What抯 the difference between this version and all others?
Understanding Lao Tzu means: live like Lao Tzu. Living like Lao Tzu means: escape from the world, have no opinions and convictions anymore, have no interests at all and don't be tied to anything. To live like Lao Tzu is to not believe anything anymore, to realize you can抰 really know a thing, to have no point of view anymore, to have nothing to lose and therefore nothing to defend. The consequence of all this is that you抣l consider possessions as totally superfluous and you抣l no longer need anything or anyone. Then you won抰 try to force life to conform to your ways anymore, but you will let yourself flow with it instead. Only this opens the gate to unconditional love towards your fellow men. This version of the Tao Te Ching is the result of a similar experience. We have carefully removed all contradictions, all compromises and inconsequentialities that have defiled this simple, anarchistic and revolutionary wisdom-script during the last 2500 years, just like one cleans centuries of dust from a diamond so that it can sparkle again in its original shining simplicity.
Of what use is it to throw everything away and become wise?
Up until now your luck has depended on the behavior of others, their compliments and appreciation, and your achievements and possessions; on kids, sex, alcohol and drugs; on the weather, on wishes and expectations which bring you only short moments of joy and satisfaction. When you抳e gotten what you wanted the pleasure is over, and that makes you want more again and again and again, and the result you hoped for is lost. You抣l always have to have more. The Tao Te Ching describes the road back, back to oneness and simplicity, back to contentment, back to yourself, back to what you once were as a child. With every step in the right direction you抣l have to do less, until you finally don抰 have to do anything anymore, don抰 want anything at all, without a thing to lose. Then you will never be afraid again, you won't know pain and grief anymore, you抣l never get sick again, never be tense or restless; you will have no expectations so will experience no disappointments ever again. Then you will be wise and invulnerable.
1
The Ineffable, about which is spoken, is not the eternal Ineffable
A name for the Unnameable, is but a name
The Unnameable is what makes everything what it is
By naming things you divide the Indivisible
Only one who gives up all his desires can experience the Indivisible
One who still cherishes desires, will experience only dissension
Both will see the same reality, but experience it differently
One who goes from the false reality into the other,
Will pass through the narrow gate and receive the secret of true life
2
When people think `this?is beautiful, they must think `that?is ugly
When people say `this?is good, than they have to say `that?is evil
This is Inevitable
People create a false reality out of the real one
Hard and easy are relative
Long and short depend upon each other
High and low are determined by a position
Sound and voice need one another
Before and beyond assume a point of view
That抯 why a wise man acts without intentions
And won抰 decide for others what to do
He抣l let anything happen as it happens
He won抰 consider what he does as his own merit
And only therein is he praiseworthy
3
When you praise people for their achievements, people will compete
When you call things valuable, people will steal
When people flaunt desirable things, it will make other people restless
Therefore the sage sets himself to the task of emptying their heads
To make sure they抮e not hungry, discourage their ambitions and strengthen their bodies
So people will be without anxiety and without the desire for knowledge
And the scientists will be played off the field
When people won抰 labour anymore
All will live in peace
4
That which maintains the Creation
Is like an empty barrel that抯 inexhaustible
It is like a fathomless emptiness, filling the whole Creation
Its sharpness brings about curves
Its angles dissolve
It dims its light
It restrains its touch
How pure and calm it stays, like deep waters
I don抰 know its origin
It seems like it is even older than that by which it is brought forth
5
The Creation does not pretend to be friendly
It treats all things impartially
One who is wise doesn抰 act friendly
All people are equal to him
The Universe is like bellows
Although empty, it fills continuously
The harder it works, the more it brings forth
The more you talk about it, the wearier you get
Therefore, you'd better stick to what really matters
6
The spirit of depth never dies
People sometimes call it the Great Mother
The gate through which she breathes
Is the foundation of Creation
It appears to be everlasting
When you rely on that, life will be effortless
7
The Universe is everlasting
The reason why it is everlasting
Is because it doesn抰 exist for itself
Therefore it can last
Therefore a wise man behaves as the least
And because he is least, he is the greatest
He is detached and therefore he is safe
Couldn抰 it be possible that he is perfect,
Just because he is disinterested?
8
A perfect human being is like the water
That benefits all things and competes with nothing
It stays in places which others despise
But in this way it follows its origin
In his heart the wise cherishes simplicity
In contact with others he is amiable
In his words he is reliable
In his leading he is peaceful
In what he does he is competent
He does everything at the moment it needs to be done
He won抰 fight
And therefore he is impeccable
9
It is better to carry an empty barrel than a full one
Sharpen a knife until it is razor-sharp and it won抰 last long
When a house is filled with valuables, it is impossible to guard
When wealth and ambition make one arrogant, it will lead to a fall
When fame and success menace you, pull back
That抯 the only road to true bliss
10
Can you empty your head and lastingly lose yourself in Creation?
Can you live up to your nature and become like a child?
Can you purify the doors of perception and see clearly again?
Can you love your fellow man and serve mankind disinterestedly?
Can you go in and out of the narrow gate without any effort?
Can you be in the world without being possessed by it?
Can you realize that you can抰 know anything and therefore understand everything?
Nature brings forth everything and feeds everything
She brings forth but possesses nothing
She does everything disinterestedly and asks for nothing
She leads but demands nothing
That is what people call the incomprehensibility of Nature
11
Thirty spokes unite within the nave
But the wheel is only useful because of the cavity inside the nave
Clay is kneaded into vases
But the utility is determined by the cavity
When building a house they leave blank spots in the walls for doors and windows
But the utility of the house depends on the cavity inside
Therefore, that which exists is useful
But the cavity makes it possible
12
All those artificial colours blind people抯 eyes
All that man-made music deafens people's ears
All those various flavours dull our taste
Horse races and hunting drive people crazy
The desire for scarce goods
Hinders people from going on the straight and simple path
Therefore the wise finds his satisfaction
In feeding himself and then he won抰 exhaust his eyes
Therefore he does this and leaves that
13
Watch out for gratitude and criticism
Honour and misfortune are as disastrous as having character
What does that say?
Watch out for gratitude and criticism?
Watch out for gratitude, because it originates from submission
Watch out for criticism, because it comes from superior power
Therefore, watch out for gratitude and criticism
What does it mean that honour and misfortune are as bad as having character?
Disasters come over us because we抳e got something to lose
If we had nothing to lose, which disasters could still strike us?
Therefore: to him who considers himself just as worthy as the world,
Mankind can entrust the world
And to him who loves himself and the world just as unconditionally,
Mankind can entrust the care for the world
14
We look at it but we do not see it and we call it the invisible
We listen to it but don抰 hear it and we call it the inaudible
We grope at it but never touch it and we call it the untouchable
The invisible, the inaudible and the untouchable come together in one
There is no light when it rises
There is no darkness when it descends
Continuously, constantly, but it cannot be put into words
And it returns to nothing
This is what they call the form of the formless, the image of the invisible
People call it indefinite and impalpable
You won抰 see it from the front
You won抰 see it from behind
One who lives after their original conscience, lives in the present
And understands everything that has ever been
That is living according to nature
15
The wise of old were profound and acute
People thought of them as unfathomable
Because they where unfathomable, I抣l try to sketch their way of living:
They seemed cautious, like people who cross a wintry river
They seemed irresolute, as if danger was threatening everywhere
They seemed dignified, as if they where guests
They seemed natural, like raw wood
They seemed empty, like a valley
They seemed opaque, like muddy water
How can one make muddy water clear?
Stagnation will settle the mud down and the water will become clear
Let everything happen as it happens and you will come to rest
The head of the wise is empty, he does not search for anything and expects nothing
He is empty, everlasting, youthful and not caught in time
He is perfect
16
One who has an empty head is satisfied, One who is satisfied has an empty head
All creatures exert and come to rest
All plants grow to maturity and come to rest
That final rest is what抯 called being done; completion
Returning to nature is what抯 called eternal life
Living in the present is called being enlightened
One who is not enlightened lives in confusion and misery
One who lives according to his nature understands everything and is forbearing
One who is forbearing is righteous
One who is righteous is royal
One who is royal is divine
One who is divine knows oneself
One who knows oneself has eternal life
One who has eternal life is not afraid to die
17
Of the wise of old, people only knew that they existed
Later on they loved them and admired them
Thereafter they got scared of them
And finally the wise were seen as despicable
One who can抰 trust oneself, can抰 trust another
How cautious were the first with their words
They proceeded so cautiously that when they where done
The people thought they did it themselves
18
When people deviate from their nature
Friendliness and righteousness became merits to be earned
Knowledge and cleverness came into being and lying started to rule
Relatives came into conflict with each other and loving each other became a duty
Cause when mankind and families get confused
Allegiance becomes an order
19
Dispose yourself of worldly knowledge and cleverness
And it will only be good for mankind
Stop pretending to be nice and fair, but be it
Then people will love each other unconditionally
Dispose yourself of the work of your hands and stop serving your self-interest
And there will be no thieves or robbers anymore
But these three things won抰 be enough
What it抯 really about is turning back to simplicity
Giving up your selfishness and not wishing for anything
20
When you unlearn what you have learned, you will be free from worries
We抳e learned that there is but little difference between yes and yes , but
That there is a big difference between good and evil
That we have to be scared of what others are scared of
What an endless pack of bullshit
Everybody is restless and excited like they are watching a soccer game
Only I am at rest and unwound and I don抰 have to do those things and like a child, I want nothing
I'm not attached to anything and don抰 have to go anywhere in particular
The others already have so much and still they want more
Only I seem to have lost everything
They think I抦 crazy and confused
People seem to be bright and clever
And think that I am naive and foolish
It looks like I blow with the wind and don抰 seem to find rest anywhere
The others seem to know so much
And in their eyes I am nothing but a boor
I am only different because I live according to my nature
21
A righteous and blissful life is approachable only when you follow your conscience
The conscience is invisible and impalpable. How can you follow it?
It speaks through images, like shadows in the dark
But how faintly and obscurely
The conscience is hidden but it carries the essentials of everything inside
The true life-force shelters itself inside conscience
Everything people know deeply inside is stowed within the conscience
It has always been there since the beginning, with many different names
The conscience separates truth from lie
How do I know all this?
My conscience has told me that it's so
22
Dissension becomes unity
The impure becomes pure
The voids shall be filled
The old becomes new
One who has nothing, receives everything
One who has a lot, receives nothing
One who is wise cherishes simplicity and in this way he is an example to the world
He is modest and therefore he excels
He doesn抰 have to prove himself and that抯 why people trust his words
