1250-1750-word (+ Works Cited)
The Dao De Jing
Laozi
1. Tao
The Tao that can be
known is not Tao.
The substance of the
World is only a name
for Tao.
Tao is all that exists and
may exist;
The World is only a
map of what exists and
may exist.
One experiences
without Self to sense
the World,
And experiences with
Self to understand the
World.
The two experiences are
the same within Tao;
They are distinct only
within the World.
Neither experience
conveys Tao
Which is infinitely
greater and more subtle
than the World.
2. Qualities
------------
When Beauty is
recognised in the World
Ugliness has been
learned;
When Good is
recognised in the World
Evil has been learned.
In this way:
Alive and dead are
abstracted from growth;
Difficult and easy are
abstracted from
progress;
Far and near are
abstracted from
position;
Strong and weak are
abstracted from control;
Song and speech are
abstracted from
harmony;
After and before are
abstracted from
sequence.
The sage controls
without authority,
And teaches without
words;
He lets all things rise
and fall,
Nurtures, but does not
interfere,
Gives without
demanding,
And is content.
4. Properties of Tao
--------------------
Tao is a depthless
vessel;
Used by the Self, it is
not filled by the World;
It cannot be cut,
knotted, dimmed or
stilled;
Its depths are hidden,
ubiquitous and eternal;
I don't know where it
came from;
It came before Nature.
5. Nature
---------
Nature is not kind;
It treats all things
impartially.
The Sage is not kind,
And treats all people
impartially.
Nature is like a bellows
Empty, yet supplying
all needs,
The more it moves, the
more it yields;
The sage draws upon
Tao in the same way
And can not be
exhausted.
Translation: Peter Merel
7. Self
-------
Nature is everlasting
because it does not have
a Self.
In this way the sage:
Serves his Self last and
finds it served first;
Sees his body as
accidental and finds it
endures.
Because he does not
serve his Self, he is
content.
9. Hubris
---------
Stretch a bow to its
limit and it is soon
broken;
Temper a blade to its
sharpest and it is soon
blunted;
Amass the greatest
treasure and it is soon
stolen;
Claim credit and honour
and you will soon fall;
Retire once your
purpose is acheived -
this is the way of
Nature.
10. Love
--------
Embracing Tao, you
become embraced.
Supple, breathing
gently, you become
reborn.
Clearing your vision,
you become clear.
Nurturing your beloved,
you become impartial.
Opening your heart, you
become accepted.
Accepting the World,
you embrace Tao.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not
owning,
Giving without
demanding,
Controlling without
authority,
This is love.
12. Distraction
---------------
Too much color blinds
the eye
Too much tone deafens
the ear
Too much taste dulls
the palate
Too much play
maddens the mind
Too much desire tears
the heart.
The sage provides for
the belly, not for the
senses;
He lets go of sensation
and accepts substance.
14. The Continuity of
Tao
-------------------------
Looked at but cannot be
seen - it is beyond form;
Listened to but cannot
be heard - it is beyond
sound;
Grasped at but cannot
be touched - it is
beyond reach;
These depthless things
evade definition,
And blend into a single
mystery.
In its rising there is no
light,
In its falling there is no
darkness,
A continuous thread
beyond description,
Lining what can not
exist,
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name mystery,
Meet it, it has no face,
Follow it, it has no
back.
Understand the past, but
attend the present;
In this way you know
the continuity of Tao,
Which is its essence.
16. Transcending
Nature
-----------------------
Empty the Self
completely;
Embrace perfect peace.
The World will rise and
move;
Watch it return to rest.
All the flourishing
things
Will return to their
source.
This return is peaceful;
It is the way of Nature,
An eternal decay and
renewal.
Understanding this
brings enlightenment,
Ignorance of this brings
misery.
Who understands
Nature's way becomes
all-cherishing;
Being all-cherishing he
becomes impartial;
Being impartial he
becomes magnanimous;
Being magnanimous he
becomes part of Nature;
Being part of Nature he
becomes one with Tao;
Being one with Tao he
becomes immortal:
Though his body will
decay, Tao will not.
17. Rulers
----------
The best rulers are
scarcely known by their
subjects;
The next best are loved
and praised;
The next are feared;
The next despised:
They have no faith in
their subjects,
So their subjects
become unfaithful to
them.
When the best rulers
acheive their purpose
Their subjects claim the
acheivement as their
own.
19. Simplicity
--------------
If we could discard
wisdom and sagacity
Then people would
profit a hundredfold;
If we could discard duty
and justice
Then loving
relationships would
form;
If we could discard
artifice and profit
Then corruption and
theft would disappear -
Yet such remedies treat
only symptoms
And so they are
inadequate.
People need personal
remedies:
Reveal your naked Self,
Embrace your original
nature,
Bind your self-interest,
Control your desire.
25. Four Infinities.
--------------------
Before the World exists
There is mystery:
Silent, depthless,
Alone, unchanging,
Ubiquitous and ever
moving,
The mother of the
World.
I do not know its name,
so I call it Tao;
I do not know its limit,
so I call it infinite.
Being infinite, it flows
away forever
Flowing away forever,
it returns to the Self.
The Self follows the
way of the World;
The World follows the
way of Nature;
Nature follows the way
of Tao;
Tao is the way.
Tao is infinite,
Therefore Nature is
infinite,
Therefore the World is
infinite,
Therefore the Self is
infinite.
There are four infinities,
And the Self is one of
them.
28. Being the Female
--------------------
Knowing the male,
being the female,
Being the course
through which flows the
World,
One embraces unfailing
Love
And is again as a
newborn.
Knowing the light,
being the dark,
Being the World,
One becomes unerring
Love
And returns to Tao.
Knowing honour, being
humble,
Being the valley of the
World,
Love suffices,
And one is as unshaped
wood.
When wood is shaped it
becomes tools.
Used by the sage, tools
become powerful;
So a good carpenter
wastes little.
29. Blindness
-------------
Those who wish to
change the World
According with their
desire
Cannot succeed.
The World is shaped by
Tao;
It cannot be shaped by
Self.
If one tries to shape it,
one damages it;
If one tries to possess it,
one loses it.
Therefore:
Sometimes things
flourish,
And sometimes they do
not.
Sometimes life is hard
And sometimes it is
easy.
Sometimes people are
strong
And sometimes they are
weak.
Sometimes you get
where you are going
And sometimes you fall
by the way.
The sage is not extreme,
extravagant, or
complacent.
33. Virtue
----------
Who understands the
World is learned;
Who understands the
Self is enlightened.
Who conquers the
World has strength;
Who conquers the Self
has love.
Who is contented has
riches;
Who is determined has
purpose.
Who maintains his
home will long endure
Who maintains his
influence will live long
after death.
34. Tao Favours No
One
----------------------
Infinite Tao flows
everywhere, creating
and destroying,
Implementing all the
World, attending to the
tiniest details,
Claiming nothing in
return.
It nurtures all things,
Though it does not
control them;
It has no intention,
So it seems
inconsequential.
It is the substance of all
things;
Though it does not
control them;
It has no exception,
So it seems all-
important.
Because it favours no
finite thing,
It is infinite.
38. Religion
------------
The loving do not act.
The kind act without
self-interest;
The just act to serve
self-interest;
The religious act to
reproduce self-interest.
For when Tao is lost,
there is love;
When love is lost, there
is kindness;
When kindness is lost,
there is justice;
And when justice is
lost, there is religion.
Well established
hierarchies are not
easily uprooted;
Closely held beliefs are
not easily released;
So religion enthralls
generation after
generation.
Religion is the end of
love and honesty,
The beginning of
confusion;
Faith is a colourful hope
or fear,
The origin of folly.
The sage goes by
knowledge, not by
hope;
He dwells in the fruit,
not the flower;
He accepts the former,
and rejects the latter.
43. Overcoming the
Impossible
-----------------------------
The soft overcomes the
hard;
The formless penetrates
the impenetrable;
Therefore I value taking
no action.
Teaching without
words,
Work without action,
Are understood by no
one.
50. Life and Death
------------------
Death enters life as man
enters woman.
The limits of man:
Thirty years of growth;
Thirty years of decay;
Thirty years inbetween;
So death and life
reproduce themselves.
He who would prolong
his life
Will not meet tigers or
rhinoceri in the wilds,
Nor soldiers in battle
So the rhinoceros finds
no place in him for its
horn,
The tiger no place for
its claw,
The soldier no place for
a weapon;
So death finds no place
to enter his life.
51. Love
--------
Tao bears us,
Love nurtures us,
Nature shapes us,
Circumstance
completes us.
We worship Tao and
honour love;
For worship of Tao and
honour of love
Are performed by being
alive.
Tao bears us,
Love nurtures,
develops, cares for,
Shelters, comforts, and
makes a home for us.
Making without
controlling,
Giving without
demanding,
Guiding without
interfering,
Helping without
profiting,
This is love.
60. Emotions
------------
Because the sage
follows Tao his
emotions do no harm;
It is not that they lose
their power
But that they do not
hurt others;
Because they do not
hurt others
He does not hurt others:
Because his emotions
do no harm,
All his relations with
people are loving.
62. Sin
-------
Tao is the source of all
things,
The treasure of the
saint,
And the refuge of the
sinner.
Fine words win honour
And fine actions win
respect,
But if a man sins, do
not abandon him;
And if a man gains
power, do not bribe
him;
Just be calm and show
accordance with Tao.
Why is Tao the treasure
of the saint?
Because it absolves all
sin.
Why is Tao the refuge
of the sinner?
Because it is easily
found when sought.
It is the most valuable
gift.
63. Confront Difficulty
-----------------------
Practise no-action;
Attend to do-nothing;
Taste the flavorless,
Examine the small,
Multiply the few,
Return love for hate.
Deal with difficulty
while it is yet easy;
Deal with the great
while it is yet small;
The difficult develops
naturally from the easy
And the great from the
small;
So the sage, by dealing
with the small
Acheives the great.
He who finds it easy to
promise finds it hard to
deliver;
He who takes things
lightly makes things
hard;
The sage confronts
difficulty, and so has
none.
78. Accept
Responsibility
-------------------------
Nothing in the World is
as yielding as water;
Nor can anything better
overcome the hardened.
Just as the yielding
overcomes the
hardened,
The weak may
overcome the strong;
Yet they do not.
The sage says:
"Who accepts
responsibility for his
people rules the
country;
Who accepts
responsibility for the
World rules the World",
But his words are not
understood.