Two chapters from the Tao Te Ching, and each in three different translations, on the limitations of even the best … Continue Reading The Great Myths #47: Sacred Language & the Limitation of Words (Taoism)
I began this blog in earnest almost six years now, with a post called “Silence in London,” which offered a … Continue Reading Silence in London II: The Internet will Get You Too
True words are not beautiful, beautiful words are not true. The good are not argumentative, the argumentative are not good. … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #81: “True words are not beautiful, beautiful words are not true”
A small state has few people. It has the people keep arms but not use them. It has them regard … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #80: “the people go back to simple techniques”
When you harmonize bitter enemies, yet resentment is sure to linger, how can this be called good? Therefore sages keep … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #79: “Therefore sages keep their faith and do not pressure others”
Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #78: “So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful”
The Way of heaven is like drawing a bow: the high is lowered, the low is raised; excess is reduced, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #77: “The Way of heaven reduces excess and fills need, but the way of humans is not so”
When people are born they are supple, and when they die they are stiff. When trees are born they are … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #76: “Let strength and might be put below, and tender, gentle in control”
When people are starving, it is because their governments take too much, causing them to starve. When people are hard … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #75: “Only those who do not contrive to live are wise in valuing life”
If people usually don’t fear death, how can death be used to scare them? If people are made to fear … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #74: “If people usually don’t fear death, how can death be used to scare them?”
Boldness in daring means killing; boldness in not daring means life. These two may help and may harm. Who knows … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #73: “But which man knows what heaven condemns, what precedents it’s guided by?”
When the people are not awed by authority, then great authority is attained. Their homes are not small to them, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #72: “Don’t repress how people live”
To know unconsciously is best. To presume to know what you don’t is sick. Only by recognizing the sickness of … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #71: “To presume to know what you don’t is sick”
My sayings are very easy to recognize, and very easy to apply. But no one in the world can recognize … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #70: “And so we remain unknown”
There are sayings on the use of arms: “Let us not be aggressors, but defend.” “Let us not advance an … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #69: “No fate is worse than to have no enemy”
Good warriors do not arm, good fighters don’t get mad, good winners don’t contend, good employers serve their workers. This … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #68 “This is the virtue of nonaggression”
Everyone in the world says my Way is great, but it seems incomparable. It is just because it is great … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #67: “What Heaven creates let compassion protect”
The reason why rivers and seas can be lords of the hundred valleys is that they lower themselves to them … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #66: Because they do not contend, no one in the world can contend with them”
In ancient times, good practitioners of the Way did not use it to enlighten the people, but to make them … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #65: “The ancient masters of the Way tried not to enlighten but to keep people in the dark”
What is at rest is easy to hold. What has not shown up is easy to take into account. What … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #64: “The most massive tree grows from a sprout, the highest building rises from a pile of earth, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step”
Do nondoing, strive for nonstriving, savor the flavorless, regard the small as important, make much of little, repay enmity with … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #63: “Do nondoing, strive for nonstriving, savor the flavorless, regard the small as important, make much of little, repay enmity with virtue”
The Way is the pivot of all things: the treasure of good people, the safeguard of those who are not … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #62: “advancing calmly on this Way”
A great nation flows downward into intercourse with the world. The female of the world always prevails over the male … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #61: “A great nation wants no more than to include and nurture people”
Governing a large nation is like cooking little fish. When the world is ruled by the Way, the ghosts are … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #60: “Governing a large nation is like cooking little fish”
To govern the human and serve the divine, nothing compares to frugality. Only frugality brings early recovery; early recovery means … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #59: “The Way of extended life and sustained reflection”
When the government is unobtrusive, the people are pure. When the government is invasive, the people are wanting. Calamity is … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #58: “happiness rests in misery, misery hides in happiness”
Use straightforwardness for civil government, use surprise for military operations; use noninvolvement to take the world. How do I know … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #57: “the people simplify themselves”
Those who know do not say; those who say do not know. Close the senses, shut the doors; blunt the … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #56: “Those who know do not say, those who say do not know”
The richness of subliminal virtue is comparable to an infant: poisonous creatures do not sting it, wild beasts do not … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #55: “Knowing how to be balanced we endure, knowing how to endure we become wise”
Good construction does not fall down, a good embrace does not let go; their heirs honor them unceasingly. Cultivate it … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #54: “What you plant well can’t be uprooted, what you hold well can’t be taken away”
Causing one flashes of knowledge to travel the Great Way, only its application demands care. The Great Way is quite … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #53: “The Great Way is quite even, yet people prefer byways”
The world has a beginning that is the mother of the world. Once you’ve found the mother, thereby you know … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #52: “Once you’ve found the mother, thereby you know the child”
The Way gives birth, virtue nurtures, things form, momentum completes. Therefore all beings honor the Way and value its Virtue. … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #51: “this is called Dark Virtue”
Exiting life, we enter death. The followers of life are three out of ten; in the lives of the people, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #50: “for them there’s no land of death”
Sages have no fixed mind; they make the minds of the people their mind: they improve the good, and also … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #49: “Sages have no fixed mind, they make the minds of the people their mind”
For learning you gain daily; for the Way you lose daily. Losing and losing, thus you reach noncontrivance; be uncontrived, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #48: “To pursue learning, learn more day by day, to pursue the Way, unlearn it day by day”
They know the world without even going out the door. They see the sky and its pattern without even looking … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #47: “Without going out your door you can know the whole world”
When the world has the Way, running horses are retired to till the fields. When the world lacks the Way, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #46: “No crime is greater than approving of greed”
Great completeness seems incomplete; its use is never exhausted. Great fullness seems empty; its use is never ended. Great directness … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #45: “Clear stillness is right for the world”
Which is closer, your name or your body? Which is more, your body or your possessions? Which is more destructive, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #44: “Extreme fondness means great expense, and abundant possessions mean much loss”
What is softest in the world drives what is hardest in the world. Nonbeing enters where there is no room; … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #43: “In this world below the sky the gentle will outdo the strong”
The Way produces one; one produces two, two produces three, three produces all beings: all beings bear yin and embrace … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #42: “Those who take less shall have more, Those given more shall have less”
When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence. When middling people hear of the Way, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #41: “If they didn’t laugh at it, it wouldn’t be the Way”
Return is the movement of the Way; yielding is the function of the Way. All things in the world are … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #40: “The Tao moves the other way, the Tao works through weakness”
When unity was attained of old, heaven became clear by attaining unity, earth became steady by attaining unity, spirit was … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #39: “Attaining unity”
Higher virtue is not ingratiating; that is why it has virtue. Lower virtue does not forget about reward; that is … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #38: “Virtue comes after loss of the Way”
The Way is always uncontrived, yet there’s nothing it doesn’t do. If lords and monarchs could keep to it, all … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #37: “By not wanting, there is calm, and the world will straighten itself”
Should you want to contain something, you must deliberately let it expand. Should you want to weaken something, you must … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #36: “Flexibility and yielding overcome adamant coerciveness”
When holding the Great Image, the world goes on and on without harm, peaceful, even tranquil. Where there is music … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #35: “the Tao speaks plain words that make no sense … yet we use it without end”
The Great Way is universal; it can apply to the left or the right. All beings depend on it for … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #34: “Therefore sages never contrive greatness; that is why they can become so great.”
Those who know others are wise; those who know themselves are enlightened. Those who overcome others are powerful; those who … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #33: “Those who know others are wise; those who know themselves are enlightened.”
The Way is essentially nameless. Though simplicity is small, the world cannot subordinate it. If lords and monarchs can keep … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #32: “The Way is essentially nameless”
Fine weapons are implements of ill omen: people may despise them, so those with the Way do not dwell with … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #31: “Weapons are the tools of violence; all decent men detest them”
Those who assist human leadership with the Way do not coerce the world with weapons, for these things are apt … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #30: “do not coerce the world with weapons”
Should you want to take this world, and contrive to do so, I see you won’t manage to finish. The … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #29: “Should you want to take this world”
Know the male, keep the female; be humble toward the world. But humble to the world, and eternal power never … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #28: “Know the male, keep the female”
“Good works are trackless” Good works are trackless, good words are flawless, good planning isn’t calculating. What is well closed … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #27: “Good works are trackless”
Gravity is the root of lightness; calm is the master of excitement. Thereby do exemplary people travel all day without … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #26: “Gravity is the root of lightness”
Something undifferentiated was born before heaven and earth; still and silent, standing alone and unchanging, going through cycles unending, able … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #25: “Something undifferentiated was born before heaven and earth”
Those on tiptoe don’t stand up, those who take long strides don’t walk; those who see themselves are not perceptive, … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #24: “Those on tiptoe don’t stand up”
To speak rarely is natural. That is why a gusty wind doesn’t last the morning, a downpour of rain doesn’t … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #23: “To speak rarely is natural”
Be tactful and you remain whole; bend and you remain straight. The hollow is filled, the old is renewed. Economy … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #22: “Be tactful and you remain whole”
For the countenance of great virtue, only the Way is to be followed. As a thing, the Way is abstract … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #21: “For the countenance of great virtue”
Detach from learning and you have no worries. How far apart are yes and yeah? How far apart are good … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #20: “Detach from learning and you have no worries”
Eliminate sagacity, abandon knowledge, and the people benefit a hundredfold. Eliminate humanitarianism, abandon duty, and the people return to familial … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #19: “Eliminate sagacity, abandon knowledge”
When the Great Way is deserted, then there is humanitarian duty. When intelligence comes forth, there is great fabrication. When … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #18: “When the Great Way is deserted”
Very great leaders in their domains are only known to exist. Those next best are beloved and praised. The lesser … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #17: “Very great leaders in their domains”
Attain the climax of emptiness, preserve the utmost quiet: as myriad things act in concert, I thereby observe the return. … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #16: “Attain the climax of emptiness”
Skilled warriors of old were subtle, mysteriously powerful, so deep they were unknowable. Just because they are unknowable, I will … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #15: “Skilled warriors of old were subtle”
What you don’t see when you look is called the unobtrusive. What you don’t hear when you listen is called … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #14: “What you don’t see when you look”
Favor and disgrace seem alarming; high status greatly afflicts your person. What are favor and disgrace? Favor is the lower: … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #13: “Favor and disgrace seem alarming”
Colors blind people’s eyes, sounds deafen their ears; flavors spoil people’s palates, the chase and the hunt craze people’s minds; … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #12: “Colors blind people’s eyes”
Thirty spokes join at the hub: their use for the cart is where they are not. When the potter’s wheel … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #11: “Thirty spokes join at the hub”
Carrying vitality and consciousness, embracing them as one, can you keep them from parting? Concentrating energy, making it supple, can … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #10: “Carrying vitality and consciousness”
To keep on filling is not as good as stopping. Calculated sharpness cannot be kept for long. Though gold and … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #9: “To keep on filling is not as good as stopping”
Higher good is like water: the good in water benefits all, and does so without contention. It rests where people … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #8: “Higher good is like water”
Heaven is eternal, earth is everlasting. The reason they can be eternal and everlasting is that they do not foster … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #7: “Heaven is eternal, earth is everlasting”
The valley spirit not dying is called the mysterious female. The opening of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth. Continuous, on the brink of existence, to put it into practice, don’t try to force it. … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #6: “The valley spirit not dying”
Heaven and earth are not humane; they regard all beings as straw dogs. Sages are not humane; they see all … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #5: “Heaven and earth are not humane”
The Way is unimpeded harmony; its potential may never be fully exploited. It is as deep as the source of … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #4: “The Way is unimpeded harmony”
Not exalting cleverness causes the people not to contend. Not putting high prices on hard-to-get goods causes the people not … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #3: “Not exalting cleverness”
When everyone knows beauty is beauty, this is bad. When everyone knows good is good, this is not good. So … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #2: “When everyone knows beauty is beauty”
A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path; names can be given, but not permanent labels. Nonbeing … Continue Reading Tao Te Ching #1: “A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path”
