道德经 Tao Te Ching by Lao tzu: Part One

The Lao tzu personal guide to perceiving, recognising, and realising your Way through the universe in a powerfully impeccable manner.

On the Absolute Tao

The Tao the can be told of

Is not the Absolute Tao;

The Names that can be given

Are not Absolute Names.

The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;

The Named is the Mother of All Things.

Therefore:

Oftentimes, one strips oneself of passion

In order to see the Secret of Life;

Oftentimes, one regards life with passion,

In order to see its manifest forms.

These two, the Secret and its manifestations

Are in their nature the same;

They are given different names

When they become manifest.

They may both be called the Cosmic Mystery:

Reaching from the Mystery into the Deeper Mystery

Is the Gate to the Secret of All Life.

The Rise of Relative Opposites

When the people of the Earth all know beauty as beauty,

There arises the recognition of ugliness.

When the people of the Earth all know the good as good,

There arises the recognition of evil.

Therefore:

Being and non-being interdepend in growth;

Difficult and easy interdepend in completion;

Long and short interdepend in contrast;

High and low interdepend in position;

Tones and voice interdepend in harmony;

Front and behind interdepend in company.

Therefore the Sage:

Manages affairs without action;

Preaches the doctrine without words;

All things take their rise, but he does not turn away from them;

He gives them life, but does not take possession of them;

He acts, but does not appropriate;

Accomplishes, but claims no credit.

It is because he lays claim to no credit

That the credit cannot be taken away from him.

Action Without Deeds

Exalt not the wise,

So that the people shall not scheme and contend;

Prize not rare objects,

So that the people shall not steal;

Shut out from site the things of desire,

So that the people's hearts shall not be disturbed.

Therefore in the government of the Sage:

He keeps empty their hearts

Makes full their bellies,

Discourages their ambitions,

Strengthens their frames;

So that the people may be innocent of knowledge and desires.

And the cunning ones shall not presume to interfere.

By action without deeds

May all live in peace.

The Character of Tao

Tao is a hollow vessel,

And its use is inexhaustible!

Fathomless!

Like the fountain head of all things,

Its sharp edges rounded off,

Its tangles untied,

Its light tempered,

Its turmoil submerged,

Yet dark like deep water it seems to remain.

I do not know whose Son it is,

An image of what existed before God.

Nature

Nature is unkind:

It treats the creation like sacrificial straw-dogs.

The Sage is unkind:

He treats the people like sacrificial straw-dogs.

How the universe is like a bellows!

Empty, yet it gives a supply that never fails;

The more it is worked, the more it brings forth.

By many words is wit exhausted.

Rather, therefore, hold to the core.

Translated by Lin Yutang.

∙ On The Absolute Tao - The Rise of Relative Opposites - Action Without Deeds - The Character of Tao - Nature ∙

∙ The Spirit of the Valley - Living for others - Water - The Danger of Overweening Success - Embracing the One ∙

∙ The Utility of Not-Being - The Senses - Praise and Blame - Prehistoric Origins - The Wise Ones of Old ∙

∙ Knowing the Eternal Law - Rulers - The Decline of Tao - Realize the Simple Self - The World and I ∙

∙ Manifestations of Tao - Futility of Contention - Identification with Tao - The Dregs and Tumours of Virtue - The Four Eternal Models ∙