Tao Te Ching
- Lau Tzu -
Chapter 1 to 10
Chapter 1
The Tao that can be followed is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the origin of the heaven and earth
While naming is the origin of the myriad things.
Therefore, always desireless, you see the mystery
Ever desiring , you see the manifestations.
1
The two are the same - When they appear they are named differently.
2
Naming is said to give
rise to multiplicity, because most names refer to particular, finite
things. Giving something a name sets it apart from other things. The Tao
is therefore characterizes as nameless, because it is without finite form.
When we see the world through the lens of desire, reality becomes fractured
into what we want and what we do not want. When we are without desire we
see the ‘mystery’ of the Tao that resides beyond its various manifestations.
This is the mystery - Mystery with mystery;
The door to all marvels.
Top
Chapter 2
All in the world recognize the beautiful as beautiful -
Herein lies ugliness.
All recognize the good as good - Herein lies evil.
Therefore
Being and non-being produce each other. Difficulty and ease bring about each
other.
Long and short delimit each other. High and low rest on each other.
Sound and voice harmonize each other. Front and back follow each other.
Therefore the sage abides in the condition of wu-wei
(unattached action).
And carries out the wordless teaching.
Here, the myriad things are made, yet not separated.
Therefore the sage produces without possessing. Acts without
expectation.
And accomplishes without abiding in her accomplishments.
1
The sage realizes that
things arise of their own accord, and not as the result of her own coercion
or anxious striving. She is not the one who brings things about, and so she
does not feel any sense of ownership over the result of her actions.
It is precisely because she does not abide in them that they
never leave her.
2
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Chapter 3
If you do not adulate the worthy, you will make others
non-contentious.
If you do not value rare treasures, you will stop others from stealing.
If people do not see desirables, they will not be agitated.
Therefore, when the sage governs,
He clears people's minds, Fills their bellies,
Weakens their ambitions, and Strengthens their bones
If people are kept without cleverness and desire
It will make the intellectuals not dare to meddle.
Acting without contrivance, there is no lack of manageability.
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Chapter 4
The Tao is so vast that when you use it, something is always
left.
How deep it is!
It seems to be the ancestor of the myriad things.
It blunts sharpness, Untangles knots,
Softens the glare, Unifies with the mundane,
It is so full!
It seems to have remainder.
It is the child of I-Don't-know-who.
And prior to the primeval Lord-on-high.
1
The
"Lord-on-high" refers to God, or the first ancestor.
Top
Chapter 5
Heaven and Earth are not humane,
1
And regard the people as straw dogs.
2
The sage is not humane, And regards all things as straw dogs.
The space between Heaven and Earth is just like a bellows:
Empty it, it is not exhausted.
Squeeze it and more comes out.
Investigating it with a lot of talk
Is not like holding to the center.
Top
Chapter 6
The valley spirit never dies.
It is called "the mysterious female."
1
The opening of the mysterious female
Is called "the root of Heaven and Earth".
Continuous, seeming to remain.
Use it without exertion.
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Chapter 7
Heaven and Earth last forever
The reason that Heaven and Earth are able to last forever
Is because they do not give birth to themselves.
Therefore, they are always alive.
Hence, the sage puts herself last and is first.
She is outside herself and therefore her self lasts.
Is it not through her selflessness
That she is able to perfect herself?
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Chapter 8
The highest goodness is like water.
Water easily benefits all things without struggle.
Yet it abides in places that men hate.
Therefore it is like the Tao.
For dwelling, the earth is good.
For the mind, depth is good.
The goodness of giving is in the timing.
The goodness of speech is in honesty.
In government, self-mastery is good.
In handling affairs, ability is good.
If you do not wrangle, you will not be blamed.
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Chapter 9
To hold until full is not as good as stopping.
The oversharpened sword cannot last long.
A room filled with gold and jewels cannot be protected.
Boasting of wealth and virtue brings your demise.
After finishing the work, withdraw.
This is the Way of Heaven.
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Chapter 10
Pacifying the agitated material soul and holding to oneness:
Are you able to avoid separation?
Focusing your energy on the release of tension:
Can you be like an infant?
In purifying your insight:
can you un-obstruct it?
Loving the people and ruling the state:
Can you avoid over-manipulation?
In opening and closing the gate of Heaven:
1
Can you be the female?
2
In illuminating the whole universe:
can you be free of rationality?
Give birth to it and nourish it.
Produce it but don't possess it.
Act without expectation.
Excel, but don't take charge.This is
called Mysterious Virtue.
Being 'the female' may
be understood in contrast to those aspects of the masculine principle that
are undesirable - ruling over creation, exertion of ones power and control,
and being possessive over what one thinks one has made. 'The female'
nurtures the world, but does not over-manipulate it.
According to the I-Ching
(Book of Changes), 'the gate of Heaven' signifies the alternation between
the Creative and Receptive forces, and thus refers to the creation and
sustaining of the universe. 'Opening and closing' the gate can be
interpreted as referring to the 5 senses which reveal the world around us,
or as thought in Taoist yoga practices, the act of inhaling and exhaling.
The "valley spirit"
refers to the Tao. A valley is a fertile place, reminiscent of a womb
that gives birth to and nourishes all beings. Hence the Tao is also
called "the mysterious female".
Philosopher Chuan Tzu
describes how straw dogs are treated very respectfully before being
presented for sacrifice. However, afterward they are trampled on and
swept away.
The word 'Humane' here
is translated from the word Jen, the Confucion virtue of
benevolence.
The feminine pronoun is used
deliberately to refer to the Taoist sage. Taoism is unique among the major
schools of Chinese thought in emphasizing the priority of the feminine
principle (yin) over the masculine principle (yang).