Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching
The Master doesn't try to be powerful;
thus he is
truly powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;
thus he
never has enough.
The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing
undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are
left to be done.
The kind man does something,
yet something
remains undone.
The just man does something,
and leaves many things
to be done.
The moral man does something,
and when no one
responds
he rolls up his sleeves and uses force.
When the Tao is
lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is
morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk
of true faith,
the beginning of chaos.
Therefore the Master
concerns himself
with the depths and not the surface,
with the fruit
and not the flower.
He has no will of his own.
He dwells in
reality,
and lets all illusions go.
In harmony with the Tao,
the sky is clear and
spacious,
the earth is solid and full,
all creature flourish
together,
content with the way they are,
endlessly repeating
themselves,
endlessly renewed.
When man interferes with the
Tao,
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the
equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct.
The Master views
the parts with compassion,
because he understands the whole.
His
constant practice is humility.
He doesn't glitter like a jewel
but
lets himself be shaped by the Tao,
as rugged and common as stone.
Return is the movement of the Tao.
Yielding is the
way of the Tao.
All things are born of being.
Being is born of
non-being.
When a superior man hears of the Tao,
he immediately
begins to embody it.
When an average man hears of the Tao,
he half
believes it, half doubts it.
When a foolish man hears of the Tao,
he
laughs out loud.
If he didn't laugh,
it wouldn't be the
Tao.
Thus it is said:
The path into the light seems dark,
the
path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true
power seems weak,
true purity seems tarnished,
true steadfastness
seems changeable,
true clarity seems obscure,
the greatest are seems
unsophisticated,
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest
wisdom seems childish.
The Tao is nowhere to be found.
Yet it
nourishes and completes all things.
The Tao gives birth to One.
One gives birth to
Two.
Two gives birth to Three.
Three gives birth to all
things.
All things have their backs to the female
and stand
facing the male.
When male and female combine,
all things achieve
harmony.
Ordinary men hate solitude.
But the Master makes use of
it,
embracing his aloneness, realizing
he is one with the whole
universe.
The gentlest thing in the world
overcomes the hardest
thing in the world.
That which has no substance
enters where there
is no space.
This shows the value of non-action.
Teaching
without words,
performing without actions:
that is the Master's
way.
Fame or integrity: which is more important?
Money or
happiness: which is more valuable?
Success of failure: which is more
destructive?
If you look to others for fulfillment,
you will
never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
you
will never be happy with yourself.
Be content with what you
have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is
nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.
True perfection seems imperfect,
yet it is perfectly
itself.
True fullness seems empty,
yet it is fully
present.
True straightness seems crooked.
True wisdom seems
foolish.
True art seems artless.
The Master allows things to
happen.
She shapes events as they come.
She steps out of the
way
and lets the Tao speak for itself.
When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the
factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the
Tao,
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.
There is no
greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend
yourself,
no greater misfortune than having an enemy.
Whoever
can see through all fear
will always be safe.
Without opening your door,
you can open your heart to
the world.
Without looking out your window,
you can see the essence
of the Tao.
The more you know,
the less you
understand.
The Master arrives without leaving,
sees the light
without looking,
achieves without doing a thing.
In pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is
added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is
dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally
you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left
undone.
True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their
own way.
It can't be gained by interfering.
The Master has no mind of her own.
She works with the
mind of the people.
She is good to people who are good.
She is
also good to people who aren't good.
This is true goodness.
She
trusts people who are trustworthy.
She also trusts people who aren't
trustworthy.
This is true trust.
The Master's mind is like
space.
People don't understand her.
They look to her and
wait.
She treats them like her own
children.
The Master gives himself up
to whatever the moment
brings.
He knows that he is going to die,
and he has nothing left
to hold on to:
no illusions in his mind,
no resistances in his
body.
He doesn't think about his actions;
they flow from the core of
his being.
He holds nothing back from life;
therefore he is ready
for death,
as a man is ready for sleep
after a good day's work.
Every being in the universe
is an expression of the
Tao.
It springs into existence,
unconscious, perfect, free,
takes
on a physical body,
lets circumstances complete it.
That is why
every being
spontaneously honors the Tao.
The Tao gives birth to
all beings,
nourishes them, maintains them,
cares for them, comforts
them, protects them,
takes them back to itself,
creating without
possessing,
acting without expecting,
guiding without
interfering.
That is why love of the Tao
is in the very nature of
things.
In the beginning was the Tao.
All things issue from
it;
all things return to it.
To find the origin,
trace back
the manifestations.
When you recognize the children
and find the
mother,
you will be free of sorrow.
If you close your mind in
judgements
and traffic with desires,
your heart will be
troubled.
If you keep your mind from judging
and aren't led by the
senses,
your heart will find peace.
Seeing into darkness is
clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your own light
and
return to the source of light.
This is called practicing eternity.
The great Way is easy,
yet people prefer the side
paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centered within
the Tao.
When rich speculators prosper
While farmers lose their
land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of
cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while
the poor have nowhere to turn-
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is
not in keeping with the Tao.
Whoever is planted in the Tao
will not be rooted
up.
Whoever embraces the Tao
will not slip away.
Her name will be
held in honor
from generation to generation.
Let the Tao be
present in your life
and you will become genuine.
Let it be present
in your family
and your family will flourish.
Let it be present in
your country
and your country will be an example
to all countries in
the world.
Let it be present in the universe
and the universe will
sing.
How do I know this is true?
By looking inside myself.
He who is in harmony with the Tao
is like a newborn
child.
Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak,
but its grip is
powerful.
It doesn't know about the union
of male and female,
yet
its penis can stand erect,
so intense is its vital power.
It can
scream its head off all day,
yet it never becomes hoarse,
so
complete is its harmony.
The Master's power is like this.
He
lets all things come and go
effortlessly, without desire.
He never
expects results;
thus he is never disappointed.
He is never
disappointed;
thus his spirit never grows old.
Those who know don't talk.
Those who talk don't
know.
Close your mouth,
block off your senses,
blunt your
sharpness,
untie your knots,
soften your glare,
settle your
dust.
This is the primal identity.
Be like the Tao.
It can't
be approached or withdrawn from,
benefited or harmed,
honored or
brought into disgrace.
It gives itself up continually.
That is why
it endures.
If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to
follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and
concepts,
and the world will govern itself.
The more
prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more
weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies
you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.
Therefore the
Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let
go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of
religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the
common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.
If a country is governed with tolerance,
the people
are comfortable and honest.
If a country is governed with
repression,
the people are depressed and crafty.
When the will
to power is in charge,
the higher the ideals, the lower the
results.
Try to make people happy,
and you lay the groundwork for
misery.
Try to make people moral,
and you lay the groundwork for
vice.
Thus the Master is content
to serve as an example
and
not to impose her will.
She is pointed, but doesn't
pierce.
Straightforward, but supple.
Radiant, but easy on the
eyes.
For governing a country well
there is nothing better
than moderation.
The mark of a moderate man
is freedom from his
own ideas.
Tolerant like the sky,
all-pervading like
sunlight,
firm like a mountain,
supple like a tree in the
wind,
he has no destination in view
and makes use of
anything
life happens to bring his way.
Nothing is impossible
for him.
Because he has let go,
he can care for the people's
welfare
as a mother cares for her child.
Governing a large country
is like frying a small
fish.
You spoil it with too much poking.
Center your country in
the Tao
and evil will have no power.
Not that it isn't there,
but
you'll be able to step out of its way.
Give evil nothing to
oppose
and it will disappear by itself.
When a country obtains great power,
it becomes like
the sea:
all streams run downward into it.
The more powerful it
grows,
the greater the need for humility.
Humility means trusting
the Tao,
thus never needing to be defensive.
A great nation is
like a great man:
When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.
Having
realized it, he admits it.
Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He
considers those who point out his faults
as his most benevolent
teachers.
He thinks of his enemy
as the shadow that he himself
casts.
If a nation is centered in the Tao,
if it nourishes its
own people
and doesn't meddle in the affairs of others,
it will be a
light to all nations in the world.
The Tao is the center of the universe,
the good man's
treasure,
the bad man's refuge.
Honors can be bought with fine
words,
respect can be won with good deeds;
but the Tao is beyond all
value,
and no one can achieve it.
Thus, when a new leader is
chosen,
don't offer to help him
with your wealth or your
expertise.
Offer instead
to teach him about the Tao.
Why did
the ancient Masters esteem the Tao?
Because, being one with the
Tao,
when you seek, you find;
and when you make a mistake, you are
forgiven.
That is why everybody loves it.
Act without doing;
work without effort.
Think of
the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the
difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a
series of small acts.
The Master never reaches for the
great;
thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into a
difficulty,
she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn't cling to
her own comfort;
thus problems are no problem for her.
What is rooted is easy to nourish.
What is recent is
easy to correct.
What is brittle is easy to break.
What is small is
easy to scatter.
Prevent trouble before it arises.
Put things in
order before they exist.
The giant pine tree
grows from a tiny
sprout.
The journey of a thousand miles
starts from beneath your
feet.
Rushing into action, you fail.
Trying to grasp things, you
lose them.
Forcing a project to completion,
you ruin what was almost
ripe.
Therefore the Master takes action
by letting things take
their course.
He remains as calm
at the end as at the
beginning.
He has nothing,
thus has nothing to lose.
What he
desires is non-desire;
what he learns is to unlearn.
He simply
reminds people
of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing
but the Tao.
Thus he can care for all things.
The ancient Masters
didn't try to educate the
people,
but kindly taught them to not-know.
When they think that
they know the answers,
people are difficult to guide.
When they know
that they don't know,
people can find their own way.
If you want
to learn how to govern,
avoid being clever or rich.
The simplest
pattern is the clearest.
Content with an ordinary life,
you can show
all people the way
back to their own true nature.
All streams flow to the sea
because it is lower than
they are.
Humility gives it its power.
If you want to govern the
people,
you must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead the
people,
you must learn how to follow them.
The Master is above
the people,
and no one feels oppressed.
She goes ahead of the
people,
and no one feels manipulated.
The whole world is grateful to
her.
Because she competes with no one,
no one can compete with
her.
Some say that my teaching is nonsense.
Others call it
lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside
themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put
it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep.
I have
just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These
three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in
thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both
friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things
are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the
world.
The best athlete
wants his opponent at his
best.
The best general
enters the mind of his enemy.
The best
businessman
serves the communal good.
The best leader
follows the
will of the people.
All of the embody
the virtue of
non-competition.
Not that they don't love to compete,
but they do it
in the spirit of play.
In this they are like children
and in harmony
with the Tao.
The generals have a saying:
"Rather than make the
first move
it is better to wait and see.
Rather than advance an
inch
it is better to retreat a yard."
This is called
going
forward without advancing,
pushing back without using
weapons.
There is no greater misfortune
than underestimating
your enemy.
Underestimating your enemy
means thinking that he is
evil.
Thus you destroy your three treasures
and become an enemy
yourself.
When two great forces oppose each other,
the victory
will go
to the one that knows how to yield.
My teachings are easy to understand
and easy to put
into practice.
Yet your intellect will never grasp them,
and if you
try to practice them, you'll fail.
My teachings are older than the
world.
How can you grasp their meaning?
If you want to know
me,
look inside your heart.