道德經

To experience without abstraction is to sense the world;
To experience with abstraction is to know the world.

Even the finest teaching is not the Tao itself.
Even the finest name is insufficient to define it.
Without words, the Tao can be experienced,
and without a name, it can be known.
--
The Way that can be told of is not an unvarying way;
The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind.

14
We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the Equable.'
We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.'
We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it 'the Subtle.'
With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description;
and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.

Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure.
Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again returns and becomes nothing.
This is called the Form of the Formless, and the Semblance of the Invisible;
this is called the Fleeting and Indeterminable.

We meet it and do not see its Front;
we follow it, and do not see its Back.
When we can lay hold of the Tâo of old to direct the things of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the beginning, this is called [unwinding] the clue of Tâo.

15
The skilful masters [of the Tâo] in old times, with a subtle and exquisite penetration, comprehended its mysteries, and were deep [also] so as to elude men's knowledge.
As they were thus beyond men's knowledge, I will make an effort to describe of what sort they appeared to be.

Shrinking looked they like those who wade through a stream in winter;
irresolute like those who are afraid of all around them;
grave like a guest (in awe of his host);
evanescent like ice that is melting away;
unpretentious like wood that has not been fashioned into anything;
vacant like a valley, and dull like muddy water.

Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)?
Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear.
Who can secure the condition of rest?
Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.

They who preserve this method of the Tâo do not wish to be full [of themselves].
It is through their not being full of themselves that they can afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.

16
The [state of] vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour.
All things alike go through their processes of activity, and [then] we see them return [to their original state].
When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its root.
This returning to their root is what we call the state of stillness;
and that stillness maybe called a reporting that they have fulfilled their appointed end.

The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging rule.
To know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent;
not to know it leads to wild movements and evil issues.
The knowledge of that unchanging rule produces a [grand] capacity and forbearance,
and that capacity and forbearance lead to a community [of feeling with all things].
From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character;
and he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like.
In that likeness to heaven he possesses the Tâo.
Possessed of the Tâo, he endures long;
and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay.

When the Great Tâo ceased to be observed, benevolence and righteousness came into vogue.
[Then] appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.

If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hundredfold.
If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again become filial and kindly.
If we could renounce our artful contrivances and discard our [scheming for] gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers.

When we renounce learning we have no troubles.
The (ready) 'yes,' and (flattering) 'yea;'--
Small is the difference they display.
But mark their issues, good and ill;
What space the gulf between shall fill?
What all men fear is indeed to be feared;
but how wide and without end is the range of questions?

The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring.
I alone seem listless and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence.
I am like an infant which has not yet smiled.
I look dejected and forlorn, as if I had no home to go to.
The multitude of men all have enough and to spare.
I alone seem to have lost everything.
My mind is that of a stupid man;
I am in a state of chaos.

men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted.
They look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused.
I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest.
All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and incapable, like a rude borderer.
(Thus) I alone am different from other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tâo).

The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new.
He whose (desires) are few gets them;
he whose (desires) are many goes astray.

Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and manifests it to all the world.
He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines;
from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished;
from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged;
from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority.
It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.

That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was not vainly spoken:
all real completion is comprehended under it.

Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the spontaneity of his nature.
A violent wind does not last for a whole morning;
a sudden rain does not last for the whole day.
To whom is it that these (two) things are owing?
To Heaven and Earth.
If Heaven and Earth cannot make such (spasmodic) actings last long, how much less can man!

He who knows other men is discerning;
he who knows himself is intelligent.
He who overcomes others is strong;
he who overcomes himself is mighty.
He who is satisfied with his lot is rich;
he who goes on acting with energy has a (firm) will.

He who does not fail in the requirements of his position, continues long;
he who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity.

34
All-pervading is the Great Tâo!
It may be found on the left hand and on the right.

All things depend on it for their production, which it gives to them, not one refusing obedience to it.
When its work is accomplished, it does not claim the name of having done it.
It clothes all things as with a garment, and makes no assumption of being their lord;
it may be named in the smallest things.
All things return (to their root and disappear), and do not know that it is it which presides over their doing so;
it may be named in the greatest things.

Hence the sage is able (in the same way) to accomplish his great achievements.
It is through his not making himself great that he can accomplish them.

The Tâo in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of doing it), and so there is nothing which it does not do.

If princes and kings were able to maintain it, all things would of themselves be transformed by them.

If this transformation became to me an object of desire, I would express the desire by the nameless simplicity.

Simplicity without a name
Is free from all external aim.
With no desire, at rest and still,
All things go right as of their will.

The movement of the Tâo
By contraries proceeds;
And weakness marks the course
Of Tâo's mighty deeds.

All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named);
that existence sprang from It as non-existent (and not named).

When the Tâo prevails in the world, they send back their swift horses to (draw) the dung-carts.
When the Tâo is disregarded in the world, the war-horses breed in the border lands.

There is no guilt greater than to sanction ambition;
no calamity greater than to be discontented with one's lot;
no fault greater than the wish to be getting.
Therefore the sufficiency of contentment is an enduring and unchanging sufficiency.

He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to increase (his knowledge); he who devotes himself to the Tâo (seeks) from day to day to diminish (his doing).
He diminishes it and again diminishes it, till he arrives at doing nothing (on purpose). Having arrived at this point of non-action, there is nothing which he does not do.
He who gets as his own all under heaven does so by giving himself no trouble (with that end). If one take trouble (with that end), he is not equal to getting as his own all under heaven.

He who knows [the Tâo] does not [care to] speak [about it]; he who is [ever ready to] speak about it does not know it.
He [who knows it] will keep his mouth shut and close the portals [of his nostrils].
He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the complications of things;
he will attemper his brightness, and bring himself into agreement with the obscurity [of others].
This is called 'the Mysterious Agreement.'
[Such an one] cannot be treated familiarly or distantly;
he is beyond all consideration of profit or injury;
of nobility or meanness:
he is the noblest man under heaven.

---
The Valley Spirit never dies
It is named the Mysterious Female.
And the doorway of the Mysterious Female
Is the base from which Heaven and Earth sprang.
It is there within us all the while;
Draw upon it as you will, it never runs dry.

In Tao the only motion is returning;
The only useful quality, weakness.
For though all creatures under heaven are the products of Being,
Being itself is the product of Not-being.

We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends.
We turn clay to make a vessel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends.
We pierce doors and windows to make a house;
And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends.
Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not.

So a wise leader may say:
"I practice inaction, and the people look after themselves."
But from the Sage it is so hard at any price to get a single word
That when his task is accomplished, his work done,
Throughout the country every one says: “It happened of its own accord”.

Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self requires strength;
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

Know when it's time to stop. If you don't know then stop when you are done.

Author: Danny (remove the ".nospam" to send)

Last modification on: Thu, 09 May 2013 .