Douglas Allchin
1
Who would follow the Way
must go beyond words.
Who would know the world
must go beyond names.
Nameless, all things begin.
Named, all things are born.
Empty of intent, one may be filled with awe.
Full of intent, one may know what's manifest.
One source, different fonts.
Wonders both.
From wonder into wonder,
existence opens.
2
Beauty as beauty? Only with ugliness.
Goodness as goodness? Only with villainy.
Being and non-being arise as one.
Hard and easy,
long and short,
high and low,
text and voice,
before and after
gain meaning together.
A wise man works without ado,
and teaches by example merely.
He creates, not claiming it his own.
He works, not waiting for return.
With deeds complete, he sets no store by them.
When achievements are not owned, neither can they be lost.
3
Esteem no one especially worthy,
and men are freed from rivalry.
Prize no rarity,
and men are freed from thievery.
Place no treasure where all may see,
and men are freed from envy.
Who governs well
clears minds and fills stomachs,
diffuses ambitions and consolidates bones.
Where hearts and minds are free from want,
no cunning foe can muster discord.
Where no one needs to intervene,
order reigns freely.
4
The Way, how like an empty vessel,
yet it never needs refilling.
Bottomless it is,
like the wellspring of creation.
It blunts sharp edges,
unravels knots,
softens glare,
and settles clouds of dust.
Submerged deeply, obscurely seen.
Who knows wherefrom?
It just echoes from the time before time.
5
Nature is indifferent,
respecting all creation as straw dogs.
Wise men are indifferent,
respecting all that humans do as straw dogs.
The hollow between heaven and earth,
how like a bellows it is:
empty, yet inexhaustible.
The more it empties, the more it gives.
Words fill space needlessly.
Hold fast to the center.
6
The spirit of the valley never dies.
They call it wondrous female.
Through the portal of her mystery
creation ever wells forth.
It lingers like gossamer and seems not to be,
yet when summoned, ever flows freely.
7
Heaven is perpetual.
Earth endures.
Never born, they never die,
yet ever do they serve life's ends.
Who counts himself last is summoned first.
Who sheds his own-ness finds oneness in all.
Who never becomes an end in himself
endlessly becomes himself.
8
Utmost virtue, how like water.
Water gives all creatures life
and flows in lowly places,
ever closer to the Way.
Dwell lowly.
Respect deeply.
Trust freely.
Govern justly.
Work authentically.
Act upon opportunity.
Who does not contend
is free of contention.
9
The more you draw a bow that's taut,
the sooner your muscles regret the thought.
The keener the edge, the sharper the blade,
the harder it is to keep that way.
As gold and jade accumulate,
ways to safeguard them dissipate.
The higher the rank, the greater the riches,
the greater the load on which fortune hinges.
A full day ends with the setting sun.
Wise men retire when work is done.
10
Honoring yin and yang,
do you embrace the One?
Focusing your chi within,
are you soft as if newborn?
Tending the mirror dark within,
do you keep it blemish-free?
Caring for the citizenry,
are you unassuming?
As heaven's portals open and close,
do you receive as yin?
As your knowledge grows,
do you still know nothing, too?
Creating, not claiming as one's own,
working, not waiting for return,
guiding, not seeking to control,
such is the wonder of integrity.
11
Collect thirty spokes on a single hub.
In the empty space the usefulness lies.
Form a bowl from lumps of clay.
In the empty space the usefulness lies.
Frame your walls with windows and doors.
In the empty space the usefulness lies.
So:
Advantage comes from what is there,
usefulness from what is not.
12
Too many colors overwhelm the eye.
Too many sounds flood the ear.
Too many flavors numb the palate.
Gambling and sport overtake the heart.
Prized possessions overtake the mind.
Therefore,
a wise man attends to his needs
and not his senses.
He releases what is without
for what is within.
13
Anticipating favor brings distress.
To guard against disgrace gives stress no less.
Best be startled by neither.
Misery befalls the self.
No self, no misery.
Just so for rank and misfortune.
Who does not rank himself above all else,
may be entrusted with an empire.
Who graces all creatures as himself,
may be given custody of the world.
14
Look: you cannot see it,
for it is invisible.
Listen: you cannot hear it,
for it is inaudible,
Grasp: you cannot hold it,
for it is intangible.
Each as unfathomable as the next,
these three become as one.
It threads into the gateway of wonder
and returns again to nothingness.
The form of the formless, the image of the imageless,
elusive and beyond imagination.
From above, there is no light reflected.
From below, no shadow cast.
From before, there is nothing to meet,
From behind, no thing to follow.
Mindful of one's primal roots,
one floats along the Way.
15
The ancient adepts of the Way,
how subtly engaged,
how cryptically perceptive.
Yet fragments of their wisdom linger:
Alert, as if treading over icy streams.
Cautious, as if threatened by neighbors. Considerate, like a welcome guest.
Fluid, like melting ice.
Simple, like an unhewn block.
Open, like a valley.
Tumbling, like turbulent waters.
Who finds quiescence while turbulence settles?
Who is astir before the moment is ripe?
Who does not want fulfillness
may be incomplete and threadbare.
16
Let emptiness fill you.
Let stillness reign within.
Now,
as creation unfolds, observe its return as well.
For as all creatures flourish,
so is each returning to its source.
All returns to stillness.
Thus nature is renewed.
Thus nature endures.
Appreciating the perpetual invites enlightenment.
Recklessly ignoring what endures invites catastrophe.
Appreciating the perpetual opens the mind.
An open mind fosters perspective;
perspective, transcendence;
transcendence, divinity;
divinity, oneness with the Way:
the Way which is everlasting.
Even as bodies die and decay,
the Way will ever be the Way.
17
Who leads well, the people never notice.
Next, comes one they cherish;
next, one they fear;
last, one they revile.
A leader who gives trust earns trust.
His profile is low, his words are measured.
His work is done when all proclaim,
"look what we've achieved!"
18
When once the Way was lost,
humanism soon appeared.
As ingenuity emerged,
so did subterfuge, as well.
As families dissolved,
new codes of duty formed.
The country now in disarray,
authorities arose
and order was enforced.
19
Be free of learnedness, renounce what's told,
and all will benefit a hundredfold.
Be free of "charity," renounce what's "right,"
and natural affections will reignite.
Be free of shrewdness, renounce what's dear,
and thieves and bandits will disappear.
These three alone will not suffice,
thus honor these as well:
Be simple, like an undyed cloth,
authentic, like an unhewn block.
Be free of self.
Be free of want.
Be free of all that's taught as true,
and thus be free of troubles, too.
20
Twixt yea and nay,
how much difference to convey?
Twixt good and bad,
how much difference to be had?
Whom others fear
ought others fear.
How very vexing
it's all so perplexing!
Others revel in life,
celebrating and going places.
Still am I, and give no sign,
as if a newborn yet to smile.
桝nd I, I with nowhere to return.
Others have stuff, more than enough.
梂hile I, I have nothing.
A fool in deed, a fool indeed.
Others seem so clear,
while I, I seem so lost.
Others seem so alert,
while I, I seem so plain.
As nebulous as the ocean wide.
Adrift to every breath of wind.
While all seem busy toward some purpose,
I am plainly good for nothing.
Ah, to be unlike the masses!
To engulf nature whole
and be engulfed by her!
21
Integrity means to follow the Way, fully the Way,
ever so elusive and ineffable.
Elusive and ineffable!
梐nd yet it holds true form.
Ineffable and elusive!
梐nd yet it holds true substance.
How close, how dark, how deep within!
梐nd yet it holds an essence,
a touchstone of one's faith.
Since antiquity, its name has been preserved,
an echoing of how all things began.
How can one know of things remote?
桞y what is deep within.
22
Yield and be preserved.
Bend and be restraightened.
Empty and be filled.
Exhaust and be renewed.
Have little and be enriched.
Have much and be overwhelmed.
The sage holds fast to integrity
and shows the Way for all to see.
Not displaying himself, he shines as an example.
Not promoting himself, he is known by all.
Not crediting himself, he is recognized,
Not lauding himself, he is remembered.
He does not compete,
hence no one can get the better of him.
Just so:
Who yields is preserved.
23
Nature works without words.
Just so for men.
No windstorm lasts all morning.
No downpour lasts all day.
Nature cannot sustain them.
Just so for men.
Who follows the Way is one with the Way.
Who expresses integrity is one with integrity.
Who welcomes loss is one with less.
24
Who lifts himself too high can't hold a stance.
Who takes too giant a stride can't make advance.
Who gives himself the credit eclipses others finding merit.
Who prides himself on end soon finds himself without a friend.
In every instance such as these
the voyager on the Way can see
excess baggage and goods none need.
What's not in nature's economy,
abandon for integrity.
25
Something there once was,
vaguely formed, yet complete unto itself,
emerging afore heaven and earth,
without voice, without dimension,
without otherness, without change,
whence all things were born.
Who knows its name?
I know it as "the Way."
If name there be,
then call it "Great".
梖or great means ever-flowing,
ever-flowing, hence far-reaching.
Far-reaching, it may come full circle.
The Way is great,
heaven is great,
earth is great,
and so is the man of integrity!
Men accord with earth,
earth with heaven,
heaven with the Way,
and the Way upon itself unfolds.
26
In gravity is levity grounded.
In stillness is unrest mastered.
Provisions weigh down a journey,
yet wise men travel not far without them.
Amusements beckon beyond the walls,
yet wise men calmly stay at home.
27
Who travels well leaves no trace.
Who speaks well leaves no discord.
Who reckons well leaves no tally.
Who secures well uses neither board nor lock,
yet what he closes, no one can open.
Who binds well uses neither cord nor knot,
yet what he binds, no one can undo.
Who follows the Way well
leaves none untended,
leaves none behind,
leaves naught to waste.
Such is listening to the light within.
Good men are to bad men teachers.
Bad men are to good men responsibilities.
Who does not respect his teacher?br> or his responsibility?br> whatever else he knows,
wants wisdom.
Such is the subtle essence.
28
Knowing the masculine,
embrace the feminine.
Be a channel for all under heaven:
integrity will ever flow through you
and return you to the state of a newborn.
Knowing honor,
embrace humility.
Be a valley for all under heaven:
integrity will ever flow towards you
and return you to an unhewn block.
Knowing whiteness,
embrace the dark void.
Be a guide for all under heaven:
integrity will never mislead you
and will return you to the everlasting.
When hewn,
the native block is fashioned into tools,
tools which serve the interests of the few.
A wise man knows how not to hew.
29
Some men try to seize the world
and shape it as they please,
but how can they succeed?
The world is a vessel complete unto itself.
Who tries to shape it, fails.
Who tries to grasp it, loses.
Some creatures plunge ahead, some pause behind.
Some breathe in fits, some breathe more gently.
Some resist, some yield to danger.
Some fill themselves, some become empty and hollow.
A person of integrity endeavors ever to be free:
free of extremes,
free of excess,
free of extraordinary extravagance.
30
Who serves a ruler with the Way
refrains from force of arms.
For who wields weapons, weapons can betray.
Where troops have camped, the brambles grow.
Where war has raged, the harvest's low.
