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Adventures in Philosophy |
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by Laozi [Lao Tzu]
If the Tao could be comprised in words, it would not be the unchangeable Tao: (For) if a name may be named, it is not an unchangeable name. When the Tao had no name, that was the starting-point of heaven and earth: Then when it had a name, this was 'mother of all creation.' Because all this is so, to be constantly without desire is the way to have a vision of the mystery (of heaven and earth): For constantly to have desire is the means by which their limitations are seen. These two entities although they have different names emerged together; And (emerging) together means 'in the very very beginning.' But the very beginning has also a beginning before it began -- This door into all mystery! The whole world knows that beauty is beauty: and this is (to know) ugliness. Every one knows that goodness is goodness; and this is (to know) what is not good. Thus it is: existence and nonexistence give birth to each other: The hard and the easy complete each other: The long and the short are comparatively so: The high and the less high are so by testing: The orchestra and the choir make a harmony: And the earlier and the later follow on each other. And puts into practice wordless teaching. Since all things have been made, he does not turn his back. This is why the sage abides by actionless activity, on them: Since they have life, he does not own them: Since they act, he does not entrust himself to them. When he has achieved any success, he does not stay by it. In this not saying by his success he is unique; And this is why he is not deprived of it. Let there be no putting of the best people into office: this will stop vicious rivalry among the people. Let there be no prizing of rare merchandise; this will stop robbing among the people. Let nothing desirable be visible; this will save the people's minds from (moral) confusion. This is why the sage's from of government Empties the people's minds and fills their stomachs, Weakens their ambitions and strengthens their bones, Unfailingly makes the ordinary man ignorant and passionless, The wise man afraid to take action. (For) if action is actionless, there is nothing not under control. The Tao is hollow: use it and there is no overflowing. How fathomless it is! It makes one think of a common ancestor to all creatures, One who blunts their cutting edges, unties their knots, Makes a harmony of the lights (in the heavens) and lays the dust (of this grimy world). How limpid it is, as if it would stay so for ever! And yet we do not know whose (this common ancestor could be), This image of something before the High God! Heaven and earth are not human-hearted: for them all creatures are but straw dogs. A sage also is not human-hearted: for him also the hundred clans are but straw dogs. Here is this space between heaven and earth, a bellows as it were, Which is empty but does not buckle up, which the more it is worked the more it gives forth. But, however many words are used, the number comes to an end. It is better (to say nothing and) to hold fast to the mean (between too much and too little confidence in heaven and earth). The spirit [divine significance?] of a valley is to be undying. It is what is called 'the Original Female,' And the Doorway of the Original Female is called 'the root from which heaven and earth sprang.' On, on goes this spirit for ever, functioning without any special effort. The heavens continue, and the earth endures; And that in them which makes them so permanent Is that they do not live for themselves. Thus it is that they can live so long. This why a sage puts himself second and then (finds) himself in the forefront; Puts himself outside (of things and events) and survives in them. Surely it is because he has no personal desires that he is able to fulfill his desires. The higher form of goodness is like water; For water has the skill of profiting all creatures Without striving with them. It puts itself in the (lowly) place which everybody hates. So near the Tao is it. The goodness of houses consists in their being on the ground: The goodness of men's minds consists in their being profound: The goodness of companionship consists in human-heartedness: The goodness of speech consists in its being reliable: The goodness of government consists in bringing good order: The goodness of any business consists in its being efficiently done: The goodness of any movement consists in its being timely. Only in all this there must be no striving, For thus only can nothing go wrong. To set out deliberately to be full to the brim [i.e. satisfy every desire] is not so good as (to know when) to stop. If you are thorough in sharpening (a sword), you cannot preserve its edge for long. If you fill your hall with gold and jade, there is no way by which you can guard it. If you are rich and of exalted station, you become proud, and thus abandon yourself to unavoidable ruin. When everything goes well, put yourself in the background: That is the way Heaven acts. Are you able, as you carry on with the restless physical soul, to embrace the oneness (of the universe) without ever losing hold? Are you able as you control your breathing and made it more and more gentle, to become an (unselfconscious) babe? Are you able, as you cleanse the Mysterious Mirror, to leave no traces of self-consciousness? Are you able to love the people and rule a state, without being known to men? Are you able, whether Heaven's Door is open or closed, to be the (passive, receptive) Female? Are you able to have a right understanding of all creatures and never interfere? Give life to them and nourish them; (For) to give life but not to own, to make but not depend on, To be chief amongst but not to order about, This is what is meant by 'the Dark Power' (of unconscious influence). Thirty spokes together make one wheel; And they fit into 'nothing' (at the center): Herein lies the usefulness of a carriage. The clay is molded to make a pot; And the clay fits round 'nothing': Herein lies the usefulness of the pot. Doors and windows are pierced in the walls of a house, And they fit round 'nothing': Herein lies the usefulness of the house. Thus it is that, while it must be taken to be advantageous to have something there, It must also be taken as useful to have 'nothing' there. The men who start out to capture all under heaven and make it their own, according to my observation do not succeed. What is under heaven is a sacred vessel, Not to be treated in such fashion, And those who do so bring it to ruin. Those who hold on to it, lose it. The truth is that some creatures go before and others follow behind, Some breathe one way, and others breathe another, Some feel strong, and others feel weak, Some like constructing and others like destroying. This is why the sage has nothing to do with the excessive, the extravagant, or with being exalted. *** The man who uses the Tao in the service of an autocrat Does not war down the states by force of arms. His business is to long for the return (to peace and inaction): For where soldiers are, there thorns and brambles grow: After the passing of a great army, The harvest is sure to be bad. A really able commander stops when he has some success: He dare not exploit his command of force. Having some success he must not be elated: Yes, having some success, he must not boast: Yes, having some success, he must not become ungovernably proud. That success may have been an unavoidable step, But the (real) success must not be one force: For the weakness of old age accompanies the vigor of youth. The explanation is this: force is not of the Tao; And what is not of the Tao quickly perishes. Tao is eternal, but has no fame (name); The Uncarved Block, though seemingly of small account, Is greater than anything that is under heaven. If kings and barons would but possess themselves of it, The ten thousand creatures would flock to do them homage. Heaven-and-earth would conspire. To send Sweet Des, Without law or compulsion, men would dwell in harmony. Once the block is carved, there will be names, And so soon as there are names Know that it is time to stop. Only by knowing when it is time to stop can danger be avoided. To Tao all under heaven will come As streams and torrents flow into a great river or sea. To know one's self is to be illuminated. To conquer men is to have strength: To conquer one's self is to be stronger still, And to know when you have enough is to be rich: For vigorous action may bring a man what he is determined to have, But to keep one's place (in the order of the universe) is to endure; And to dies and not be lost, this is the real blessing of long life. The Supreme Tao, how it floods in every direction! This way and that, there is no place where it may not go. All things look to it for life, and it refuses none of them: (Yet) when it has done its work, it has no fame to be its distinctive clothing. (For) while it nourishes all things, it does not lord it over them. Since unfailingly it has no wants toward them, It may be classed among things of low estate: Since all things belong to it, but it does not lord it over them, It may be named the Supreme: But -- to say the last word -- it does not arrogate supremacy to itself, And thus it is that it fulfills its supremacy. If you grasp the Supreme Symbol (of nothingness) and go all over the country, There will be no harm (to any one) in your going. Indeed, the peace and quiet will be beyond bounds: Music and cake and ale, And the passing stranger (made to) stop. (Yet) the words from the mouth of the Tao, how insipid they are! There is no taste to them at all. Look for the Tao, and it is not enough to be seen, Listen for the Tao, and it is not enough to be heard. (Ah, but) use the Tao and it is not enough to come to a stop. The high exponent of power in personality is without power [i.e. power personal to him]; and this is why he has (real) power in personality. The inferior exponent is (set on) not losing his power; and this is why he has no (real) power in personality. The high exponent taking no action has no ulterior ends, Whilst the inferior exponent has ulterior ends to his activity. (Thus) the high exponent of human-heartedness has no ulterior ends to his activity, Whilst the high exponent of justice has. (Thus) the high exponent of ritual [i.e. social and religious conventions], when he acts and fails to get the due response, Bares his arm and uses force. Thus it is that when the Tao is lost, there is personal power, When that is lost, there is human-heartedness; And when that is lost, there is justice; And when that is lost, there are the conventions of ritual. In relation to sincerity of heart and speech, ritual only goes skin-deep, and is thus the starting-point of moral anarchy; And foreknowledge of events to come is but a pretentious display of the Tao, and is thus the door to benightedness. This is why the really grown man concentrates on the core of things and not the husk, And thus it is that he rejects 'the That' and lays hold of 'the This.' The most yielding thing [the Tao?] in our world of experience can master the most immovable: Since it is 'nothing' [i.e. immaterial], it can penetrate 'no space' [i.e. the material]. Hence we know that inaction is the profitable course. (Yet) the truths which cannot be compassed in words, And the profit which comes from inaction, These men rarely grasp. Not to go out of the house is to know the world of men, Not to look out of the window is to know the ways of the heavens; For the further a man travels, The less he knows. This is how the sage knows without going anywhere, Can name things without seeing them, Can bring them to completion without doing anything (to them).
Excerpted from the book Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times. |
Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age
Tao of Power: A Translation of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching: A New English Version
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