47
Without leaving my house, I understand the whole world
Without looking outside, I see the perfect order
The more you know, the less you抣l understand
One who is wise doesn抰 need to travel
He understands without looking
Does nothing but achieves everything
48
Gathering knowledge makes life more complicated each time one gathers
Gathering wisdom makes life easier each time one gathers
Each time, more and more simple until simplicity is reached
Just by leaving, one man can achieve everything
One who wants nothing anymore, doesn抰 feel the need to do a thing, has conquered oneself
One who wants a lot has to do a lot and is as a slave to oneself
49
A wise man has no opinion at all
Therefore he can easily put himself in someone else抯 position
He accepts everybody and everything for what it is
In spite of any behaviour
He trusts the honest and the unfair
And naturally they become fair-minded
He trusts the reliable and the unreliable
And naturally all will become reliable
A wise man feels one with all people
They are all just as precious to him
They look and listen to him
And all are as children to him
50
Humans come and go
Their bodies as the seat of life
Their bodies as the seat of death
Humans get old and decay
Why is that?
It抯 because they are already dead, but think that they抮e living
There have been stories told and written about people who had found true life
And wandered around the earth
Not afraid of tigers or rhinos
Those who avoided weapons and violence
And lived in harmony with all creatures
Therefore no creature felt threatened by them
And no weapon could harm them
Why is that?
Because they were only living
And that's where there is no room for death
51
The Unspeakable makes all things appear
The active force determines their nature
Their nature determines their shape
The circumstance determines their final appearance
Therefore all creatures,
With the exception of erring mankind, honour the Unspeakable
And live according to their natures
This is all a natural process
And nobody rewards them for it
The Unspeakable makes them live, feeds them, makes them grow
Fulfils them, gives them peace, supports and guards them
It makes them live, but never forces them
It takes them along the stream of life, but does not possess
It makes mature, but does not control
That is an unfathomable mystery
52
The world sprouts from something
People could call it the mother of the world
When one knows that mother, one knows her child
One who becomes like that child again, will know the mother
And for the rest of his life nothing can harm him ever again
He won抰 criticize anyone and lets no one influence him
And his life will be without worries
But one who condemns others and whose interests concern only himself
Will be full of worries the rest of his life
One that sees a gleam of light in darkness sees the light at the end of the tunnel
Holding on to that gleam of light requires strength
One who follows that light, turns back to the original light
Then all danger is gone
And you抣l live the eternal life
53
When I possess True Knowledge
I will stroll on the right and simple road
I will avoid side paths
Because the straight road is easy to walk
But most people love the narrow side paths
The residences of the rich are neat and clean
But the fields of the poor are filled with weeds
And their granaries are empty
The elite wear generously-decorated and expensive clothes
Sharp swords hang on their waists
They stuff and they swill
They lose themselves in possession and wealth
They flaunt their stolen gear
Now, isn抰 that conscienceless?
54
One who is rooted in this unfair world,
Won抰 be easy to unsettle
One who holds on to that world, can抰 let go
Therefore their children will suffer until the third and fourth generation
But one who follows his conscience
Will lead an impeccable life
One who takes care that his fellow men follow their conscience,
Makes them flourish
One who takes care that his neighbours follow their conscience,
Makes them examples for everybody else
And when all of mankind follows its conscience,
There shall be a paradise on earth
Look at yourself if you want to understand yourself
Discover the connections and patterns in the way your nearest relations,
Cities and the nations, get on with each other
Because what抯 on a small scale, is on a big scale, too
How do I know it is that way?
Because I've done this myself
55
A true human being is like a new-born baby
Wasps and scorpions won抰 sting it, snakes and adders won抰 bite it
Raptors and wild animals won抰 attack it
Its bones and muscles are soft and flexible, yet it has a pretty tight grip
Sex and libido are strange to it, but its little penis already is able to stiffen
That is because its nature is not yet disturbed by thoughts
It can yell all day without getting a hoarse throat
Because everything is still perfectly in balance
Experiencing that balance is called 搇iving in the eternal present?br> Living without past or future is called 揵eing wise?br> Every attempt to extend life is pointless
One who wants to control his life, restrains oneself
It is unnatural that things wither
That which is unnatural will come to an early end
56
Those who have experienced the Mystery don抰 speak about it
Those who do speak about it have not experienced the Mystery
Don抰 try to speak about the Unspeakable
That which cannot be seen, heard, felt or tasted
The shapes fade
The edges weaken
Confusion disappears
The light brightens
The unrest is extinguished
That抯 what they call a 揗ystical Experience?br> Neither affection nor hate can move him
Profit nor loss will touch him
Honour nor disgrace will harm him
Therefore he is the world's noblest man
57
With laws men rule a state
With ruses people make war
Without laws and without ruses you抣l have a peaceful mankind
How do I know this?
Well, because of the following:
The more orders and prescriptions, the more defiant the people become
The more arming, the bigger the chaos
The more knowledge and science, the more machines and artificiality
The more rules and decisions, the more thieves and robbers
Therefore a wise man says:
I don抰 do anything, and the people change spontaneously
I take rest, and the people become honest spontaneously
I don抰 make an issue of anything, and the people find wealth inside themselves
I don抰 want anything, and the people return to simplicity
58
The fewer rules and laws there are, the happier mankind will be
The more rules and laws, the more there will be of dissatisfaction and conflicts
Someone抯 wealth comes at the expense of someone else抯 poverty
Misery for one is the result of someone else抯 wealth
When will this ever stop?
One who is wise is righteous and won抰 play that game
He is just and fair and will never hurt anybody
He shines, but does not blind
59
To get mankind to live in peace requires a full detachment
Because only one who is detached knows how to live truthfully
Letting go of everything before dying makes one live righteously
One who lives righteously knows no trouble
For one who knows no trouble, life is unbounded
One who is unbounded, considers the world as his home
One who feels united with creation, lives happily ever after
Then you抣l be rooted again and you抣l stand firmly
Only like that will you live happily ever after and understand everything
60
Making sure that mankind lives in peace is a trifle
Where righteousness is the main guide, delusions won抰 last
Not that there will be no delusions at all
But the people will be less susceptible to them
Delusions damage people, and a wise man shows them it's so
Therefore a wise man is a threat to delusion,
But no threat for mankind
Therefore they will become wise, too
61
When mankind lives in peace,
There will be no superiors and inferiors
It is like a big river,
In which all side currents have come to rest
The wildness comes to rest in peacefulness,
Because it is calm and most lowly
One who is the least by his disarming simplicity,
Is therefore appealing to his fellow men
And so it抯 a benefit for both of them
So one who looks big, has to become small again
62
Everything inclines towards the original balance
It抯 the bliss of true men
It抯 a sanctuary for the untruthful
But people flaunt themselves with flattery
They only do nice things in exchange for gratitude
Everybody does that so why shouldn抰 you?
Therefore the people shout with joy when a new leader comes on the scene
And let themselves be fooled by pomp and circumstance
It抯 wise not to participate in this
Do you know why the former wise people considered simplicity so important?
Because they experienced that, one who seeks will find
And that the truth sets one free from past and future
Therefore simplicity is most important in this life
63
Act without intention
Stop labouring
Just enjoy life
One who doesn抰 honour something small
Isn抰 worthy of something big
No more eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth
Turn to them your other cheek
Discover that what seems complicated is in fact very simple
See the grandeur in what seems insignificant
Don抰 turn simplicity into complexity
Living purely is simple
But people have made it complicated
So one who抯 wise will never make trouble
And therefore he can move mountains
One who promises a lot is hardly ever trustworthy
One with a lot of blinkers on will bring to pass lots of troubles
But one who is wise looks before he leaps
Therefore he won抰 start at all
And because of that he knows no trouble
64
Peace is easy to keep
What might happen is easy to prevent
That which is fragile is easy to break
What抯 still very small, can be chased away easily
A big tree starts with a small seed
A terrace-yard started with a mound of earth
A thousand-mile journey starts with a single step
One who disturbs the natural order, harms oneself
One who intervenes loses oneself
A wise man abstains far from this
Therefore he won抰 hurt himself and so he remains himself
But people break down everything and they call it 損rogress?br> Once started, there is no end to
A wise man strives for what others don抰
And takes to be important what others take to be unimportant
He unlearns what other are still learning
And turns back to a state of mind others have left
Then he knows the way back to the source
But realizes that the people do not want to hear about it
65
The former sages, who travelled along the straight and simple path
Brought the people wisdom instead of knowledge
When people know much, unity is impossible to keep
That抯 why science disturbs the togetherness of men
And wisdom guards that togetherness
One who understands this
Understands that wisdom and knowledge are in conflict with each other
Once you understand this, you抣l be wise
And you will turn back to simplicity
And feel one with everything and everybody
66
Why are the seas and rivers the biggest among all waters?
Because they are located on the lowest places
Therefore they are the biggest
So one who is wise among fools must be the least
And therefore he is the greatest
But fools won抰 consider him as a threat
They just don抰 understand him and take no notice of him
Because he doesn抰 fight and argue with anybody, he is indisputable
67
In life I am great, but to the world I am a failure
In my grandeur, I am different from all the rest
And that is exactly therefore the reason I am great
If I would be like the rest, I would be just as unimportant and insignificant
I have three treasures I cherish:
The first is compassion
The second is austerity
The third is modesty
Thanks to my compassion I can be brave
Because I am austere I can be unselfish
Because I am modest I can lead the way
But one who abandons his compassion and yet wants to be brave
One who renounces austerity and yet wants to be unselfish
One who stops being modest and still wants to be important
Won抰 make it far
One who fights with compassion, will conquer
Because he doesn抰 need to defend himself, he抯 invulnerable
The Unspeakable will protect him with its compassion
68
One who fights for peace is non-violent
A true fighter is unshakeable
A true victor does not argue
A true leader is the least
That抯 what people call 搉on-violent defensibility?br> And that抯 how one gets the people on his side
That is called 搇iving according to your nature?br> That is the perfection of which the wise of old spoke
69
One who understands that quarrels will never solve anything,
Won抰 start them anymore and prefers to wait
He rather takes a step back or retracts
That抯 what people call winning by losing
Showing strength without impressing
Standing firm without starting a fight
Nothing is more disastrous than underestimating your enemy
One who underestimates his enemy exposes oneself to danger
Therefore he who抯 driven by compassion
Is always the winner in a conflict
70
My words are easy to comprehend
And easy to bring to practice
Yet no one in the world wants to surrender to them
And no one feels capable of living according to them
My words have an origin, my way of living a principle
