He has nothing to defend and therefore he is invulnerable
So the aphorism of the wise of old 揟he imperfect becomes perfect?is true
The perfect considers the world as his home
23
One who knows oneself doesn抰 need a lot of words
A whirlwind doesn抰 last all morning
A shower doesn抰 last a whole day
Where do wind and rain come from?
They sprout from nature
If nature doesn抰 endure its rains and storms
Then why should a human being have to talk so much?
So the One who follows his conscience, coincides with his conscience
One who lives an exemplary life, will be an example
One who loses oneself, doesn抰 know who he is anymore
One who finds oneself, finds bliss
One who loses oneself, loses true life
One who does not trust oneself, will not be trusted
24
One who stands on tiptoe, doesn抰 stand firmly
One who walks in a forced way, doesn抰 come far
One who is vain, doesn抰 shine
One who justifies oneself, isn抰 credible
One who brags, will be unmasked
One who works one抯 way up, humiliates oneself
To a wise man these are nothing but follies
One who lives righteously and honestly, refrains oneself from these things
25
Before Creation revealed itself
There was already something, perfect but formless
Quiet and unchanging
Ubiquitous and inexhaustible
People might consider it as the creating force of everything that is
I cannot describe it, but I just call it Tao
If I have to interpret it , I would name it 揟he Universe?br> With that Universe I mean that which extends itself everywhere
The infinitely extending and returning
Therefore the creative is great and the creation great and so is a wise man
So there is a trinity of greatnesses and one of them is the true human being
A true human being follows his nature, nature and all its eternally unchanging laws
The laws of nature are the eternal order of the Universe
The order of the Universe is well-founded by the Unnameable
26
Heavy is the source of that which is light
The unmoved mover is the origin of all movement
Therefore a true human being can be in motion all day
Not because it is him moving himself
But because he just floats on life
Like a spectator he enjoys the wonderful and sparkling creation
Why should he, as the centre of the world,
Consider himself minor to that world?
One who knows his grandeur, comes loose of the world
One who wanders restlessly in that world, has lost oneself
27
A true traveller never takes a beaten road
A true speaker has an answer to every question
A true researcher has solved all problems
A story that holds water needs no confirmation
Nobody can refute a watertight story
One who sees how perfectly everything is connected with everything
Needs no theories or opinions, and no one can bring him to doubt
That抯 why a true human being is a teacher of others
And he loves his fellow men unconditionally
Therefore he is shepherd of the whole creation
And respects every thing that lives and grows
People call this: 揟he light that has become human?br> Therefore a true human being is a mirror for the untrue
And it抯 his task to point out their imperfections
One who is scared to take a look at oneself and does not love oneself
Might know a lot of things, but he is blind
It seems odd, but it抯 true
28
One who knows his strength and yet stays mild, is the least
Whoever is the least, is balanced like the open-minded child he once was
One who has fathomed the lie is an example for the world
One who became human again is an example for the world
One knowing oneself, is a knowing among the ignorant
One who has returned to his original purity, realizes his grandeur
One who has abandoned his origin, becomes civilized
To the wise man they act like actors
29
One who thinks he is capable of improving Creation, will not succeed
Creation is perfect and cannot be corrected
One who intervenes in nature, will only destroy nature
One who tries to control nature, will lose to nature
Because everything is what it is and everything happens as it happens
At times it is warm and then it is cold
At times there are storms and then it抯 calm
There is growth and then there is lying down
A wise man lets himself flow along with the streams of life
30
One who advocates a righteous world, uses no violence
Because One who uses violence, provokes violence
And where discord rules there is chaos
And after times of conflict lean years will follow
The righteous one does what he can and forces nothing
Is not proud about what he achieves
Does not brag about what he achieves
Does not boast about what he achieves
He only does what he does because that抯 all he can do
And he never uses power or violence
Civilizations which have reached their peaks
Usher in their decay
Civilizations are unnatural
And what抯 unnatural, will perish
31
How ingenious weaponry may seem to be, though it will always be disastrous rubbish
Everybody hates it
A righteous man saves himself from it
While a true man will not soil his hands with it
A fighter grabs for it
Weapons are not good for meek people
They bring nothing but trouble
One who is wise will never ever use a weapon
Because peace and quietness are more precious to him
He doesn抰 enjoy victory
Because one who enjoys victory
Enjoys his fellow men getting killed
And one who enjoys their fellow men getting killed
Will never find peace in oneself
Prosperity is considered as a personal merit
Misfortune on the other hand is considered as an ironic freak
Victory is the merit of men
And defeat the blame of the commander
But victory and defeat only brings losers
32
The Unspeakable is eternal and is not to be spoken of in words
Just like a rough piece of wood, it抯 not useful to anyone
If leaders were an example of true living
Everyone would join his true nature at the same time
The heavens would dew and the clouds rain justice
And without human intervening
That altogether would benefit every single thing that lives beneath the firmament
But when discord is born
Everything must have a name
Keep in mind that when everything has a name,
You抣l have to stop all that
Because one who stops will bounce off danger
Compared to the twisted tributaries of mistake
The straight and simple road is like a powerful stream
33
One who sees trough the other is clever
One knowing oneself is wise
One who conquers the other is powerful
One conquering oneself is inviolable
One who is satisfied is rich
One that wants a lot is busy all the time
One who stays oneself, is a four-square fellow
One who dies before dying, lives in the present forever
34
That which makes everything exist, is present everywhere
It spreads itself throughout the entire Creation
Everything owes its existence to It, everything to its own nature
It gives everything for nothing
It cherishes and guards everything and everyone, but expects nothing in return
Because It does not wish for anything, It seems to be important
It makes everything appear and disappear again
But Itself is eternal
Therefore the one who is wise is modest
And because he is modest,
His actions are grand
35
For one who beholds the perfect arrangement of things
Everything falls in its rightful place
Nothing can harm him, and rest and peace will fall to him
Along the way there are travellers who yield music and feasts
Because the road to self-knowledge is acrid and unpleasant
Not pleasant to face
Painful to hear
But giving an inexhaustible strength
36
Only what抯 stretched out can be pulled together
Only what抯 fortified can be weakened
Only what抯 increased can be decreased
Only one who has, can lose
That must be clear
Soft overcomes hard
Weak overcomes strong
Fishes belong in water
Weapons have to be destroyed
37
The Eternal Creating does nothing
And yet it does everything
If leaders would give in to it
The aspect of the world would change of itself
But since people have so much to wish for
Only I can be an example
The example of true simplicity
And when the people decide to follow me
The whole world will be in peace
38
True virtues are not from this world,
Therefore they are true virtues
The so-called 搗irtues?in this world
Serve only self-interest
Therefore those are not true virtues
One who only serves the general interest, is truthfully adequate
One who is called charitable in this world,
Expects thankfulness in return
One who is called honest in this world,
Has a hidden agenda
Those who have been adapted to this world
Demand that others do the same
And if not they threaten you and get angry
Therefore, when people stray from the straight and simple road
Then they start to act virtuously, but they are not virtuous
They pretend to be honest, but they are not fair
They act decently, but they are not decent
Civilization is just a thin crust across unfaithfulness and dishonesty
It is also the source of disorder and chaos
A wise man never hides behind a mask
He trusts what抯 inside of him, not in appearances
Therefore he rejects appearance and embraces the essence
39
About the men of old that had reached perfection
We know that they felt one with the whole creation
That they saw the earth not as chaos but as a unity
That they felt like gods and spiritual beings
That emptiness was no longer empty, but filled
And they saw that the whole creation was inspired
Thanks to their wholeness the world returned to its original order
For one who doesn抰 see clearly, the creation is splintered
For one who places oneself outside nature, the earth is chaos
One who doesn抰 experience oneself as divine anymore, feels powerless
One who does not experience one's perfection anymore, feels empty
People who deny their true nature, go to rack and ruin
Therefore they say:
Humility is the source of truthfulness
Smallness the source of grandeur
One who feels elevated over ones fellow men
Isn抰 right, is unworthy and small
After all, they climbed up high over other people抯 backs
Therefore their richness is poverty
And their gold just tinsel
40
One who deviates from the right and simple road
Will be pulled towards it again
This occurs with a mild touch
The whole creation comes into existence
The existing out of the unnameable unexisting
41
When the most sincere hear about the road to self-knowledge,
They will devote themselves to bringing it into practice
When the fairly sincere hear about the road to self-knowledge
They will only get out of it what suits their purposes
When the hardened hear about the road to self-knowledge
They will roar with laughter
If they didn抰 roar, it would not be true
Therefore there are some aphorisms to it:
The road to light appears to be dark
Going forward sometimes feels like going back
The way to the simple road is a hard way to take
But also:
The greatest personality turns out to be vain
The purest white turns out to be grey
The most righteous proves to be unfair
Kindness seems but a thin layer
With the truth one can go in all directions
Like a square circle
Like an inexhaustible barrel
Like singing without words
Like a sculpture with no shadow
In that way the road is hidden and not captured in words
Only the road to self-knowledge has a beginning and an end
42
The unspeakable gives birth to one
One to a second
And out of the second arises the third
The third brings the whole creation to life
Everything is carried by the dark and comes to light
The breath of Emptiness creates order
People hate to be alone, unimportant and useless
And yet that is what a true man takes pleasure in
One who becomes smaller, becomes bigger
One who becomes bigger, becomes smaller
I only tell what everybody already knows:
One who lives in a complicated way, dies in a complicated way
That is what it抯 all about
43
The softest is stronger than the very hardest
That which makes everything be what it is, penetrates everything
Therefore I know that it抯 wise to leave and not do anything
That one doesn抰 need lessons for it
That of all doings, leaving is where true happiness lies
In this world only a few understand this
44
What comes first, life or status?
What抯 more important to you, yourself or your possessions?
What抯 worse, having or losing?
One who wants a lot pays a high price
One who has a lot, has a lot to lose
But one who is satisfied knows neither fear nor disgrace
And one who has stopped playing a part in the game will never be afraid again and will live happily ever after
45
Perfection seems unfinished to this world
But it never perishes
Fullness is empty to the world
But it抯 inexhaustible
That which is correct, is incorrect to the world
Wisdom seems foolish to the world
Telling the truth a disgrace
Like movement chases away coldness
And rest cools down
Purity and calmness show one the right direction
46
If men lived by their nature
Horses would gallop in the open air
But since men got civilized
Battle horses standing at the frontier
There is no bigger curse than dissatisfaction
Nothing more disastrous than being discontent with life
Nothing more fatal than being eager for possessions
One who knows the peace of satisfaction, is always satisfied
