The people say, "We did it naturally."
18
Losing the Instincts
When the great Tao is forgotten,
Philanthropy and morality appear.
Intelligent strategies are produced,
And great hypocrisies emerge.
When the Family has no Harmony,
Piety and devotion appear.
The nation is confused by chaos,
And loyal patriots emerge.
19
Return to Simplicity
Discard the sacred, abandon strategies;
The people will benefit a hundredfold.
Discard philanthropy, abandon morality;
The people will return to natural love.
Discard cleverness, abandon the acquisitive;
The thieves will exist no longer.
However, if these three passages are inadequate,
Adhere to these principles:
Perceive purity;
Embrace simplicity;
Reduce self-interest;
Limit desires.
20
Developing Independence
Discard the academic; have no anxiety.
How much difference is there between agrement and servility?
How much difference is there between good and evil?
That one should revere what others revere - how absurd and uncentered!
The Collective Mind is expansive and flourishing,
As if receiving a great sacrifice,
As if ascending a living observatory.
I alone remai uncommitted,
Like an infant who has not yet smiled,
Unattached, without a place to merge.
The Collective Mind is all-encompassing.
I alone seem to be overlooked.
I am unknowing to the core and unclear, unclear!
Ordinary people are bright and obvious;
I alone am dark and obscure.
Ordinary people are exacting and sharp;
I alone am subdued and dull.
Indifferent like the sea,
Ceaseless like a penetrating wind,
The Collective Mind is ever present.
And yet, I alone am unruly and remote.
I alone am different from the others
In treasuring nourishment from the Mother.
21
Knowing the Collective Origin
The natural expression of Power
Proceeds only through the Tao.
The Tao acts through Natural Law;
So formless, so intangible.
Intangible, formless!
At its center appears teh Image.
Formless, intangible!
At its center appears Natural Law.
Obscure, mysterious!
At its center appears teh Life Force.
The Life Force is very real;
At its center appears truth.
From ancient times to the present,
Its name ever remains,
Through the experience of the Collectie Origin.
How do I know the way of the Collective Origin?
Through this.
22
Following the Pattern
What is curved becomes whole;
What is crooked becomes straight.
What is deep becomes filled;
What is exhausted becomes refreshed.
What is small becomes attainable;
What is excessive becomes confused.
Thus Evolved Individuals hold to the One
And regard the world as their Pattern.
They do not display themselves;
Therefore they are illuminated.
They do not define themselves;
Therefore they are distinguished.
They do not make claims;
Therefore they are credited.
They do not boast;
Therefore tehy advance.
Since, indeed, they do not compete,
The world cannot compete with them.
That ancient saying: "What is curved becomes whole" -
Are these empty words?
To become whole,
Turn within.
23
The Steady Force of Attitude
Nature rarely speaks.
Hence the whirlwind does not last a whole morning,
Nor the sudden rainstorm last a whole day.
What causes these?
Heaven and Earth.
If Heaven and Earth cannot make them long lasting,
How much less so can humans?
Thus, those who cultivate the Tao
Identify with the Tao.
Those who cultivate Power
Identify with Power.
Those who cultivate failure
Identify with failure.
Those who identify with the Tao
Are likewise welcomed by the Tao.
Those who identify with Power
Are likewise welcomed by Power.
Those who identify with failure
Are likewise welcomed by failure.
Those who lack belief
Will not in turn be believed.
24
Nature rarely speaks.
Those who are on tiptoe cannot stand firm.
Those who straddle cannot walk.
Those who display themselves cannot illuminate.
Those who define themselves cannot be distinguished.
Those who make claims can have no credit.
Those who boast cannot advance.
To those who stay with the Tao,
These are like excess food and redundant actions
And are contrary to Natural Law.
Thus those who possess teh Tao turn away.
25
The Tao of Greatness
There was something in a state of fusion
Before Heaven and Earth were born.
Silent, vast,
Independent, and unchanging;
Working everywhere, tirelessly;
It can be regarded as Mother of the world.
I do not know its name;
The word I say is Tao.
Forced to give it a name,
I say Great.
Great means continuing.
Continuing means going far.
Going far means returning.
Therefore the Tao is Great.
Heaven and Earth are Great.
A leader is likewise Great.
In the universe there are four Greatness,
And leadership is one of them.
Humans are modeled on the earth.
The eart is modeled on heaven.
Heaven is modeled on the Tao.
The Tao is modeled on nature.
26
The Gravity of Power
Gravity is the foundation of levity.
Stillness is the master of agitation.
Thus Evolved Individuals can travel the whole day
Without leaving behind their baggage.
However arresting the views,
They remain calm and unattached.
How can leaders with ten thousand chariots
Have a light-hearted position in the world?
If they are light-hearted, they lose their foundation.
If they are agitated, they lose their mastery.
27
The Skillful Exchange of Information
A good path has no ruts.
A good speech has no flaws.
A good analysis uses no schemes.
A good lock has no bar or bolt,
And yet it cannot be opened.
A good knot does not restrain,
And yet it cannot be unfastened.
Thus Evolved Individuals are always good at saving others;
Hence no one is wasted.
They are always good at saving things;
Hence nothing is Wasted.
This is called Doubling the LIght.
Therefore a good person is teh teacher of an inferior person;
And an inferior person is teh resource of a good person.
One who does not treasure a teacher, or does not cherish a resource,
Although intelligent, is greatly deluded.
This is called Significant Subtlety.
28
Uniting the Forces
Know the male,
Hold the female;
Become the world's stream.
By being teh world's streawm,
The Power will never leave.
This is returning to Infancy.
Know the white,
Hold to the black;
Become the world's pattern.
By becoming the world's pattern,
The Power will never falter.
This is returning to Limitlessness.
Know the glory,
Hold to the obscurity;
Become the world's valley.
By being the world's valley,
The Power will be sufficient.
This is returning to Simplicity.
When Simplicity is broken up,
It is made into instruments.
Evolved Individuals who employ them,
Are made into leaders.
In this way the Great System is united.
29
The Way of Noninterference
Those who would take hold of the world and act on it,
Never, I notice, succeed.
The world is a mysterious instrument,
Not made to be handled.
Those who act on it, spoil it.
Those who seize it, lose it.
So, in Natural Law
Some lead, some follow;
Some agitate, some remain silent;
Some are firm, some are weak;
Some carry on, some lose heart.
Thus, Evolved Individuals
Avoid extremes,
Avoid extravagance,
Avoid excess.
30
Leading the Leader
Those who use the Tao to guide leaders
Do not use forceful strategies in the world.
Such matters tend to recoil.
Where armies are positioned,
Thorny brambles are produced.
A great military always brings years of hunger.
Those who are skillful
Succeed and then stop.
They dare not hold on with force.
They succeed and do not boast.
They succeed and do not make claims.
They succeed and are not proud.
They succeed and do not acquire in excess.
They succeed and do not force.
Things overgrown will always decline.
This is not the Tao.
What is not the Tao will soon end.
31
The Use of Force
The finest weapons can be the instruments of misfortune,
And thus contrary to Natural Law.
Those who possess teh Tao turn away from them.
Evolved leaders occupy and honor the left;
Those who use weapons honor the right.
Weapons are instruments of misfortune
That are used by the unevolved.
When their use is unavoidable,
The superior act with calm restraint.
Even when victorious, let there be no joy,
For such joy leads to contentment with slaughter.
Those who are content with slaughter
Cannot find fulfillment in the world.
32
The Limits of Specialization
The Tao of the Absolute has no name.
Although infinitesimal in its Simplicity,
The world cannot master it.
If leaders would hold on to it,
All Things would naturally follow.
Heaven and Earth would unite to rain Sweet Dew,
And people would naturally cooperate without commands.
Names emerge when institutions begin.
When names emerge, know likewise to stop.
To know when to stop is to be free of danger.
The presence of the Tao in the world
Is like the valley streawm joining the rivers and seas.
33
Self-Mastery
Those who know others are intelligent;
Those who know themselves have insight.
Those who master others have force;
Those who master themselves have strength.
Those who know what is enough are wealthy.
Those who persevere have direction.
Those who maintain their position endure.
And those who die and yet do not perish, live on.
34
The Evolving Tao
The Great Tao extends everywhere.
It is on the left and the right.
All Things depend on it for growth,
And it does not deny them.
It achieves its purpose,
And it does not have a name.
It clothes and cultivates All Things,
And it does not act as master.
Always without desire,
It can be named Small.
All Things merge with it,
And it does not act as master.
It can be named Great.
In the end it does not seek greatness,
And in that way the Great is achieved.
35
Sensing the Insensible
Hold fast to the Great Image,
And all the world will come.
Yet its coming brings no harm,
Only peace and order.
When there is music together with food,
The audience will linger.
But when the Tao is expressed,
It seems without substance or flavor.
We observe and there is nothing to see.
We listen and there is nothing to hear.
We use it and it is without end.
36
Concealing the Advantage
In order to deplete it,
It must be thoroughly extended.
In order to weaken it,
It must be thoroughly strengthened.
In order to reject it,
It must be thoroughly promoted.
In order to take away from it,
It must be thoroughly endowed.
This is called a Subtle Insight.
The yielding can triumph over teh inflexible;
The weak can triumph over the strong.
Fish should not be taken from deep waters;
Nor should organizations make obvious their advantages.
37
The Power in Desirelessness
The Tao never acts,
And yet is never inactive.
If leaders can hold on to it,
All Things will be naturally influenced.
Influenced and yet desiring to act,
I would calm them with Nameless Simplicity.
Nameless Simplicity is likewise without desire;
And without desire there is harmony.
The world will then be naturally stabilized.
38
Power Without Motive
Superior Power is never Powerful, thus it has Power.
Inferior Power is always Powerful, thus it has no Power.
Superior Power takes no action and acts withotu motive.
Inferior Power takes action and acts with motive.
Superior philanthropy takes action and acts without motive.
Superior morality takes action and acts with motive.
Superior propriety takes action and there is no response;
So it raises its arm to project itself.
Therefore, lose the Tao and Power follows.
Lose the Power and philanthropy follows.
Lose philanthropy and morality follows.
Lose morality and propriety follows.
One who has propriety has the veneer of truth
And yet is the leader of confusion.
One who knows the future has the luster of the Tao
And yet is ignorant of its origins.
Therefore those wiht the greatest endurance
Can enter the substantial,
Not occupy its veneer;
Can enter reality,
Not occupy its luster.
Hence they discard one and receive the other.
39
Oneness in Leadership
From old, these may have harmony with the One:
Heaven in harmony with the One becomes clear.
Earth in harmony with the One becomes stable.
Mind in harmony with the One becomes inspired.
Valleys in harmony wiht the One become full.
All Things in harmony with the One becomes creawtive.
Leaders in harmony with the One becomes incorruptible in the world.
These were attained through Oneness.
Heaven without clarity would probably crack.
Earth without stability would probably quake.
Mind without inspiration would probably sleep.
Valleys without fullness would probably dry up.
All Things without creativity would probably die off.
Leaders without incorruptible ways would probably stumble and fall.
