
According to the world, judge the world..
How shall I know that there is some faith in the world?
The witness is in itself.
55
He who has his foundation in Teh is like a little child.
Poisonous insects do not sting him, Wild beasts do not seize him, Birds of prey do not strike at him.
His bones are weak, his muscles soft, Yet he can take hold firmly.
He is ignorant of sex, but is full of vitality.
He will grow to maturity.
All day long he shouts and sings.
He will arrive at a knowledge of harmony.
The knowledge of harmony is called eternal.
The knowledge of eternal things is called clear vision.
Increase of life does not always bring happiness.
The life-force that gives birth to human emotion is strong.
Human emotion comes to full power and then grows old.
It is not Tao.
If it is not Tao, it will quickly perish.
