If so, in battle or fighting he should hardlytry to escape from weapons. He should neither get very much touched norvulnerable to weapons in battle.[Cf. dont be there]
The wild buffalo cannot butt its powerlesshorns against him,
The tiger cannot fasten its then uselessclaws in him and tear him apart,
And much absent weapons of war should findno place to enter - cannot thrust their blades into him.[The absent partis always to blame. Demagogy]
And why? (Demagogy, thats why]
In him there's no room for death becausehe is beyond death. Others find no Achilles heel in him then and there.
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One dao gives them birth, next hidden virtueand glory fosters them.
Matter gives them physical form. some getshaped according to intrinsic designs, perfected by first being allottedits primal strength.
Sets of circumstances and tendencies completethem.
So all things of the universe worship theirintrinsic ways (dao forms) and honour virtue.
There's hardly one who doesn't honour inbornmodes of living and standard accommodations, so in one way or other allwho accommodate likeably do homage to set dao structure, and concomitantnative, later, possibly unfolded growth power. Conclusion: all things ofthe universe honour dao and exalt good te without being ordered by anybody.
From this: the right praise always come spontaneously.And this is so of its own accord.
Proficient dao hardly needs any right tobe worshipped, Hardly does its best fit, proper unfoldment prowess or powerclaim the right to be honoured. Its just like this: Some dao produces themand concomitant, abundant virtue fosters them. Said in other words:
The right dao gives them birth,
a proper te fosters them, Dao [deep structure]and might enough can rear and develop, can feed, nurture and shelter. Inother words: grant some harbour of security, protect and give deep, strongpeace in a place fit for that end.
Just the right dao could be a prolongationof some deft was always and of itself so.
Yes, the right dao gives birth, shields fromstorms, and seems hardly possessive. The right shields hardly lay claimto you.
Good dao bore you and the power" of dao evolvedor reared you (a bit), made you grow [naturally, according to innate designs]brewed for you personally, sort of.
A man must rear others, control some, butnever lean upon them.
By such natural designs just dao can actand also help, but it hardly appropriates.
Just be chief among them, but hardly managethem. This can be called the superior power. See: The superior power hardlycontrols anybody!
And this is the [program of developing fit]mystic might.
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There was a [bang] start of the universe,call it the mother of the world.
Who has found that mother dao, also understands[some of] her sons (things) by it. From the mother, we can know her sons.
Having understood some sons, yet keep tothe inner, subtle mother.
Who has known the sons will hold to the mother,for one's whole life can be protected from danger by it.[So they say.]
t down life's various openings. Close itsdoors, and till the end your strength may remain. Next, your whole lifecan seem without toil.
On the other hand; open the mouth busy aboutaffairs, and to the end of life there will be no help or salvation comingto you [from the outer realm].
Good sight implies seeing what's very small.Seeing what's small is called [Zen] enlightenment.
Who stays by some good conduct is strong.So use the light and return to clear sight through the bright light ofthe subtle, shining inner realm [debated in Buddhism]
By this art, never cause yourself futuredistress, [but see well in advance by the inner realm's sight and brightlight; or just psyche such things out,] thereby preserved from most harm.
This is called resorting to the always-so,or practising the eternal.
That act is also called to steal the absolute.
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Once started on the great [lax] highway,if I had but little [Vossing] knowledge I should, in walking on a broadway, fear getting off the road. On the main path (dao), I would avoid theby-paths.
Some dao main path is easy to walk [or drift]on, but safe and easy.
All the same people are fond, men love by-paths,love even small by-paths:
The by-path courts are spick-and-span. Andthe fields go untilled, nay, exceedingly weedy. They're content to lettheir fields run to weed.
All the while granaries stand quite emptyand some exceedingly empty.
They have elegant, in clothes and gown towear, some furnished with patterns and embroideries,
Some carry sharp weapons, glut themselveswith drink and
foods enjoyed beyond limit,
And wealth and treasures are accumulatedin excess, owning far more than they can handle and use.
This is to [molest] the world towards brigandage,it's robbery as extravagance. In the end they're splitting with wealthand possessions. Wealth splits, tends to.
This cannot be a highway of dao (the way).
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Well planted can hardly be plucked. Who iswell established (in dao) can hardly be pulled away. The firmly groundedis hardly easily shaken.
Who has a firm grasp doesn't easily let go.Who has a firm grasp of dao can't be separated from it. A really firm graspcan't be relaxed.
Next, the ancestor's dao ways and means andtheir powers unite to carry the modern family on. From generation to generationfirmly gripped dao [gyrations] shall be continued without fail. Such ancestralsacrifice is not to be suspended.
When one cultivates firm grasp or well modifiedancestor disciplines in one's own life, things tend to go markedly well:If you cultivate, elevate and apply well blended, ad hoc modified ancestorways and means, jobs, routines, accomplishments, such formerly seen, halfway"inherited" cardinal dao know-how at its best should be rewarding for yourselfas an individual or person at its peak, and if so, your lifestyle couldbecome suitable, even genuine, and its prowess likewise.
This spells such as: Apply the firm manasgrasp to yourself according to "like father, like son" and you'll incurno manas problem, no such deep, unseen trouble -
From this:
Apply such inherited "firmly rooted strategy"and its various grasps to yourself, and by its id outlets and preciousroutines you'll be freed from much unsuitable dross.
Also apply best, united ancestor dao (orsakti) to your family or household and your household should flourish andthrive by this syncretic way of ways.[Honour your best father(s) at theirbest by doing in best footsteps under his wings, in his shadows - by suchas halfway inherited or taken-op proclivities.]
Apply it to the village on a wider, socialscale, and the village will be strengthened or more secure.
Apply it to the kingdom, and the kingdomcould prosper.
Apply it to an kingdom, and it will grow.
Cultivated in the world, sour id-based handlingsets could become all-embracing.
Therefore: Delve into how "well structured,planted or formed" some things that are instituted seem to be.
By delving back through own conscious stagesas parts of yourself, you can in the end contemplate and ridicule yourselfa little.
The person should be some family-and-ancestorsembedded "thing" in its own right.
Next you can control your household by theunited dao controls involved in it [allied to yin-yang structured cosmology].
According to (such well-planted, relations-structuredschooled and trained virtue of) the individual, evaluate the individual;
According to (the same virtues of) the family,judge the family;
According to (similar blends of virtue of)the village, judge the village;
According to (the virtue of the statutes) the state, judge the state;
According to (the crossed virtues of) theworld, evaluate the world.
How do I know the world? It's from the cultivationof root-strong virtue from the level of the individual to that of the sourworld - I know just by what's inside me and this, all brought together.
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He who has a lot of mystic might also shouldbe strong in secret able influence-might - quite free from getting harmed,at times like a tender child: full of childlike virtue at its best.
Then no poisonous insects should sting him.Fierce beasts should not seize him and wild beasts hardly attack him, clawingbirds of prey should not pounce on and harass him.
The bones of this dear little one are softand tender, his sinews tender, but his grip is quite firm.
He hardly yet knows about the union of maleand female, yet his organs are fully formed and well, at times aroused.This means that his essence is at its height there and then, or means thatthe vital force is at its height.[It could be both.]
Such a one can cry all day without gettinghoarse if his [libido as natural balance] is whole and healthy [for it].If so it's well in accord with something eternal.
Now, to know eternity full well can be adiscerning matter. To know bland harmony likewise implies to be in eternity,or if missed, it is to understand some [principle of] always-so by somedegree of mental illumination. But to be well in accord with the eternalmeans to be free as a bird.
To fill life to the brim is to invite uglyportents, bad omens. To force the growth of life likewise spells ills.Some ready at hand or to come later on, maybe. Now, if the heart makescalls upon the life-breath, laziness or [yogic] rigidity can follow suit.
After things reach their prime, they beginto grow old, Whatever has a time of vigour also has a time of decay. Certainthings age after reaching their prime.
Much is contrary to dao. Whatever is contraryto dao will soon perish. He who is against dao can perish rather young.Whats against dao could soon be destroyed.
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He who knows doesn't speak (artfully). Hewho speaks hardly knows.
Fill your openings, t the doors,
Dull all nasty edges. Untie all tangles.
Temper or soften all glaring light.
Submerge its turmoil as unified with theworld: Let all chaotic hustle and bustle be smoothed down.
This is the called the mysterious [Vossing]levelling for bland unity or deep insider identification.
Love and hatred can barely affect the godsand supermen who are said to have achieved it.
Certain forms of loss can hardly reach upto this.
It can be hard to repel and shoo such anaccomplished god-being, as it's impossible to be distant and indifferentto him.
He can't be raised, can't be much humbled,and disgrace can hardly affect him deep inside.
So he is already highest of all humbled creatures.He is to be so honoured by the world.
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Kingdoms can only be governed if rules arekept; rule a kingdom by some normal standards and with utmost discretion.
Battles, on the other hand, can be won ifrules are aptly broken. Operate the army and fight some battles by (unusual)tactics of surprise and attack.
Yet administer the kingdom by engaging inno activity. Win the world by doing next to nothing, for major adherencecan only be won by letting well alone.
How do I know this will be so? By this:
The more prohibitions, ritual avoidances,and taboos there are, the poorer the people will end.
The more 'sharp weapons' there are, the moretroubled and chaotic the state will be, and the more benighted the wholeland will grow.
The more cunning craftsmen there are, themore skills of technique, the more vicious things will appear: the morepernicious contrivances will be invented.
The more laws are promulgated, the more thievesand bandits there will be. So: The greater the number of statutes, thegreater the number of thieves in the end.
So a wise man decreed:
So long as I "do nothing" the people gettransformed of themselves.
So long as I love quietude, the people willof themselves go straight.
So long as I act only by proper inactivitythe people will of themselves grow rich.
I have no desires, and the people of themselvesbecome simple as the mythological raw block'.
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When the government is non-discriminative,lazy and dull, the people are contented and not spoiled, but quite generous.When the ruler looks sullen or depressed, the people will be happy andsatisfied;
When the government is efficient and smart,searching and discriminative, the people are discontented, disappointedand contentious. Even if the ruler looks lively and self-assured the peoplewill be carping and discontented.
Good fortune leans on bad fortune and badfortune could rest on good fortune. Latent calamity is happiness, and soundhappiness depends on some calamity. Fortune's route is a disaster; fortuneis hidden disaster.
Who knows when the limit will be reached?Who would be able to know the ultimate results of good fortune?
They may be:
The normal will (in time) revert to deceitful.
There will hardly be any correctness (usedto govern the world) any more.
The old correct will become the perverseagain.
Some of the good we know of will again turnevil.
Few know it, but the people have been deludedfor a long time.
Anyhow, there's a bourn where there's neitherright nor wrong. It's in a realm where every straight is doubled by a crookedand every good by an ill. Surely mankind has gone long enough astray?
Therefore the wise man has firm, square principles.He is at times as pointed as a square, but hardly cuts or pierces.
His integrity is as acute as a knife buthardly cuts, hardly hurts (innocent others), so "he shapes the cornerswithout lopping",
He is indeed straight, but doesn't extendhis sway. He reaches his [most cherished] ends.
He is far from high-handed, he can be bright,but refrains from dazzling.
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In managing human affairs, there's no betterrule than to be sparing, which is to forestall. You can't rule men norserve heaven unless you have laid up a store; Be [simply artistic] frugal,there's nothing better for serving heaven and ruling people.
To forestall is to be prepared and strengthened;and by being frugal in such ways one may recover quickly. To recover quicklymeans to accumulate [intense moral] rather much. This "laying up a store"means quickly absorbing, And "quickly absorbing" in the end means doublingone's garnered "power". Double your garnered power and it acquires a strengththat nothing can overcome. By the heavy accumulation of virtue one canovercome everything. Be prepared and strengthened to be always victorious:to have infinite capacity;
If there's nothing it can't overcome, itknows no bounds, then he will acquire a capacity with limits well beyondanyone's knowledge. One can next overcome nearly everything. And only whatknows no bounds is huge enough to keep a whole kingdom in its grasp. Ifhis capacity is beyond anyone's knowledge, he is fit to rule a kingdom.Who has infinite capacity is fit to rule, but only he who having the kingdomgoes to the mother, can keep it long. He who possesses he mother (dao)of the state will last long. The mother (principle) of a ruling countrycan long endure.
