One who gives himself to his position surely lives long
One who gives himself to Tao surely lives forever
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The great Tao flows everywhere
It fills everything to the left and to the right
All things owe their existence to it and it cannot deny any one of them
Tao is eternal
It does not favour one over the other
It brings all things to completion without their even knowing it
Tao nourishes and protects all creatures yet does not claim lordship over them
So we class it with the most humble
Tao is the home to which all things return yet it wants nothing in return
So we call it 揟he Greatest?br> The Sage is the same way ?br> He does not claim greatness over anything
He抯 not eve aware of his own greatness
Tell me, what could be greater than this?
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Hold fast to the Great Form within and let the world pass as it may
Then the changes of life will not bring pain but contentment, joy, and well-being
Music and sweets are passing pleasures yet they cause people to stop
How bland and insipid are the things of this world when one compares them with Tao!
One tastes, but the sweetness turns bitter
One sees, but the colours grow faint
One hears, but the sound fades into silence
One may look for fulfillment in this world but his longings will never be exhausted
The only thing he ever finds is that he himself is exhausted
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Contraction pulls at that which extends too far
Weakness pulls at that which strengthens too much
Ruin pulls at that which rises too high
Loss pulls at life when you fill it with too much stuff
The lesson here is called 揟he wisdom of obscurity br> The gentle outlast the strong
The obscure outlast the obvious
Hence, a fish that ventures from deep water is soon snagged by a net
A country that reveals its strength is soon conquered by an enemy
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Tao does not act yet it is the root of all action
Tao does not move yet it is the source of all creation
If princes and kings could hold it everyone under them would naturally turn within
Should a doubt or old desire rise up
The Nameless Simplicity would push it down
The Nameless Simplicity frees the heart of desire and reveals its inner silence
When there is silence one finds peace
When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within himself
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To give without seeking reward
To help without thinking it is virtuous ?therein lies the great virtue
To keep account of your action
To help with the hope of gaining merit ?therein lies no virtue
The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self
The highest kindness is to give without condition
The highest justice is to see without preference
When Tao is lost one must learn the rules of virtue
When virtue is lost, the rules of kindness
When kindness is lost, the rules of justice
When justice is lost, the rules of conduct
And when the high-blown rules of conduct are not followed people are seized by the arm and it is forced on them
The rules of conduct are just an outer show of devotion and loyalty ?quite confusing to the heart
And when men rely on these rules for guidance ?br> Oh, what ignorance abounds!
The great master follows his own nature and not the trappings of life
It is said, 揌e stays with the fruit and not the fluff?揌e stays with the firm and not the
flimsy?揌e stays with the true and not the false?br>
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From ancient times till now the One has been the source of all attainments
By realizing One Heaven becomes clear, Earth becomes still spirits gain power and hearts fill up with joy
By realizing the One kings and lords become instruments of peace and creatures live joyfully upon this earth
Without the One Heaven ahs no clarity and would crack Earth has no peace and would crumble spirits have no power and would lose their charm
Without the One hearts would dry up, empires would fall, all things would go lifelessly upon this earth
Long ago kings and lords called themselves 搊rphaned,?搇onely,?and 搖nworthy?br> What honour can there be without humility?
What heights can be reached without being low?
The pieces of a chariot are useless unless they work in accordance with the whole
A man抯 life brings nothing unless he lives in accordance with the whole universe
Playing one抯 part in accordance with the universe is true humility
So whether you抮e a gem in the royal court or a stone on the common path
If you accept your part with humility the glory of the universe will be yours
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The movement of Tao is to return
The way of Tao is to yield
Heaven, Earth, and all things are born of the existent world
The existent world is born of the nothingness of Tao
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When the best seeker hears of Tao he strives with great effort to know it
When an average seeker hears of Tao he thinks of it now and again
When the poorest seeker hears of Tao he laughs out loud
Tao is always becoming what we have need for it to become
If it could not do this it would not be Tao
There is an old saying,
The clear way seems clouded
The straight way seems crooked
The sure way seems unsteady
The greatest power seems weak
The purest white seems tainted
The abundant seems empty
The stable seems shaky
The certain seems false
The Great Square has no corners
The Great Vessel is never filled
A beginner may be clumsy but after practice ?what talent!
A large drum may sit silently but when banged ?what noise!
Tao lies hidden yet it alone is the glorious light of this world
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Tao gives life to the one
The one gives life to the two
The two gives life to the three
The three give life to ten thousand things
All beings support yin and embrace yang and the interplay of these two forces fills the universe
Yet only at the still-point, between the breathing in and the breathing out, can one capture these two in perfect harmony
People suffer at the thought of being without parents, without food, or without worth
Yet this is the very way that kings and lords once described themselves
Who knows what fate may bring ?one day your loss may be your fortune one day your fortune may be your loss
The age-old lesson that others teach, I also teach ?揂s you plant, so you reap?揂s you live, so you die?br> Know this to be the foundation of my teachings
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The most yielding thing in the world will overcome the most rigid
The most empty thing in the world will overcome the most full
From this comes a lesson ?br> Stillness benefits more than action
Silence benefits more than words
Rare indeed are those who are still
Rare indeed are those who are silent
And so I say,
Rare indeed are those who obtain the bounty of this world
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One抯 own reputation ?why the fuss?
One抯 own wealth ?why the concern?
I say, what you gain is more trouble than what you lose
Love is the fruit of sacrifice
Wealth is the fruit of generosity
Be content, rest in your own fullness ?br> You will not suffer from loss
You抣l avoid the snare of this world
You抣l have long life and endless blessings
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The Great Perfection seems imperfect yet this world it creates is never impaired
The Great Fullness seems empty yet this world it creates is never lacking
Great truth seems false
Great skill seems clumsy
Great eloquence seems like babble
Keep moving and you抣l miss the cold
Keep silent and you抣l beat the heat
Be tranquil like the rain of spring
Be pure like the sheen of silk
Then the Great Perfection will be perfect and the Great Fullness will be full
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When Tao is present in the empire men follow their own nature and riding horses work the fields
When Tao is absent from the empire men go astray and war horses breed on sacred ground
There is no greater loss than losing Tao
No greater curse than desire
No greater tragedy than discontentment
No greater fault than selfishness
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Without going outside one can know the whole world
Without looking out the window one can see the ways of Heaven
The farther one goes the less one knows
Thus the Sage does not go, yet he knows
He does not look, yet he sees
He does not do, yet all is done
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To become learned, gain daily
To obtain Tao, reduce daily
Reduce and reduce again until all action is reduced to non-action
Then no one is left
Nothing is done yet nothing is left undone
One who gives freely and without attachment gets a full life in return
One who gives with the secret hope of getting is merely engaged in business
Truly, they neither give nor receive any of the treasure from this world below Heaven
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The Sage has no fixed heart of his own
Those who look at him see their own hearts
Those who are good he treats with goodness
Those who are bad he also treats with goodness because the nature of his being is good
Those who are truthful he treats with truth
Those who are not truthful he also treats with truth because the nature of his being is truthful
The Sage lives in harmony with all below Heaven
He sees everything as his own self
He loves everyone as his own child
All people are drawn to him every eye and ear is turned toward him
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Again and again
Men come in with birth and go out with death
One in three are followers of life
One in three are followers of death
And those just passing from life to death also number one in three
But they all die in the end
Why is this so?
Because they clutch to life and cling to this passing world
I hear that one who lives by his own truth is not like this
He walks without making footprints in this world
Going about, he does not fear the rhinoceros or tiger
Entering a battlefield, he does not fear sharp weapons
For in him the rhino can find no place to pitch its horn
The tiger no place to fix its claw
The soldier no place to thrust his blade
Why is this so?
Because he dwells in that place where death cannot enter
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Tao gives all things life
Te gives them fulfillment
Nature is what shapes them
Living is what brings them to completion
Every creature honours Tao and worships Te not by force but through its own living and breathing
Though Tao gives life to all things
Te is what cultivates them
Te is that magic power which raises and rears them completes and prepares them comforts and protects them
To create without owning
To give without expecting
To fill without claiming
This is the profound expression of Tao
The highest perfection of Te
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That which created the universe is the Mother of the world
By knowing the Mother one knows her children
By knowing her children one comes to know her
Such is their unity that one does not exist without the other
Fully embrace your life and you will share in the glory of creation
The Mother herself will be your guardian
And all her creation will be your guide
Stay with the Mother, t the mouth, close the gates and you are never in trouble
Abandon the Mother, open the mouth, be busy with other and you are beyond all hope of rescue
Seeing your own smallness is called insight
Honouring your own tenderness is called strength
The sun in all its glory reveals a passing world
Only the inner light illuminates eternity
Only that light can guide us back home
Have faith
Follow your own shining
Be aware of your own awareness
On the darkest nights you will not stumble
On the brightest days you will not blink
This is called 揟he Practice of Eternal Light?br>
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If I had the least bit of wisdom I could follow the path of Tao quite well
My only fear would be trying to go my own way
The Great Path is simple and direct yet people love to take the side-routes
See how magnificent the courts have become
The women are dressed in colourful gowns
The men carry well-crafted swords
Food and drink overflow
Wealth and finery abound
Yet in the shadow of all this splendour the fields grow barren the granaries empty
I say this pomp at the expense of others is like boasting of thieves after a looting
Surely it is contrary to Tao
Surely it cuts against the grain of the whole empire
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The truth, once established, can never be uprooted
The truth, once imbibed, can never be stripped away
A sacrifice to a higher cause is never lost
An offering to an ancestor never goes to waste
When a person embodies Tao his heart becomes true
When a family embodies Tao it thrives
When a village embodies Tao it is protected
When a country embodies Tao it prospers
When the world embodies Tao it reveals its perfection
Tao is everywhere it has become everything
To truly see it, one must see it as it has revealed itself
In a person, see is as a person
In a family, see is as a family
In a country, see is as a country
In the world, see is as the world
How have I come to know all this?
Tao has shown me ?Tao as all this!
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One who embraces Tao becomes pure and innocent like a newborn babe
Deadly insects will not sting him
Wild beasts will not attack him
Birds of prey will not strike him
He is oblivious to the union of male and female yet his vitality is full his inner spirit is complete
He can cry all day without straining so perfect is his harmony so magically does he blend with this world
Know this harmony ?it brings the Eternal
Know the Eternal ?it brings enlightenment
A full life ?this is your blessing
A gentle heart ?this is your strength
Things in harmony with the Tao remain
Things that are forced, grow for a while but then wither away
This is not in keeping with Tao
Whatever is not in keeping with Tao comes to an early end
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One who speaks does not know
