Which, being anonymous,
Would cause no disgrace, no insult, no worries
And all of heaven and earth would find its own proper balance
38
True mastery always seems artless
The more it must be proclaimed, the less masterful it is
The virtuous act as the tao moves them, without forethought or reason
The good have an end in mind, but act from the heart
The righteous have an end and a means, and wave them like a flag
And when the righteous lose their faith in humanity
They roll up their sleeves and fight the good fight
And the thread of the way becomes tangled beyond recognition
Consider...
At best, we are like infants;?we do nothing and everyone smiles
Failing that, we try to sense what makes those around us happy
When that fails, we turn to abstractions - rules of truth, of justice,of order
But such abstractions are merely the flower of the way
Beautiful and bitter, full of hope and anger and violence
Rigid and fragile as crystal
What can this bring to the world but disorder?
Thoughtless ideology can only lead to cynical indifference
Flowers bloom and fade and wither away, no matter what
So the taoist lets them be, and reaches for the fruit instead
39
It is said that by attaining the one, long ago
Heaven rose and opened above us
As the earth took root and became solid
Gods walked the land in their glory
As the valleys poured forth all forms of life to honor them
And so leaders, attaining the one, would make their people prosperousand orderly
If, then, the way were ever truly lost
Heaven would close and fall, and the earth crumble
Gods would fade away and the valleys go barren
And leaders would fall amidst chaos and despair
What is noble must be rooted in the crude
What is high must be settled on the low
This is why leaders speak more often of the unfortunate than the fortunate
They would ground themselves among the lowly to reach high
Though they have cars, they would rather walk among the people
Though they could shine like jewels, they would rather seem solid asold stone
40
The tao is always returning, always yielding
The creatures of the world are born of those like them
And give birth to those like them in turn
But where does birth come from?
It is tao
41
One man, hearing of the way, will strive to follow it
Another will practice it sometimes, and not others
A third will hear of it, and laugh at how useless it sounds
And that's as it should be.
The clearest path is often easily missed
The easiest seems to go in the wrong direction
The smoothest looks rutted and rough
True strength is hidden, like seeds in a valley before the rains
True white shows every blotch and blemish
True virtue feels pathetic, thin, weak, insufficient
Such is the way of words;?they always fail in their ideals
Does an infinite square have corners or edges?
Could a cup be molded to hold everything, including itself?
Can a note sound that has all tones, and none?
Would everything seen at once look like anything at all?
The tao is eternal, too large and too small for names
Only it can begin things and bring them to their ends
42
The tao gave birth to the universe
The universe opened heaven and earth
Heaven and earth added man to their number
And man named the ten thousand things
All living things wrap themselves in the female and wrap the male
And by so cycling achieve harmony and life
So all despise the same things, where the cycle fails
Being orphaned, abandoned, or starving
All leaders, then, claim as their sacred trust
To defend those with no other options
And so it goes - where there is great loss, there is great attention
Where there are great gains, all is secrecy and shadowed warfare.
Consider well, then, the following phrase:
'Who uses force will be forced in turn'
You have to start somewhere
43
What flows cannot be held back by even the hardest wall
What has no form finds every crack and space, and fills it
This is doing without doing, teaching without a text
And the only way to learn to do it
Is to learn not to do anything else
44
Fame or your health, riches or your health, which is worth more to you?
Can you gain one without losing the other?
Live the high life and you will lose respect, whatever you gain inenvy
Be a miser and you will lose affection, whatever you gain in respect
If you want respect, know when you have enough
If you want peace of mind, know when to stop
Understand 'enough' and you'll live healthy and long
45
What's done right seems unfinished, but always works
What's filled right seems empty, but there's always enough
The perfectly straight seems warped
The most skilled looks artless
The greatest eloquence sounds plain
What exists in abundance always seems unremarkable
We move to warm ourselves and rest to cool ourselves
But never think about the natural warmth that lies within us
Always flow back to the center, find what strengths lie there
And things will go right with you
46
When the world has the way, people do what the want
When it loses the way, they are forced to do what they're told
There is no greater crime than wanting too much
No disaster more total than not knowing when to stop
No flaw more serious than the grasping hand
Know what enough is, know when you have it, and be content
That is wisdom
47
If you know where you are, you know the world
You do not need to look out a window to see the tao
The more you look, the less you really see
So the taoist stays and lets things come to him
Sees things without looking for them
Finishes things by not trying to make them complete
48
To practice most things means to gain a little skill,every day
To practice the tao means to lose a little
Lose a little of this and a little of that until one has no skill leftat anything
And then nothing will ever be left undone
If you want to lead, forget what leadership should be
If you can't forget the shoulds
You will always find someone to oppose you
49
The taoist has no opinions
He simply listens, and acts
He treats those who are good as worthy
He treats those who aren't good as worthy, too
And so he finds their goodness
He gives those who are honorable his trust
He gives those who are dishonorable his trust, too
And so he gains their trust
50
We all come out into life and go back into death
There are certain signs that point to life and certain signs that pointto death
And yet people, in their desire to show they are alive
Often cultivate the signs of death
Those who cultivate the signs of life have no fear in them
They don't run from wild animals or cover themselves with armor andshields
They know the horn, the claw, the weapon
Can not pierce what yields and flows like water
They do not cultivate the signs of death, and so death has no placeto enter
51
Tao brings all the creatures of the world to be born
And by following the way they come to fill their nature
Thus do they follow the tao and honor virtue
No one asks them to;?they do it without thinking
It creates them but doesn't own them
It supplies them but doesn't make them dependent
It matures them but doesn't command them
This is the ideal of virtue
52
What womb gave birth to the world?
Know that mother and you will come to understand her children
Embrace her and you will never suffer harm
Block up the holes, close the doors
Do without doing, and you will never labor
Open the doors, intrude yourself on the world
Act with force, and your troubles will not end
See the smallest signs, bend at their lightest touch
And let the subtlest rays lead you
Back to the bright light
53
When you follow the tao, planning will only lead you astray
The way is easy and straight, but people always look for shortcuts
They leave weeds in the fields to make sure the courtyard is clean
Empty their cupboards so that everyone can gorge
Carry a sword so they can wear their jewels in public
One excess always leads to another
This wanders far from the way
54
When the foundation is laid well, and the mortar sound
The house will stand long
And your descendents will honor your memory
Cultivate virtue in yourself - see yourself - so it will be genuine
Cultivate it in your family - see your family - so it will spread
Cultivate it in your village - see your village - so it will have roots
Cultivate it in your nation - see your nation - so it will be abundant
Cultivate it in the world - see the world - so there will be nothingelse
How do I know the world works this way?
There is no how, I listen, and I know
55
One who embraces virtue in its fullest
Is like a newborn babe
She has no fear of wasps and scorpions, or snakes and vipers
Birds of prey and fierce beasts mean nothing to him
Her bones and muscles are soft, but her grip is firm
Because his essence is at its height he can become aroused
Though he knows nothing of sex
Because her harmony is at its height she will not become hoarse
Though she screams all day
Harmony is the path of wisdom
But you can't reach it be getting more
You can try to breathe more, but what sense is in that?
Eventually your breath will return to what it is
If you look for more, you'll get as much as you can
And after that you'll just get old
An easy way to an early end
56
How can you speak of things that go beyond words?
The wise know when not to talk
They blocks up their holes
Close their doors
Soften their light
Settle their dust
Blunt their rough edges
Untie their knots
This is oneness
Whoever achieves it
Can never be known intimately but will never be nned
Can never be benefited but will never be harmed
57
It has been said of good leaders
'Peace is won by doing the expected, war by doing the unexpected'
But to lead by following the way you must let expectations go
Prohibitions only protect one by depriving another
Weapons only defend one by assaulting another
No amount of knowledge will ever substitute for wisdom
No amount of laws can ever replace honor
When you lead by following the way, remember
If you do nothing, people will transform themselves
If you remain quiet, people will have nothing to be confused about
Don't play the angles, and prosperity will be the norm
Don't impose your desires, and no one will conform or rebel
58
Government is only sincere when it has no end in mind
Let it be discriminating and clear, and it will be cunning and sly
It uses disaster to create its own good fortune
Uses good fortune to conceal the disasters it creates
Who knows where this can lead?
When nothing is constant anymore
The natural is transformed into the deviant
The good is twisted into the evil
And the confusion will last for generations
Bring order, but don't mold people to fit
Be conscientious, but not stifling
Be direct, but not aggressive
Be bright, but only bright enough that others can see their own way
59
If you would lead men and follow the way
It's good to be sparing in your actions
For only by being sparing can you submit early to the way
And this is how to accumulate virtue
When you accumulate virtue in this way
There is no obstacle you can't overcome
Without obstacles, no one can predict your downfall
Thus you can possess the state
Being one with the way of the state like this
Creates deep roots and a firm base
And leads to long life and lasting work
60
Ruling a large state is like cooking a small fish
When you govern using the way power doesn't corrupt
It's not that power has no power over you
It's just that it's only used to give honor and respect to everyone
Where honor and respect are given, no one need do violence to get them
And each is allowed to master himself
61
A great state is like the lowest part of a river
All things flow down to it, given time
It has the resources to let myriad things grow in its borders
And so it is better cast in the feminine principle
If it rests quietly, then weaker states will come to it
And both will be enriched
If it reaches out to conquer, then weaker states will resist
And both will be impoverished
The great state desires diversity and prosperity
The weak state desires to be great
If both would get what they want
The great state must let itself be lower
62
The tao is that towards which all things flow
It honors the good man and the bad man alike
Praise can be bought or sold, privilege can be given as a gift
Even the bad can acquire them this way;?will they be refused?
So if you would offer a gift to a new leader
Though you might shower him with wealth, or jewels, or adulation
You'd do better to sit quietly and let him have the tao
There is a reason the ancients valued this above all else
'Whether you would attain something or be absolved
You will succeed only by following the tao'
It can not be given, only found
Therefore its value is immeasurable
63
Do without doing, without expectations
Taste what has no flavor
[In Progress]
64
What is quiet is easy to contain
What has not yet committed itself is easy to divert
The soft is easily melted, the small easily dispersed
The moral: Don't wait till problems mature before you act on them
