The world is a vessel for spirit, and it wasn't made to be manipulated. Tamper with it and you'll spoil it. Hold it, and you'll lose it.
With Tao, sometimes you move ahead and sometimes you stay back; Sometimes you work hard and sometimes you rest; Sometimes you're strong and sometimes you're weak; Sometimes you're up; sometimes you're down.
The sage remains sensitive, avoiding extremes, avoiding extravagance, avoiding excess.
30
Those who wish to use Tao to influence others don't rely on force or weapons or military strategies. Force rebounds.
Weapons turn on their wielders. Battles are inevitably followed by famines.
Just do what needs to be done, and then stop. Attain your purpose, but don't pres your advantage.
Be resolute, but don't boast. Succeed, but don't crow. Accomplish, but don't overpower.
Overdoing things invites decay, and this is against Tao. Whatever is against Tao soon ceases to be.
31
Weapons are tools of evil, nned and avoided by everything in nature. Because people of Tao follow nature, they want nothing to do with weapons.
Unevolved people are eager to act out of strength, but a person of Tao values peace and quiet. He knows that every being is born of the womb of Tao. This means that his enemies are his enemies second, his own brothers and sisters first.
Thus he resorts to weapons only in the direst necessity, and then uses them with utmost restraint.
He takes no pleasure in victory, because to rejoice in victory is to delight in killing. Whoever delights in killing will not find success in this world.
Observe victories as you observe a death in the family: with sorrow and mourning.
Every victory is a funeral for kin.
When this simplicity is divided, every thing and not-thing needs a name. Once there are names, the process of distinction should stop. To know when to stop is to be free from danger.
32
The primal eternal Tao is an unnameable simplicity. Though small, there is nothing under all of heaven that can subjugate it.
If a leader abides by it, all beings are naturally drawn to him.
Heaven and earth come together in harmony and sweet rain falls everywhere. People cooperate voluntarily, without any instruction.
Tao in the world is like streams flowing into the sea.
33
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing the self is enlightenment.
Conquering others is power; conquering the self is strength.
Know what is enough, and you'll be rich. Persevere, and you'll develop a will.
Remain in the center, and you'll always be at home. Die without dying, and you'll endure forever.
34
The great Tao floods and flows in every direction.
Everything in existence depends on it, and it doesn't deny them. It accomplishes its work without naming or making claims for itself. Everything in existence is clothed and nourished by it, but it doesn't lord over anything.
Aimless, ambitionless, it might be called "small."
Everything in existence returns to it, and still it doesn't lord over anything. Thus it might also be called "great."
Because it has no desire to be great, it can achieve greatness.
35
Stay centered in the Tao and the world comes to you: Comes, and isn't harmed; Comes, and finds contentment.
Most travelers are drawn to music and good food.
When Tao is talked about, the words can seem bland and flavourless. Looked at, it may not catch the eye. Listened to, it might not seduce the ear. Used, it can never be exhausted.
36
What is ultimately to be reduced must first be expanded . What is ultimately to be weakened must first be made strong. What is ultimately to be discarded must first be embraced. What is ultimately to be taken away must first be given.
This is called subtle insight.
The soft overcomes the hard. The weak overcomes the strong. The Tao should never be abandoned. Weapons should never be displayed.
37
Eternal Tao doesn't do anything, yet it leaves nothing undone.
If you abide by it, everything in existence will transform itself. When, in the process of self-transformation, desires are aroused, calm them with nameless simplicity.
When desires are dissolved in the primal presence, peace and harmony naturally occur, and the world orders itself.
38
A truly good person doesn't dwell on her goodness. Thus she can be good. A person of false goodness never forgets her goodness. Thus her goodness is always false.
A truly good person does nothing, yet nothing remains undone. A person of false goodness is forever doing, yet everything remains forever undone.
Those who are interested in service act without motive. Those who are interested in righteousness act with motives of all sorts. Those who are interested in propriety act, and receiving no response, they roll up their sleeves and use force.
When Tao is lost, goodness appears. When goodness is lost, philanthropy appears. When philanthropy is lost, justice appears. When justice is lost, only etiquette is left.
Etiquette is the faintest husk of real loyalty and faith, and it is the beginning of confusion. Knowledge of the future is only a blossom of Tao; to become preoccupied with it is folly.
Thus the sage sets her sights on the substance and not the surface, on the fruit and not the flower. Leaving the one, she gains the other.
39
From ancient times these have attained oneness with Tao: Heaven attained oneness and became clear. Earth attained oneness and became peaceful. Spirits attained oneness and became strong.
Valleys attained oneness and became full. Beings attained oneness and became fertile. All are what they are by virtue of oneness.
Heaven without clarity would fall. Earth without peace would explode. Spirits without strength would dissipate.
Valleys without fullness would dry up. Beings without fertility would die off. Sages without wholeness would stumble and fall.
Humility is the root of greatness.
Those in high positions do well to think of themselves as powerless, small and unworthy. Isn't this taking humility for the root?
Attain honour without being honoured.
Don't shine like jade, or chime like bells.
40
Returning to the root is the movement of Tao. Quietness is how it functions.
The ten thousand things are born of being. Being is born of nothing.
41
When a wise person hears Tao, he practices it diligently. When an average person hears Tao, he practices it sometimes, and just as often ignores it.
When an inferior person hears Tao, he roars with laughter. If he didn't laugh, it wouldn't be Tao.
Thus the age old sayings: The way to illumination appears dark. The way that advances appears to retreat. The way that is easy appears to be hard. The highest virtue appears empty. The purest goodness appears soiled. The most profound creativity appears fallow.
The strongest power appears weak. The most genuine appears unreal. The greatest space has no corners. The greatest talent matures slowly. The greatest voice can't be heard. The greatest image can't be seen.
Tao is hidden and has no name. Tao alone nourishes and fulfills all things.
42
Nonbeing gives birth to the oneness. The oneness gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and Yang give birth to heaven, earth, and beings. Heaven, earth, and beings give birth to everything in existence.
Therefore everything in existence carries within it both yin and yang, and attains its harmony by blending together these two vital breaths.
Ordinary people hate nothing more than to be powerless, small, and unworthy. Yet this is how superior people describe themselves.
Gain is loss. Loss is gain.
I repeat what others have said: The strong and violent don't die natural deaths. This is the very essence of my teaching.
43
The soft overcomes the hard in the world as a gentle rider controls a galloping horse. That without substance can penetrate where there is no space. By these I know the benefit of nonaction.
Teaching without words, working without actions-nothing in the world can compare with them.
44
Which is more precious, fame or health? Which is more valuable, health or wealth? Which is more harmful, winning or losing?
The more excessive your love, the greater your suffering. The longer you hoard, the heavier your losses.
Knowing what is enough is freedom. Knowing when to stop is safety. Practice these, and you'll endure.
45
The greatest perfection seems imperfect, yet its usefulness is endless. The greatest fullness seems empty, yet its usefulness is inexhaustible. Great straightness seems flexible.
Great skill looks clumsy. Great eloquence sounds awkward.
Movement triumphs over cold. Stillness triumphs over heat. Clarity and tranquility set the whole world in order.
46
When the world practices Tao, horses fertilize the fields. When the world ignores Tao, horses are bred for war.
There is no greater calamity than desire, no greater curse than greed.
Know that enough is enough, and you'll always have enough.
47
Without going out the door, you can know the world. Without looking out the window, you can see heaven. The farther you travel, the less you know.
Thus the wise person knows without traveling, understands without seeing, accomplishes without acting.
48
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is added. In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
Less and less is done, until one arrives at nonaction. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. The world is won by letting things take their own course.
If you still have ambitions, its out of your reach.
49
The sage has no set mind. She adopts the concerns of others as her own.
She is good to the good. She is also good to the bad. This is real goodness.
She trusts the trustworthy. She also trusts the untrustworthy. This is real trust.
The sage takes the minds of the worldly and spins them around. People drop their ideas and agendas, and she guides them like beloved children.
50
Between their births and their deaths,
three out of ten are attached to life, three out of ten are attached to death, three out of ten are just idly passing through. Only one knows how to die and stay dead and still go on living.
That one hasn't any ambitions, hasn't any ideas, makes no plans. From this mysterious place of not-knowing and non-doing he gives birth to whatever is needed in the moment. Because he is constantly filling his being with nonbeing, he can travel the wilds without worrying about tigers or wild buffalo, or he can cross a battlefield without armour or weapon.
No tiger can claw him. No buffalo can gore him. No weapon can pierce him. Why is this so? Because he has died, there isn't any more room for death in him.
51
Tao gives life to all beings. Nature nourishes them. Fellow creatures shape them. Circumstances complete them. Everything in existence respects Tao and honours nature - not by decree, but spontaneously. Tao gives life to all beings. Nature watches over them, develops them, shelters them, nurses them, grows them, ripens them, completes them, buries them, and returns them.
Giving birth, nourishing life, shaping things without possessing them, serving without expectation of reward, leading without dominating: These are the profound virtues of nature, and of nature's best beings.
52
The origin and mother of everything in the world is Tao.
Know the mother and you can know the children. Having known the children, return to their source and hold on to her. Abiding by the mother, you are free from danger, even when your body dies.
Don't live for your senses. Close your mouth, close all the body's openings, and reside in the original unity. In this way you can pass your life in peace and contentment.
Open your mouth, increase your activities, start making distinctions between things, and you'll toil forever without hope.
See the subtle and be illuminated. Abide in gentleness and be strong.
Use your light, and return to insight. Don't expose yourself to trouble. This is following Tao.
53
Because I have a little wisdom, I choose to walk the great path of Tao and fear nothing except to stray from it.
The great way is very smooth and easy, but some people are fond of getting sidetracked.
When a ruler's palace is full of treasure, the people's fields are weedy and their granaries are empty.
If the ruler wears fancy clothes and his house is full of weapons, if his table is laden with extravagant food and drink and everywhere one looks he has more wealth than he can use, the ruler is a robber and thief. This is not in keeping with Tao.
54
Plant yourself firmly in the Tao and you won't ever be uprooted. Embrace Tao firmly and you won't ever be separated from it. Your children will thrive, and your children's children.
Cultivate goodness in your self, and goodness will be genuine. Cultivate it in your family, and goodness will flourish. Cultivate it in your community, and goodness will grow and multiply. Cultivate it in your country, and goodness will be abundant. Cultivate it in the world, and goodness will be everywhere.
How do I know the world works like this? By watching.
55
She who is filled with goodness is like a newborn child: wasps and snakes will not bite it, fierce beasts will not attack it, birds of prey will not pounce on it. Its bones are soft and its muscles weak, but its grip is firm.
It hasn't yet known the union of male and female, yet its organ stirs with vitality.
It can howl all day without becoming hoarse, so perfect is its harmony. To know harmony is to know the eternal. To know the eternal is to be illumined.
Prolonging life is not harmonious./ Coercing the breath is unnatural.
Things which are overdeveloped must decay. All this is contrary to Tao, and whatever is contrary to Tao soon ceases to be.
56
Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know.
Close your mouth. Block the door. Quiet your senses. Blunt the sharpness. Untie the tangles. Soften the brightness. Be one with the dust, and enter the primal oneness.
One who has merged with Tao in this way can't be courted, can't be bought, can't be harmed, can't be honoured, can't be humiliated. He is the treasure of the world.
57
Govern a nation by following nature. Fight a war with unexpected moves. Win the world by letting go. How do I know this? From seeing these:
