Lao-Tzu's Tao: a contemporary interpretation for becoming a better person
THE TAO
45.
The Tao that can be walked on is not the eternal Tao.
The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.
Tao has no name,
So it is the creator of heaven and earth.
Tao has a name,
So it is the mother of ten thousand things.
Without desire
Tao reveals its true mystery.
With desire
Tao reveals only a shadow.
It is the same Tao,
Only we give it different names.
The source is unknown,
But it leads to a life that is subtle and sublime.
46.
If someone sees beauty
It's only because they also see ugliness
If they see something as good
It's only because they see something else as bad.
Therefore, you can't have one thing
Without something else.
Some things are difficult because other things are easy.
Some things seem long because other things seem short.
Some things are up high because other things are down low.
Some things sound like music because other things sound like noise.
First one thing and then the other; front and back always follow each other.
Work without struggle,
Teach without saying a word.
Do not deny what is asked of you, even if it is ten thousand things.
Do them without claiming authority over them.
Do them without expecting favors in return.
Do them and move on.
And, the work you do will last forever.
47.
Tossing compliments around freely
Causes people to quarrel
And waste time trying to impress you.
If you value something,
Someone will try to steal it.
Keep it to yourself
Or you will disillusion some people
And confuse others.
Lead by clearing the noise out of people's heads,
Open their hearts,
And fill their bellies.
Weaken their desires and stregthen their bones.
When people are simple and free from desire
No one can push them around.
If they think they know the answers,
mess with their heads.
Stop doing stuff.
Practice doing without doing
And see what happens.
Everything will work out.
48.
Tao is the emptiness of a bowl,
We cannot overfill it as we use it.
It is the source of ten thousand things
Yet remains a deep, unfathomable mystery.
Blunt the sharp points,
Unravel complicated things,
Temper the brightness.
Tao is pure and holy
And goes on and on forever.
It does not need a mother.
It has always been.
49.
Heaven and earth do not wish to be good.
They deal with everything like they would a grass-eating dog.
Do not wish to be good.
Deal with people like you would a grass-eating dog.
Tao is the space between heaven and earth.
It is like a great bellows,
Empty yet never depleted,
The more it moves the more it makes.
Don't fill your soul
With trivial stuff.
Be cool.
50.
The fertile spirit does not die.
She is the first mother
Who gave birth to everything.
She is the root from which
Heaven and earth sprang.
She is an eternal mystery
She has no name.
Everyone has Tao in them.
Dim and barely seen,
Yet ever present.
You just have to use it.
Draw from it all you want;
It will never run dry.
51.
Heaven and earth will last forever.
Why?
Because they do not live for themselves.
Therefore, leave yourself behind
To find yourself out front.
Be defenseless to be defended.
Be self-less to be full-filled.
52.
Goodness is like water.
It benefits ten thousand things.
It fills the voids without working.
It always moves to the lowest place.
And as such is like Tao.
Good houses are built on good land.
Good minds are built on deep stillness.
Good associations are built on good vitures.
Good governments are built on good order.
Good affairs are built on good conduct.
Good moves are made in good time.
Accept where you are in life,
And no one will fault you.
53.
It is easier to carry a vessel that is empty.
If you keep working it,
It will lose its point.
If you fill your house with valuable stuff,
You cannot keep it safe.
Brag about how good you are or how much stuff you have,
And you invite disaster to fall upon you.
When you have done what you had to do,
Withdraw into obscurity.
This is the way of heaven.
54.
Can you let go and embrace the quiet spirit
While your head is full of noise?
Can you be like a newborn baby
While you focus on everything else?
Can you see past what is in front of your eyes
While cleaning your mirror?
Can you not be in charge
While leading other people?
Can you just let it happen
While it's happening?
Can you remain simple and true to your own nature
While you forget what you know?
Help others.
Help them to live and not hold on to things.
Help them without expecting a reward.
Help them without controling them.
That's the way it's done, it's called Hidden Virtue.
55.
A wheel has thirty spokes,
But it is useful because of the hole.
A pot is made from clay,
But it is useful because of the hole.
A window is cut into a wall,
But it is useful because of the hole.
Things work to our advantage,
But it's what they don't have that makes them useful.
When we work with something,
We use nothing.
56.
Color blinds the eye.
Music deafens the ear.
Flavor dulls the taste.
The thrill of the chase messes with your head.
Objects rare and strange,
Makes men evil do.
Seek to satisfy the craving of the belly,
Not the longing of the eye.
Better this than that.
57.
Winning and losing are just the same.
Honor and dishonor are just the same.
You are down because you once were up.
When you are in,
There is fear of being out,
The fear of losing out,
Is the great dishonor.
Trouble comes to those with a physical body.
What can trouble a free spirit?
Love others as you love yourself
Is damn good advice for he who would be king.
58.
We look but do not see,
We call it invisible.
We listen but do not hear,
We call it inaudible.
We grab but do not grasp,
We call it intangible.
These three names do not the Tao make,
But blend them and they become the one.
One side is not bright,
The other is not dark.
It is always moving towards nothing.
It is the shape of the formless,
It is the shape of the invisible,
It is the shape of the intangible.
We cannot tell if it is coming or going.
Cling to the old ways,
Experience the moment of now,
Know that to follow the path of Tao leads back to the beginning.
Which is nothing.
59.
In days of old, Ancient Masters
Were in touch with the subtle mysteries of the universe
That were too deep for ordinary men to comprehend.
There aren't words enough to describe how deep they were.
I can only tell you this:
They were hesitant, like a man crossing a winter stream.
They were nervous, like they were surrounded by enemies.
They were serious, like a visiting guest.
They were fleeting, like melting ice.
They were simple, like an uncarved block.
They were empty, like a valley.
They were dense, like muddy water.
Eventually muddy water clears itself
And the weary rest.
Those who walk this path are not full of themselves.
Because they are not full of themselves,
They do not appear all shiny and new.
60.
Empty your head.
Stay calm,
even when ten thousand things are going on.
Everything will flourish for its time
and then return to its original state,
which is nothing.
When something returns to nothing its destiny is fulfilled.
It has gotten it right with Tao.
Those who don't understand this
move towards screwing things up.
Those who do, always know what to do.
Those who are one with Tao, even after they are gone, got it right.
61.
In days of old,
People did not know that there were rulers.
In the next age, people loved and praised them.
In the next age, people feared them.
In the next age, people hated them.
Do not trust your leaders who do not trust in Tao.
In those days of old,
The Ancient Masters said very few words,
Which made each one important.
They did their work without taking control
And the people were amazed with what they had done.
62.
When people stop following Tao
Kindness and righteousness appear.
Then wisdom and level-headedness
And hypocrisy break out.
When harmony no longer prevails in the family,
Sons rise up.
When the state falls to disorder,
Faithful leaders rise up.
63.
If we stop being such cleaver wise-asses we would be 100 percent better.
If we stop being kind and moral, we can discover compassion.
If we stop being shrewd profiteers, thugs and thieves will disappear.
These three methods of elegant governing
Have often failed before,
But simple views and simple truths
Puts and end to selfish ends.
64.
Don't spend your time thinking about stupid stuff.
Why must you fear what others fear?
Everyone is running around trying to be happy
And having a good time.
I alone am drifting without direction.
Everyone else has more stuff than they need
And are excited about it.
I alone seem in want.
Everyone else is bright and clever,
Alert and self-assured.
I alone am slow and aimless,
Like the wind. Like the waves.
Other people seem to have it all.
I am different from other people. I seem to have nothing.
I am getting right with Tao.
65.
Focus only on the Tao.
Who can say for sure the true nature of the Tao?
You cannot touch it,
You cannot see it,
It's deep and dark as can be,
Yet within it everything exists.
And these things, truth does hold
The same today as in days of old.
The Tao shall not pass away,
Its beauty shall not decay.
How do I know?
I know because I know.
66.
The incomplete is complete,
The crooked is straight,
The empty is full,
The worn is new.
He who desires little, gains
He who desires lots, loses.
Embrace humility for all the world to see.
Be free from showiness to really shine.
Be free from defenses to really be distinguished.
Be free from bragging to really be acknowledged.
Be free from selfishness to really be superior.
Be free from strife to really be free from strife.
This is not given in vain,
The Tao sees everything as complete.
67.
When you have nothing to say,
It is a sign that you know yourself.
A sudden wind does not last all morning,
A sudden rain does not last all day,
To what do we owe this?
Heaven and earth.
If heaven and earth cannot make such things last,
How much less can man!
When you follow Tao,
The people who follow you will agree.
When you follow virtue,
The people who follow you will agree.
When you follow nothing,
The people who follow you will also fail.
Those who agree are happy.
Those who fail are happy too.
But if you're not happy, ain't nobody happy.
68.
It is not easy to stand still
On your tippy-toes.
It is not easy to walk
On one leg.
It is not easy to get somewhere
If you are showing-off.
It is not easy to get respect
If you are bragging.
It is not easy to get credit
If you always have an excuse.
These things are bad,
Like bad food that nobody wants
Or a tumor that no body wants.
Do not adopt them.
69.
Something existed before heaven and earth.
It was still,
And formless,
And did not change.
It stood alone and reached everywhere.
It does not grow weary.
It is the mother of ten thousand things.
It does not have a name
So I simply call it Tao.
But if pressed to give it a name;
I'd call it the great Tao.
Being great, it flows ever on.
Flowing ever on, it flows to distant places.
Flowing to distant places, it eventually returns.
And the return is what makes it great.
There are four great things.
Faithful leaders are great.
The earth is great.
The heavens are great.
The Tao is great.
Man takes orders from earth.
Earth from heaven,
Heaven from Tao,
Tao from itself.
70.
Heaviness is the root of lightness,
Stillness the root of motion.
Travel lightly,
Carry only what you need.
Sightsee along the way,
But never forget your place.
How can the king carry himself lightly around his kingdom?
If he acts lightly he loses his roots.
If he moves around
He loses his throne.
Better to stay in your place.
71.
A skillful traveler leaves no trace behind.
A skillful speaker makes no slip of the tongue.
A skillful thinker can do math in his head.
It is impossible to open that which a skillful closer has closed.
It is impossible to untie that which a skillful binder has tied.
It is the same for the skillful master,
He does not cast any away, therefore he saves other men.
This is known as concealing the truth of your actions.
A skillful man is the master of the unskilled.
The unskilled is the servant of the skilled.
It would be hard to tell which is which and who is who
If the servant did not respect the master, nor
The master appreciate his servant.
This reveals the utmost degree of mystery.
72.
The strength of a man
The gentleness of a woman
Flow together as one,
In him who remains simple as a child.
He who knows which is which and who is who,
Yet keeps himself humble,
Becomes the master of them all
On this endless journey
To return to the uncarved state.
Glory does not last
Neither does disgrace.
To he who walks from either
The Tao in him remains
Simple as a child.
Raw materials form the vessels,
Tao forms the void.
Faithful leaders form the government,
Tao makes them remain, simple as a child.
73.
He who wishes to rule the kingdom
By his own hand
Is doomed to fail.
The kingdom is a spirit-like thing
That can't be held by holding.
He who tries is doomed to fail.
And will destroy everything!
What once was the front is now the back.
What was warm now is cold.
What was weak now is strong.
What we have labored to build now mocks us.
So put away excessive effort,
Put away extravagance,
Put away easy indulgence.
74.
Help the Faithful Leaders stay faithful to the Tao,
Do not assert yourself with a show of arms.
What goes around comes around.
An army camped inside your borders
Sprouts thistles and thorns.
In the course of generations,
There are sure to be some bad years.
A skillful general strikes a decisive blow,
And stops.
He does not pursue
Complete control.
He is not boastful or vain.
He strikes because he has to.
He strikes not for the want of
Complete control.
When things have reached the end of their days,
They shall grow old.
This cannot be said of Tao.
Whatever is, that is not Tao, soon will see the end of days.
75.
Weapons are terrible things,
However beautiful.
Do not use them.
It is customary to consider the left hand favorable.
But in times of war it is the right.
The right to bear the arms,
Is repugnant.
Peace and harmony are the prize to favor.
Victory, undesirable.
To consider this desirable is to delight
In the slaughter of men.
He who delights in the slaughter of men
Cannot get right with Tao.
In happy times the left hand is favored,
In times of mourning, the right.
So then, the army captain on the left,
The general on the right
Ranked according to the number of men killed.
We should weep for them
When they return from war.
76.
Tao has no name,
It is forever unchanged.
Although it may seem simply small,
Its power is immense.
If anyone could hold on to it,
People would instintively follow him.
Heaven and earth, guided by Tao,
Send down the rain,
Without so much as word one from man,
It rains equally everywhere, of its own accord.
Everything that isn't Tao needs a name.
When it has a name, man knows how to use it.
When they know how to use it,
They can set themselves free.
Tao is like the great ocean,
Everything flows back to it.
77.
Knowing others makes you smart.
Knowing yourself makes you wise.
Ruling over others makes you powerful.
Ruling over yourself makes you strong.
To want only what you have is to be truly rich.
Never, Never, Never give up and Tao will help you find a way,
Be true to your own nature and you will succeed.
Live out each day, really live it up,
and in the end you will have really lived.
78.
Tao covers everything like a flood.
It flows in every direction at once.
Everything depends on Tao,
And Tao denies no one,
And no reward does it claim.
It accomplishes its tasks
Yet it does not try to control them.
Therefore, Tao may be called "little."
Everything eventually returns to Tao,
Even though tao does not control them.
Therefore, Tao may be called "great."
So do not desire to be great,
And you will be truly great.
79.
Hold on to the invisible Tao
And everybody will be your friend.
In you they will find
Rest and peace and security.
Music and fancy food can feed the body.
The truth about Tao,
As strange and unusual,
As bland and worthless,
As it appears
Can feed the soul.
It is inexhaustible.
80.
To breathe in, breathe out.
To weaken, strengthen.
To overthrow, elevate.
To take, give.
This is hiding the light
Soft overcomes hard,
Weak overcomes strong.
Fish shold not be taken from the deep.
War machines should not be seen.
81.
Tao does nothing
For the sake of doing.
There is nothing it cannot do.
If our faithful leaders could get right with Tao
Ten thousand things would develop on their own.
If our faithful leaders get out of step with Tao,
They will be drawn back by its simplicity.
Simplicity without a name is freedom.
Without desire imposed upon them,
Everything goes as it will.
About the Author
Mr. Young is a nationally certified activity director working at his local nursing home. He is currently working towards improving his state's education requirements for becoming a certified activity director. He has completed his master's level advanced coursework for his ACC certification.
He is an ordained minister and holds a MetD degree in metaphysics.
He consults with other nursing homes about how to meet spiritual needs and improve their activity programing.
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