bkadoctaj's Daily Tao

bkadoctaj · Oct 14, 2008

I choose to continue this lifelong journey.

Verse 57: Simplicity Blossoms When Coercion Dies

Govern a state with predictable actions.
Fight a war with surprise attacks.
But the universe becomes ours
only by eliminating coercive acts.
By not doing, nothing lacks.

How do we know these lessons?
By tuning into our Essence.

The more taboos and prohibitions there are,
the poorer the people become.
The more deadly weapons there are,
the more our fears turn us numb.

When craftiness spreads far,
the more bizarre what is done,
The stricter the laws there are,
the less the robbers run.

Therefore, the wise know
to make no one a foe.
The less coercing we do,
The more tranquilities grow.

When harmony reigns,
and we rule ourselves with felicity,
everyone gains,
and we'll all live in simplicity.
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Verse 58: Alternatives

When a government is more benign,
the people are more productive.
When a government is more tyrannical,
the people are more rebellious.

But whatever the government,
if disaster is the bitter fruit of others' good fortune,
how long can such injustices be tolerated?
How long have we endured the hypocrisies!

Those pretending to be righteous act deceitfully.
Those pretending to be religious revert to evil.
We have been deluded!
And each day it becomes worse!

Be firm and armed, but do no harm!
Be as sharp as a knife, but do not cut!
Be ready to transform, but do not provoke!
Illuminate the darkness of ignorance, but do not blind!
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Verse 59: The Importance of Moderation

To serve humanity,
there is nothing more important
than to be moderate.

To be moderate
is to return to the female yin principle.

To return to the yin
is to become nurturing.

To be nurturing
is to acquire enormous capacity.

To have enormous capacity
is to be ready for the Great Integrity.

To be ready for the Great Integrity
is to be ready to serve humanity.

In this way we will become firmly planted
in the Great Integrity,
the pathway to a clear vision and a long life.
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Verse 60: Our Future

Govern a country like you would fry a small fish -
with care, respect and with the least interference.

When the world is governed according to the Great Integrity,
evil will lose its power.

Not only will evil lose its power,
it will no longer even exist.

When evil ceases to exist,
neither will good exist.

Without good and evil,
we simply will live totally in our human natures.

No one will compromise anyone else
because we will all be inextricable parts of the Great Integrity.
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Medicine Al · Oct 17, 2008

A skillful soldier is not militaristic.
A skillful soldier does not get angry.
They win but do not seek to conquer.
Such capable people are humble.
-Lao Tzu

Deal with difficult tasks while they are easy.
Act on large issues while they are small.
-Lao Tzu

bkadoctaj · Oct 18, 2008

And the answer is... 1, 2, 3...

Verse 61: A Plea for Mutual Humility

In our era,
when the Great Integrity has been lost,
separate states have arisen.
Some become very large.
Others remain very small.

When the larger ones
try to conquer the small,
at first the smaller ones are defeated
even though yang aggression
meets yang resistance.
But death stalks the people
on both sides of war.

Is it not better for great countries
to be like vast low lying lands
into which all streams passively go?

And the smaller countries,
like the innocent streams,
can be welcomed
at the end of their passage
by wide open arms,
calmly receiving their flow?

Would not this mutual humility
save countless lives now,
while serving as a rehearsal
for the coming of the Tao?
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Verse 62: Rehearsals for the Great Integrity

The Great Integrity is the sanctuary
of all human beings.

For those who are honest and caring,
it is a guide and a treasure.

For those who are dishonest and deceitful,
it is also a treasure
because a good word can rationalize a selfish act,
and because a good act, now and then,
can serve as a mask for living extravagantly
from the misery of others.

Since the Great Integrity is so universally acknowledged,
don't cast away those who use it opportunistically.
Rather cast away the opportunities to live selfishly
so that the Great Integrity
can more fully permeate all our lives.

We might begin
with the inauguration ceremonies of our leaders.
Instead of showering them with precious gifts,
instead of the public swearing of meaningless oaths,
why not share a meditation on the Great Integrity
as a prelude to its comprehensive embrace?
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Verse 63: The Secrets of Getting Things Done

Act without acting on.
Work without working at.

Enter bountifulness when it is still insufficiency.
Answer with kindness when faced with hostility.

Begin a difficult task in its easy stage
because large problems grow from small ones.

Begin a large task in its formative state
because complex issues originate from simple ones.

But beware of those who promise quick and easy solutions!
Accept problems as challenges.

In this way, the sage accomplishes great tasks
without ever having to struggle with them.
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Verse 64: Timing

It is easy to hold
what is still stable.

It is easy to mold
what is not yet formed.

It is easy to shatter
what is still fragile.
It is easy to scatter
what is yet light and small.

Therefore, act now rather than wait.
Get things done before it's too late.

A huge tree that you can't get your arms around
grows from a tiny seedling birth.
A tower of nine stories high
rises from a small heap of earth.

A thousand mile journey begins with one step.
This is an ancient tale.
Those who procrastinate,
and those who take premature actions fail.

Those who interfere in processes disrupt them.
Those who hold tightly to possessions lose everything.
Wise people succeed because they never force an outcome.
They never suffer a loss because they are not attached to anything.

Many succeed in gathering a few assets.
But when the stakes begin to sail, and
greed crashes through all cautionary boundaries,
failures unmercifully prevail.

Wise people don't accumulate possessions,
or teach anyone to amass things.
They devote themselves to the natural rhythms
that the Great Integrity brings.
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Verse 65: The Loss of Innocence

In ancient times,
before there were those who were governed,
and those who governed over,
the sage blended with others,
and all was done through the Primal Simplicity.
People lived in innocence.

When the Great Fragmentations
replaced the Great Integrity,
cleverness defeated wisdom.
Even some enlightened sages
became victims of the rulers
commanding the highest intrigue.
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bkadoctaj · Oct 18, 2008

And diction.

Verse 66: Wisdom Always Comes from Below

Why do all the hundreds of great rivers
flow naturally to the sea?
Because the sea is always lower than the rivers.

When are thousands of people attracted to a sage?
When she positions herself below them,
always listening, tirelessly responding to their needs.

Never commanding.
Never coercing.
Never manipulating.

Such a sage is forever adored.
SInce she treats everyone with love and respect,
everyone loves and respects her.
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Verse 67: The Three Treasures

When most people hear about the Great Integrity, they say it is useless folly.
Because it is not like anything in the world we know, they also find it inconceivable.

On the contrary!
The Great Integrity has given us three treasures to cherish:
The first is love.
The second is moderation.
The third is humility.

If you love, you will be fearless.
If you are moderate, you might always sense abundance in life.
If you live in humility, you will be widely trusted.

But you will not have the capacity to love if you are fearful.
Even worse, if you are fearless and without love, you will be courting disaster.

If you live in insufficiency, you have no opportunity to be moderate.
If you live in overabundance, you not only live immoderately,
but are always courting disaster.

If no one trusts you, then compensatory ego will preclude humility.
If everyone trusts you, and you lack humility, you will always court disaster.

The three treasures are practical guides to the Great Integrity.
The greatest foolishness is to live without them.
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Verse 68: The Ethics of War

The best soldier fights
without vengeance,
without anger
and without hate.

He puts himself humbly
below his comrades,
thereby eliciting
the highest loyalty from them.

This is the power
of non-belligerence
and cooperation.
It is the ancient path to the Great Integrity.
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Verse 69: In War the Defender Will Be Victorious

There is a saying
among those wise in military affairs:
"We do not act as host taking the initiative,
but would rather be the guest
assuming the defensive posture.
Rather than advancing one inch,
we would rather retreat one foot."

This is called
advancing without moving,
rolling up one's sleeves without baring one's arms,
fighting without weapons,
capturing the enemy without attacking.

There is no greater disaster
than boasting of one's invincibility.
Such boasts lead to the loss of the Three Treasures.
Therefore, when two opposing sides
meet in battle,
the one without an enemy
will be victorious.
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wackdeafboy · Oct 18, 2008

this is interesting...
after reading your tao, then somehow i found this theory,

http://fiction.wikia.com/wiki/Mankind's_History

bkadoctaj · Oct 20, 2008

The Taoist need never be bored.

Verse 70: So Easy to Understand and Practice!

The Great Integrity is so easy to understand,
and so easy to practice.
Yet it is not understood.
Nor is it practiced.

It is not understood
because people's heads are filled
with 10,000 trivia and rationalizations,
leaving no space for anything else.

It is not practiced
because people are kept busy, though bored,
with the 10,000 corruptions and miseries
that leave no time for the Three Treasures.

The Great Integrity is so ancient,
as old as the universe itself!
How can we expect people to remember it
after so many millennia of repression?

That is why
sages dress in rags
while they wear the Three Treasures
deep inside their hearts.
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Verse 71: Healing the Mind

Academia confuses knowledge with knowing.
Most everyone applauds the memorization of the 10,000 trivia.
Beware! These schooled addictions are not just myths-
They are a form of mental illness.

Any fragment of the mind,
divorced from heart, spirit, human community,
and from the primal reality of the universe,
is an abomination of the Great Integrity.

Let us prepare for the Great Integrity
by cleansing ourselves of all these cobwebs
of cluttered fragments that paralyze the mind.
In this way we will function as our own holistic physicians.
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Verse 72: Comparing Coercive Power and the Empowerment of the Great Integrity

When people no longer fear the power of governments,
a far greater empowerment appears-
the Great Integrity-
which never needs to enforce itself.

Then, we will never again be driven from our homes
or be compelled to labor for the benefit of others.
We will all work naturally to fulfill ourselves,
and to meet our community needs.

In the Great Integrity,
we will all love ourselves and all others,
not as compensations for ego deprivations and defilements,
but as natural expressions of our humanity.
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Verse 73: Courage, Patience and Paradoxes

The world we live in
requires great courage and patience.

Those with great courage, but little patience,
tend to kill or be killed.

Those with great courage as well as great patience
will tend to survive.

But the Great Integrity never judges you
for whatever path you happen to take.

The Great Integrity never strives
but always fulfills itself,

Never is commanded
but always responds.

Never is summoned
but always appears.

Never is impatient
but all is done on time.
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Verse 74: Ruling by Fear

People do not fear death
when they are forced to live in hopeless misery,
Thereby the executioners are no threat
to fearless rebels who dare to make trouble.
They might even execute the executioners.

When people do fear death,
they do not defy the executioners at first
But how long can the killings go on
before those who fear death
also become fearless?
Then, they too might execute the executioners.

By that time, the only ones left
who might serve as the executioners
would be the people themselves.
However, it is said that those who hew wood
in place of skilled carpenters
are likely to cut their own hands.
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Verse 75: Who Can Enjoy the Treasures of Life

Why are the people so hungry?
Because their grain is devoured
by the rich in taxes.
That is why the people are starving.

Why are the people so rebellious?
Because their government deprives them
of their liberties and rights.
That's why the people are rebellious

Why do the people not fear death?
Because their lives
are made so miserable
that death seems no worse than life.

Thus, no one can enjoy the treasures of life-
neither the rich who squander their humanity,
nor the government which tyrannizes the people,
nor the people who have nothing to gain from life.
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bkadoctaj · Oct 20, 2008

And to finish off that translation...

Verse 76: Let Yin Predominate Over Yang

When we are born,
we are soft and supple.
But when we've perished
there's no more tenderness
to be cherished...

When plants are young,
they are pliant and fragile.
When they die,
as they lose their green,
they wither and dry.

The sharp sword and knife
tryst always with death
while love without strife
is an ever devoted disciple of life.

An inflexible army
seals its own fate.
When a tree branch grows brittle,
it easily snaps,
whether long or little.

Wherever you go,
the rigid lie low.
While the weightless in the sky,
and all that is gentle,
fly boundlessly high.
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Verse 77: Two Opposite Processes

The Way of the Great Integrity
is like stringing a bow,
pulling down the high,
lifting up the low-

Shortening the long,
lengthening the short
to take from the excessive
and give insufficiency support.

How opposite to our social norms
which increasingly impoverish the poor
to further enrich the rich
who do not need any more.

How can we gather the world's wealth
to create abundance for all in need?
Through rediscovering the Great Integrity,
by acting without praising the deed.
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Verse 78: Appearance and Reality

Nothing in the world
is softer and weaker than water.
Yet there is nothing better
for subduing all that is harder and stronger.

Everyone observes how weak overcomes strong,
how gentleness overcomes rigidity.
Yet, this principle is seldom put into conscious practice.

Though some may say it is useless
to accept responsibility
for the calamities and toxicities of the world,
taking such responsibility
might put us on the road to the Great Integrity.

Just remember that truth often masquerades as falsity,
and falsity as truth.
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Chill out...

Verse 79: The Toxicity of Blame

Harboring a resentment
is sure to leave some resentment behind.
How can this be good?
It cannot.
Therefore, the wise accept all responsibility.

Although those who hold the power
keep blaming and bleeding the people,
the violated Great Integrity blames no one.
Once achieving the Great Integrity,
we will all function with a pure heart.
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Verse 80: Transforming Our Lives

Let us fashion small states with few inhabitants
who, without stress,
can produce more than they require,
who are so happy with their lives
that they have no thought of migrating elsewhere -

Who inherit weapons and armor,
but no need to use them,
who return to honest forms of communication,
and the simple enjoyments
of an ecological way of life.

Although these states may be so close to each other
that they hear the barking of each other's dogs
and the crowing of each other's cocks,
living contentedly,
they will have no need to invade each other's space.
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Verse 81: The Paradoxes of Life

Profound words are not clever.
Clever words are not profound.

Wise people are not quarrelsome.
Quarrelsome people are not wise.

Those who are intelligent are not ideologues.
Those who are ideologues are not intelligent.

The enlightened never hoard anything.
They share their possessions.

The more they give,
the greater their abundance.

The Great Integrity is the physician of the universe
who heals without harming and who acts without contention.
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If you like what you read, support the author, Ralph Alan Dale:

http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Te-Ching-...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224480519&sr=8-2

Androgenicx · Oct 20, 2008

love these posts. Very grounding, beautiful words.

Thank you bkadoctaj

bkadoctaj · Oct 20, 2008

Androgenicx said:

love these posts. Very grounding, beautiful words.

Thank you bkadoctaj
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I thank the Tao. Then to whom do your heartfelt thanks really go?

Androgenicx · Oct 20, 2008

bkadoctaj said:

I thank the Tao. Then to whom do your heartfelt thanks really go?
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Both you and the Tao, for without you the Tao would not have reached my ears, and without the Tao you would have nothing to reach to my ears

Medicine Al · Oct 20, 2008

The "Tao" is too great to be described by the name "Tao".
If it could be named so simply, it would not be the eternal Tao.

-Lao Tzu

A person who lives correctly,
When travelling on foot, will never meet a buffalo or tiger.

How so? Because "death" has no part of them.

-Lao Tzu

A sage

lets go of extremism
lets go of luxury
lets go of apathy.

-Lao Tzu

wackdeafboy · Oct 20, 2008

i wish i could rep u!!

this is what i'm taking out yo!!

When people no longer fear the power of governments,
a far greater empowerment appears-
the Great Integrity-
which never needs to enforce itself.

Then, we will never again be driven from our homes
or be compelled to labor for the benefit of others.
We will all work naturally to fulfill ourselves,
and to meet our community needs.
Click to expand...

bkadoctaj · Oct 20, 2008

I feel sort of obligated to share with you some (if not all) of the Tao Te Ching as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in his "A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy". This is by far the best English book on Chinese philosophy in existence, so if you want to dive into East Asian thought, start here.

1. The Tao (Way) that can be told of is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the mother of all things.
Therefore let there always be non-being so we may see their subtlety,
And let there always be being so we may see their outcome.
The two are the same,
But after they are produced, they have different names.
They both may be called deep and profound (hsÃ¼an)
Deeper and more profound,
The door of all subtleties!

Comment. While ancient Chinese philosophical schools differed in many respects, most of them insisted on the correspondence of names and actualities. They all accepted names as necessary and good. Lao Tzu, however, rejected names in favor of the nameless. This, among other things, shows the radical and unique character of Taoism. To Lao Tzu, Tao is nameless and is the simplicity without names, and when names arise, that is, when the simple oneness of Tao is split up into individual things with names, it is time to stop.

2. When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty,
There arise the recognition of ugliness.
When they all know the good as good,
There arises the recognition of evil.
Therefore:
Being and non-being produce each other;
Difficult and easy complete each other;
Long and short contrast each other;
High and low distinguish each other;
Sound and voice harmonize with each other;
Front and back follow each other.
Therefore the sage manages affairs without action (wu-wei)
And spreads doctrines without words.
All things arise, and he does not turn away from them.
He produces them, but does not take possession of them.
He acts, but does not rely on his own ability.
He accomplishes his task, but does not claim credit for it.
It is precisely because he does not claim credit that his accomplishment remains with him.

Comment. The idea of teachings without words anticipated the Buddhist tradition of silent transmission of the mystic doctrine, especially in the Zen School. This is diametrically opposed to the Confucian ideal, according to which a superior man acts and "becomes the model of the world"; he speaks, and "becomes the pattern for the world." It is true that Confucianists say that a superior man "is truthful without any words," but they would never regard silence itself as a virtue.
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bkadoctaj · Oct 26, 2008

Another translation: Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom - Sources of Chinese Tradition, 2e.

1

The Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way;
The name that can be named is not the constant name.
The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth;
The named is the mother of all things.
Thus be constantly without desire,
so as to observe its subtlety,
And constantly have desire,
so as to observe its outcome.
These two have the same origin,
But are named differently.
Both may be called mysterious.
Mysterious and still more mysterious,
The gateway of all subtleties!

2

When everyone in the world knows beauty as beauty,
ugliness appears.
When everyone knows good as good,
not-good arrives.
Therefore being and non-being give birth to one another;
Difficult and easy give completion to one another;
Long and short form one another;
High and low fill one another;
Sound and voice harmonize with one another;
Ahead and behind follow after one another.
Therefore the sage accomplishes things by doing nothing (wuwei,
Furthering a teaching that is without words.
All things arise, and he does not leave them.
He gives them life but without possessing them.
He acts but without relying on his own ability.
He succeeds but without dwelling on his success.
And because he does not dewll on it, it does not leave him.

3

Do not exalt the worthy,
and the people will not compete.
Do not value goods that are hard to come by,
and the people will not steal.
Do not display objects of desire,
and the people's minds will not be disturbed.
Therefore the ordering of the sage
empties their minds,
fills their bellies,
weakens their ambitions,
strengthens their bones.
He always causes the people to be without knowledge,
without desire,
And causes the wise ones not to dare to act.
He does nothing (wuwei), and there is nothing that is
not brought to order.

4

The Way is empty.
It may be used without ever being exhausted.
Fathomless, it seems to be the ancestor of all things.
Blunting the sharpness,
Untying the tangles,
Subduing the light.
Merging with the dust.
Profound, it appears to exist forever.
WHose child it is I do not know.
It seems to have existed before the Lord.

5

Heaven and Earth are not humane,
Regarding all things as straw dogs*
The sage is not humane,
Regarding the people as straw dogs.
Between Heaven and Earth - how like a bellows!
Vacuous but inexhaustible,
Moving and producing ever more.
An excess of words ends in impoverishment.
It is better to hold to the center.

*"Straw dogs were used for sacrifices in ancient China. After they had been used, they were thrown away and there was no sentimental attachment to them.
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bkadoctaj · Oct 27, 2008

Not every verse was translated in this edition.

6

The spirit of the valley does not die.
It is called the mysterious female.
The gate of the mysterious female
Is called the root of Heaven and Earth.
Being continuous, it is as if it existed always.
Being used, it is still not exhausted.

9

To hold it upright and fill it
Is not as good as stopping in time.
To sharpen it to its sharpest,
Means it cannot last for long.
When gold and jade fill your hall,
You will not be able to keep them.
When honor and wealth make you proud,
You bring disaster upon yourself.
When your work is done, then withdraw:
This is Heaven's Way.

10

In preserving the soul and embracing the One,
can you avoid departing from them?
In concentrating your qi* and arriving at utmost weakness,
can you be like an infant?
In cleansing and purifying your profound insight,
can you be without fault?
In loving the people and governing the state,
can you be without knowledge?
In the opening and closing of the gates of Heaven,
can you play the role of the female?
In understanding all within the four reaches,
can you do nothing (wuwei)?
Give life to things, rear them,
Give them life but without possessing them,
Act but without relying on your own ability,
Lead them but without ruling them-
This is called profound virtue.

11

Thirty spokes conjoin in one hub;
there being nothing in between,
the cart is useful.
Clay is molded to form a vessel;
there being nothing inside,
the vessel is useful.
Doors and windows are carved out to make a room;
there being nothing within,
the room is useful.
Thus, without something one gets advantage,
While with nothing one gets usefulness.

12

The five colors cause a person's eyes to go blind,
The five tones cause a person's ears to go deaf.
The five flavors cause a person's palate to be spoiled.
Racing and hunting cause a person's mind to run wild.
Goods that are hard to come by impede a person's actions.
This is why the sage concerns himself with the belly,
not the eye.
And why he rejects the one and chooses the other.

* Qi is a fundamental concept in Chinese thought. Its sense depends on the context, but among the most frequently encountered translations are "vital energy," "vital force," "material-force," and "breath".
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bkadoctaj · Dec 16, 2008

Necessity of recalibration?

13

Favor and disgrace are like a warning,
And honor is a great affliction, like one's body.
What does it mean to say favor and disgrace are like a warning?
For favor to be bestowed is like a warning,
For favor to be withdrawn is like a warning.
This is what is meant by favor and disgrace being like a warning.
What does it mean to say honor is great affliction, like one's self?
The reason there is great affliction is that I have a self.
If I had no self, what affliction would I have?
Therefore to one who honors the world as one's self
The world may be entrusted,
And to one who loves the world as one's self
The world may be consigned.

17

The highest is one whose existence no one knows,
The next is one who is loved and admired,
The next, one who is feared,
And the next, one who is hated.
When his faith in them is not sufficient,
They will have no faith in him.
Anxiously, he values his words,
Fulfills his tasks, completes his work.
The people all say,
"And with us, it happened naturally."

18

When the great Way declined,
There were humaneness and rightness.
When intelligence and wisdom emerged,
There was great artifice.
When the six relations* were no longer harmonious,
There were filial children.
When the realm fell into disorder,
There were loyal ministers.

19

Do away with sageliness, discard knowledge,
And the people will benefit a hundredfold.
Do away with humaneness, discard rightness,
And the people will once more be filial and loving,
Dispense with cleverness, discard profit,
And there will be no more bandits and thieves.
These three, to be regarded as ornaments, are insufficient.
Therefore let the people have something to cling to:
Manifest plainness,
Embrace uncarved wood,
Diminish selfishness,
Reduce desires.

22

Be bent so as to become whole,
Be crooked so as to become straight,
Be empty so as to become full,
Be worn so as to become new.
Possess little so as to acquire;
To possess much is to be perplexed.
Therefore the sage, by embracing the One,
Becomes a model for the world.
By not showing himself,
He becomes illustrious.
By not being self-important,
He becomes prominent.
By not being given to self-praise,
He is given credit.
By not promoting himself,
He endures for long.
Because he does not content,
There is no one in the world who can contend with him.
When the ancients said, "Be bent so as to become whole,"
Could these have been empty words?
In truly becoming whole, one returns to it.

28

Knowing the male, but keeping to the female,
One may become a ravine to the world.
Becoming a ravine to the world,
The constant virtue does not depart;
One returns to the state of infancy.
Knowing the white, but keeping to the black,
One may become a model for the world.
Becoming a model for the world,
The constant virtue does not deviate;
One returns to the limitless (wuji)
Knowing honor but keeping to lowliness,
One may become a valley to the world.
Becoming a valley to the world,
The constant virtue will be sufficient;
One returns to uncarved wood.
When the uncarved wood is broken up, it becomes vessels.
The sage, using them, becomes head of the officials.
Great carving does not rend asunder.

29

If one desires to take the empire and act on it,
I see that he will not succeed.
The empire is a sacred vessel,
That cannot be acted upon.
In being acted upon, it is harmed;
And in being grasped, it is lost.
For among living things some move ahead and others follow,
Some breathe easily and others hard,
Some are strong and others are weak,
Some rise up and others are brought low.
Thus the sage rejects the excessive, the extravagant, the extreme.

* The six relations are those between parent and child, older and younger brother, husband and wife.
Click to expand...

Medicine Al · Dec 16, 2008

Great achievement looks incomplete, yet it works perfectly.
Great abundance looks like emptiness, yet its supply is never exhausted.
-Lao Tzu

The softest thing can overcome the hardest,
Formless, it can enter where there are no gaps or space.
-Lao Tzu

bkadoctaj · Dec 18, 2008

On and on and on...

36

If you would shrink it,
You must first cause it to be expanded.
If you would weaken it,
You must first cause it to be strengthened.
If you would destroy it,
You must first cause it to flourish.
If you would take from it,
You must first give to it.
This is called the subtly illumined.
The soft and the weak overcome the hard and the strong.
The fish should not be removed from the deep;
The state's sharp weapons should be revealed to no one.

37

The Way is constant: by doing nothing,
nothing is left undone.
If lords and kings can hold to it, all things will,
of themselves, be transformed.
If, as they are transformed, desires arise,
I suppress them by means of the nameless uncarved wood.
From the nameless uncarved wood comes absence of desire,
Through not desiring one becomes tranquil,
And the empire, of itself, becomes settled.

38

One of superior virtue is not virtuous
and therefore has virtue;
One of inferior virtue never loses virtue
and therefore lacks virtue.
One of superior virtue does nothing,
and has no motive to do anything;
One of inferior virtue does things,
and has a motive for doing them.
One of superior humaneness does things,
but has no motive for doing them;
One of superior rightness does things,
and has a motive for doing them;
One of superior propriety takes action,
and when no one responds,
stretches his arms and resorts to force.
Therefore after the Way was lost there was virtue,
After virtue was lost there was humaneness,
After humaneness was lost there was rightness,
And after rightness was lost there was ritual propriety.
Now ritual is the wearing thin of fidelity and trustworthiness
and the beginning of chaos.
Those who are the first to know
have the flowers of the Way
and the beginning of ignorance.
Therefore the great man abides in the thick
and does not dwell in the thin,
Abides in the substance
and does not dwell in the flower.
Therefore he rejects the one and chooses the other.

39

Of old, among those that attained the One:
Heaven attained the One and thereby became clear.
Earth attained the One and thereby became quiet.
Spirits attained the One and thereby became numinous.
Valleys attained the One and thereby became full,
All beings attained the One and thereby they live.
Lords and kings attained the One and thereby became
the upright ones of the empire.
This came about through the One.
Without what allows it to be clear,
Heaven might have been sundered.
Without what allows it to be settled,
Earth might have been shaken.
Without what causes them to be numinous,
spirits might has ceased.
Without what allows them to be full,
the valleys might have been depleted.
Without what allows them to live,
all beings might have perished.
Without what allows them to be honorable and exalted,
lords and kings might have fallen.
Therefore what is honored is rooted in the humble;
And what is exalted is founded in the lowly.
This is why lords and kings refer to themselves
as the orphaned, the lonely ones, the unfortunate.
Is this not taking humility as the root? Is it not?
Therefore if you approach a chariot and enumerate its parts,
you still have no chariot.
Seek neither to be rare like jade nor common like stone.

42

The Way gives birth to the One;
The One gives birth to two;
Two give birth to three,
And three give birth to all things.
All beings support the yin and embrace the yang;
And through the blending of qi* they create harmony.
What people hate is to be orphaned, lonely, unfortunate,
Yet kings and lords call themselves by these names.
Therefore things may gain by losing, and lose by gaining.
What others teach, I also teach:
The violent do not attain a natural death.
This I take as the father of my teaching.

43

What is softest in the world
Overcomes what is hardest in the world.
No-thing penetrates where there is no space.
Thus I know that in doing nothing there is advantage.
The wordless teaching and the advantage of doing nothing-
there are few in the world who understand them.

47

Without passing through the door one may know
all-under-Heaven;
Without looking out the window one may observe
the Way of Heaven.
The further one goes, the less one knows.
This is why the sage knows without moving,
understands without seeing,
succeeds without doing.
Click to expand...

* Vital energy, vital force, material-force, breath.

bkadoctaj · Dec 20, 2008

Repetition

48

Devotion to learning means increasing day by day;
Devotion to the Way means decreasing day by day.
Decreasing, and decreasing still more, one arrives at
doing nothing.
And in doing nothing, nothing remains undone.
If one would take control of all-under-Heaven one should always refrain from activity;
One who is engaged in activity is unworthy to control all-under-Heaven.

56

Those who know do not speak;
Those who speak do not know.
Close the openings,
Shut the gates.
Untie the tangles;
Subdue the light.
Merge with the dust:
This is called the mysterious merging.
Therefore intimacy cannot be gained nor remoteness achieved;
Benefit cannot be conferred nor harm inflicted;
Honor cannot be bestowed nor dishonor imposed;
This is why it is honored by the world.

57

Govern the state by correctness;
Deploy the army by deception;
Acquire the empire by taking no action (wushi).
How do I know this is so?
By this.*
The more prohibitions there are in the world,
The poorer are the people.
The more sharp weapons the people have,
The more disorder is fomented in the family and state.
The more adroit and clever men are,
The more deceptive things are brought forth.
The more laws and ordinances are promulgated,
The more thieves and robbers there are.
Therefore the sage says:
I do nothing (wuwei),
And the people are transformed by themselves.
I value tranquility,
And the people become correct by themselves.
I take no actions (wushi),
And the people become prosperous by themselves.
I have no desires,
And the people of themselves become like uncarved wood.

60

Governing a large state is like cooking a small fish.
By using the Way to manage the empire,
Spiritual forces lose their potency.
Not that they lose their potency,
But that their potency does not harm people,
Not only does their potency not harm people,
But the sage also does not harm people.
The two do not harm one other,
So that virtue accumulates in both and returns [to the people].

61

A large state is the effluence of a river,
Confluence of the world,
Female of the world.
Through stillness the female always overcomes the male.
Through stillness she submits.
Thus, by submitting, a large state wins a small one,
And a small state, by submitting to a large state,
wins the large state.
Thus one submits in order to win,
The other submits in order to be won.
The large state only wants to nourish the people as a whole.
The small state only wants to enter the service of others.
Each getting what it wants, it is right to submit.

* Through looking within oneself.
Click to expand...

bkadoctaj · Jan 13, 2009

Here's the entire Tao Te Ching (best translation I've read to this date):

www.scribd.com/doc/10209103/Lao-Tsu...eng-and-Jane-English-25th-Anniversary-Edition

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