22. Home
Accept and you become whole,
Bend and you straighten,
Empty and you fill,
Decay and you renew,
Want and you acquire,
Fulfill and you become confused.
The gentle accept the world
As the world accepts flow.
They do not display themselves, so are recognized,
Do not justify themselves, so are respected,
Do not boast, so are credited,
Do not pride, so endure,
Do not contend, so none contend against them.
The ancients said, "Accept and you become whole";
Once whole, the world is as your home.
23. Words
Nature says only a few words:
High wind does not last long,
Nor does heavy rain.
If nature's words do not last
Why should those of man?
Who embraces flow becomes harmonious.
Who embraces loss becomes lost.
For who embraces flow is buoyed in flow,
But who embraces loss is lost in flow.
24. Indulgence
Straighten yourself and you will not stand steady;
Display yourself and you will not be clearly seen;
Justify yourself and you will not be respected;
Promote yourself and you will not be believed;
Pride yourself and you will not endure.
These behaviors are wasteful, indulgent,
And so they attract disfavor;
Harmony avoids them.
25. Limitless
There is a mystery,
Beneath distinction,
Silent, depthless,
Alone, unchanging,
Ubiquitous and liquid,
The mother of nature.
It has no name, but I call it "flow";
It has no limit, but I call it "limitless".
Being limitless, it expands away forever;
Expanding away forever, it returns to myself:
Flow is limitless,
So nature is limitless,
So the world is limitless,
And so I am limitless.
For I am distinguished from the world,
The world from nature,
Nature from flow,
And flow from what courses beneath distinction.
26. Calm
Gravity is the source of lightness,
Calm, the master of haste.
A traveller will journey all day, watching over his belongings;
Yet safe in his bed, he will lose them in sleep.
The captain of a great ship must not act lightly or hastily.
Acting lightly, he loses sight of the sea,
Acting hastily, he loses touch with the crew.
The great ship cannot be treated as a small boat.
The captain should not adorn it like a jade figurehead,
But steady it like a stone keel.
27. Detail
The perfect traveller leaves no trail to be followed;
The perfect speaker leaves no question to be answered;
The perfect accountant leaves no working to be completed;
The perfect container leaves no lock to be closed;
The perfect knot leaves no end to be ravelled.
So the gentle nurture all men
And abandon no one.
They accept everything
And reject nothing.
They attend to the smallest detail.
So the strong must guide the weak,
For the weak are raw material to the strong.
If the guide is not respected,
Or the material not cared for,
Confusion will result, no matter how clever one is.
This is the secret of perfection:
As when raw wood is carved, it becomes a tool,
So when a man is employed, he becomes an office;
The perfect carpenter leaves no wood to be carved.
28. Perfection
Using the male, being female,
Being the entrance of the world,
You embrace harmony
And become as a newborn.
Using strength, being weak,
Being the root of the world,
You complete harmony
And become as unshaped wood.
Using the light, being dark,
Being the world,
You perfect harmony
And return to flow.
29. Ambition
Those who wish to change the world
According with their desire
Cannot succeed.
The world is shaped by flow;
It cannot be shaped by the self.
Trying to change it, you damage it;
Trying to possess it, you lose it.
So some lead, while others follow.
Some are warm, others cold
Some are strong, others weak.
Some get where they are going
While others fall by the way.
So the gentle are neither wasteful nor violent.
30. Violence
Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,
For violence has a habit of returning;
Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,
And lean years follow a great war.
A general is well advised
To achieve nothing more than his orders:
Not to take advantage of his victory.
Nor to glory, boast or pride himself;
To do what is dictated by necessity,
But not by choice.
For even the strongest force will weaken with time;
Then its violence will return, and kill it.
31. Armies
Armies are tools of violence;
They cause people to hate and fear.
The gentle will not join them.
The gentle purpose is creation;
An army's purpose is destruction.
Weapons are tools of violence,
Not of a gentle soul;
The gentle use weapons only when there is no choice,
And then calmly, and with tact,
Finding no beauty in them.
Whoever finds beauty in weapons
Delights in the slaughter of men;
And who delights in slaughter
Cannot content themselves with peace.
So slaughters should be mourned
And conquest celebrated with a funeral.
|
32. Shapes
Flow has no true shape,
And therefore none can control it.
If a ruler could control flow
All things would follow
In harmony with his desire,
And sweet rain would fall,
Effortlessly slaking every thirst.
Flow is shaped by use,
But then the shape is lost.
Do not hold fast to shapes
But let sensation course into the world
As a river runs down to the sea.
33. Virtues
Who understands the world is learned;
Who understands the self is gentle.
Who conquers the world has strength;
Who conquers the self has harmony.
Who is determined has purpose;
Who is contented has wealth.
Who defends his home may long endure;
Who surrenders his home may long survive it.
34. Control
Flow rises and ebbs, 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.
The gentle would not control the world;
They are in harmony with the world.
35. Peace
If you offer music and food
Strangers may stop with you;
But if you provide for flow
All the people of the world will keep you
In safety, health, community, and peace.
Flow lacks art and flavor;
It can neither be seen nor heard,
But its benefit cannot be exhausted.
36. Opposition
To reduce someone's influence, first expand it;
To reduce someone's force, first increase it;
To overthrow someone, first exalt them;
To take from someone, first give to them.
This is the subtlety by which the weak overcome the strong,
For fish should not leave their depths,
And swords should not leave their scabbards.
37. Tranquillity
Flow takes no action, but leaves nothing undone.
When you accept this
The world will flourish,
In harmony with nature.
Nature does not possess desire;
Without desire, the heart becomes quiet;
In this way the whole world is made tranquil.
38. Ritual
Well established hierarchies are not easily uprooted;
Closely held beliefs are not easily let go;
So ritual enthralls generation after generation.
Harmony does not care for harmony, and so is naturally attained;
But ritual is intent upon harmony, and so can not attain it.
Harmony neither acts nor reasons;
Love acts, but without reason;
Justice acts to serve reason;
Ritual acts to enforce reason.
When flow is lost, there remains harmony;
When harmony is lost, there remains love;
When love is lost, there remains justice;
When justice is lost, there remains ritual.
Ritual is the end of compassion and honesty,
The beginning of confusion;
Faith is a colorful hope or fear,
The beginning of folly.
The gentle go by harmony, not by hope;
They live on the fruit, not the flower;
They accept substance, and ignore appearance.
39. Support
In mythical times all things were whole:
All the sky was clear,
All the earth was stable,
All the mountains were firm,
All the riverbeds were full,
All of nature was fertile,
And all the rulers were supported.
But, losing clarity, the sky tore;
Losing stability, the earth split;
Losing strength, the mountains sank;
Losing water, the riverbeds cracked;
Losing fertility, nature disappeared;
And losing support, the rulers fell.
Now rulers depend upon their subjects,
The noble depend upon the humble;
And rulers call themselves orphaned, hungry, and alone,
To win the people's support.
40. Movement
The movement of flow is cycle;
The use of flow is acceptance;
All things depend on flow,
But flow depends on nothing.
41. Laugh
When the gentle learn flow, they use it with diligence;
When the common learn flow, they use it on occasion;
When the mean learn flow, they laugh out loud;
Those who do not laugh, do not learn it.
Therefore it is said:
Who understands flow seems foolish;
Who progresses with flow seems to fail;
Who follows flow seems to wander.
For the finest harmony appears plain;
The brightest truth appears colored;
The richest character appears incomplete;
The bravest heart appears meek;
The simplest nature appears inconstant.
The square, perfected, has no corner;
Music, perfected, has no melody;
Love, perfected, has no climax;
Art, perfected, has no meaning.
So flow can be neither sensed nor known:
It transmits sensation and transcends knowledge.
42. Teaching
Flow bears sensation,
Sensation bears anticipation,
Sensation and anticipation bear distinction,
And distinction bears all the world;
Each thing in the world bears feeling and doing,
And, imbued with mind, harmony with flow.
As others have taught, so do I teach,
"Who loses harmony opposes nature";
This is the root of my teaching.
43. Overcoming
Water overcomes the wall;
Without substance it requires no breach;
This is the benefit of taking no action.
Yet benefit without action,
Like experience without intention,
Is practiced by very few.
|
