To speak rarely is natural.
That is why a gusty wind doesn’t last the morning,
a downpour of rain doesn’t last the day.
Who does this? Heaven and earth.
If even heaven and earth cannot go on forever,
how much less can human beings!
Therefore those who follow the Way assimilate to the Way;
the virtuous assimilate to virtue,
those who have lost assimilate to loss.
Those who assimilate to the Way are happy to gain it,
those who assimilate to virtue too are happy to gain it,
and those who assimilate to loss are also happy to gain it.
When trust is insufficient, there is distrust.

– Thomas Cleary

 

Whispered words are natural
a gale doesn’t last all morning
a squall doesn’t last all day
who creates these
Heaven and Earth
if Heaven and Earth can’t make things last
how much less can Humankind
thus in whatever you do
when you follow the Way be one with the Way
when you succeed be one with success
when you fail be one with failure
be one with success
for the Way succeeds too
be one with failure
for the Way fails too

– Red Pine

 

The whirlwind’s spent before the morning ends;
The storm will pass before the day is done.
Who made them, wind and storm? Heaven and earth.
If heaven itself cannot storm for long,
What matter, then, the storms of man?

But those who attend and serve the Way
Correspond to the Way;
Those who attend and serve the power
Correspond to the power;
Those who decline to attend and serve them
Correspond to their decline.
Those who correspond to the Way
The Way will favor;
And those who correspond to its decline
The Way will decline to favor.

“Those unworthy of trust are met with distrust.”

– Moss Roberts