And yang in my embrace
I've gained the Dao of wholeness
And lost my human face
The void and the view
Simple and spontaneous
Faceless and choiceless
Lao Zi's Dao De Jing
as interpreted by Jim Clatfelter
October 2023
1. Absence and Presence
Dao given a name
Is not the eternal Dao.
It's simply a name.
Names are inconstant.
Labels are subject to change.
Only Dao endures.
Absence is the name
Given to the onset of
Heaven and Earth.
Presence is the name
Given to the origin
Of ten thousand things.
Emphasize absence
To see the essence and core
Of all existence.
Emphasize presence
To see the appearances
That make up your life.
Absence and presence
Though given different names
Are one and the same.
One can call them deep,
The deep and profound gateway
To wonder and joy.
2. Mutual Arising
Call it beautiful
And ugliness comes to be.
One needs the other.
Consider it good
And its opposite is born.
Good and bad are one.
Presence and absence
Generate one another,
They exist in tandem.
Easy is easy.
Difficult is difficult.
They are complements.
What is measurement?
Long and short are its two terms
Of comparison.
The high and the low,
Neither exists on its own.
Two poles of one thought.
When working as one
Tones and voices harmonize
And create balance.
Before and after
Are the contraries of time.
Neither is present.
Therefore the seer
Accomplishes with no acts,
Teaches with no words.
The seer achieves
But has no need to possess,
No need for reward.
Nothing is possessed,
And when nothing is possessed
Nothing can be lost.
3. Keep It Simple
Don't praise achievement.
This leads to contentiousness
And competition.
Don't prize possessions.
After accumulation
Come thieves and swindlers.
Don't display rare goods.
This creates great disorder
In everyone's heart.
The seer seeks to
Undermine ambitions and
Diminish desires.
Reduce distractions,
Fill bellies and strengthen bones
To keep life simple.
Remain unknowing
And confusion will vanish.
Quiet will prevail.
Refrain from doing
And good order comes about
Spontaneously.
4. The Original
Dao is vacuous,
Infinite capacity
Never depleted.
Dao is profound,
Unlimited potential,
Origin of all.
It contains all things,
Both the loose and the tangled,
The sharp and the blunt.
Dao is no one's child.
It is not a reflection.
It's the original.
5. Straw Dogs
Never taking sides
Heaven and earth stay neutral,
See all as straw dogs.
Never taking sides
Seers too remain neutral,
See all as straw dogs.
Much like a bellows
Is the spaciousness between
The heavens and earth.
The more it is used,
The more it produces,
The more it can hold.
Excessive speaking
Leads only to exhaustion.
Keep to the center.
6. The Valley Spirit
The valley spirit,
The mysterious female,
Does not ever die.
It is the gateway
And root of heaven and earth,
The only constant.
Use it as you will.
It cannot be exhausted,
This unchanging Dao.
7. Not Selfish
Dao doesn't perish.
The heavens are enduring,
And earth long lasting.
And why is this true?
They do not live for themselves,
And so they live on.
Why is it said that
Seers seem to lag behind
But are in the lead?
They put themselves last.
They are apart from all things.
Thus they are fulfilled.
Is it not due to
Seers not being selfish
That they are upheld?
8. Water
The highest goodness,
Like water, benefits all
And contends with none.
It goes to places
That the multitude distains.
It comes close to Dao.
Dwell close to the earth.
Keep to the depths of your heart.
Favor the gentle.
Speak with sincerity.
Govern to achieve order.
Act with timeliness.
One who acts thusly
Avoids all confrontation
And receives no blame.
9. Stop in Time
To fill a vessel
To the brim is not as good
As stopping in time.
To sharpen a knife
Till it's thin and weak means that
Its edge will not last.
To fill your dwelling
With treasures of gold and jade
Is to invite thieves.
To claim wealth and rank
Is to ask for disaster
And seal your own doom.
It is better to
Withdraw when your work is done:
The Dao of heaven.
10. Does Not Impose
Can you see inner
And outer held together,
Unseparated?
Can you maintain the
Harmonious awareness
Of a newborn child?
Can you preserve a
Bright inner vision that is
Free of blemishes?
Can you lead people
Without imposing your will
Or your preferences?
Can you see events
Unfold as nature enacts
Of necessity?
Can you take the part
Of the female opening
And closing the gates?
Can you see clearly
And keep to doing nothing
That forces your way?
Create and nourish.
Own but don't claim possession.
Act but don't expect.
To lead the people
Without dominating them:
This is Dao's virtue.
11. The Wheel
Thirty spokes converge
At the hub, whose emptiness
Makes the wheel useful.
The empty center
Of a clay cup is the space
That makes it useful.
The doors and windows
Are what make a room useful
And ready for living.
From this one knows that
Presence provides benefit,
Absence allows use.
12. Favor the Inner
Colors blind the eye.
Sounds and tones deafen the ear.
Flavors dull the taste.
Greed for possessions
And the need to protect them
Can madden the mind.
The seer favors
The inner to the outer,
Prefers this to that.
13. Favor and Disgrace
Favor and disgrace
Are equally frightening,
In gain or in loss.
Greatness is the self.
Adversity is the self.
What else could it be?
If I had no self,
I'd have no adversity,
I'd have no greatness.
Value and regard
Every action on earth
As one of your own,
And then the whole world
Can always be entrusted
To your good keeping.
14. No Face to Follow
Not seen by looking,
Neither heard by listening,
Nor held by grasping,
These blend into one
Image of nonexistence,
Vague and elusive,
With no back to see
And with no face to follow,
Neither bright nor dark.
Hold this ancient Dao
To capture the present and
Recover the source.
15. As Yielding as Ice
The wise ones of old
Were inwardly perceptive
And penetrating.
Deep beyond knowing
They can only be described
By their appearance.
Hesitant like one
Crossing a stream in winter.
Watchful as one
Wary of neighbors.
Refined and thoughtful as one
Acting as a guest.
Yielding as a field
Of ice that's about to melt.
Unsullied like a
Block of uncarved wood.
Expansive as a valley.
Opaque as muddy water.
Can you wait to act
Till muddy thoughts become clear?
Can you stay open
Till clarity comes?
Whoever holds to Dao does
Not want to be full.
And not being full
Means they are never worn out
But stay ever new.
16. Return to the Root
Attain emptiness
And hold fast to the steady
And absolute void.
All beings appear,
Are nourished by existence,
Then return to source.
Retreat to the root
Is an embrace of stillness.
Return to what is.
Find what is constant.
Go back to the ordinary.
This is called insight.
Accept the constant.
To accept is to be fair
And to find wholeness.
To live in wholeness
Is to live naturally.
Hold Dao and endure.
Let go of the self.
When self goes so does danger.
Hold fast to the way.
17. The Best Leaders
The best of leaders
Are barely known to exist.
The next best are loved,
And the next best feared.
The worst of them are despised.
Which do you prefer?
Without enough trust
You will never be trusted.
Trust is a blessing.
Consider your words,
And when your task is complete
And your work is finished
The people will say
This all happened on its own,
Quite naturally.
18. The Great Pretense
Abandon the Great Dao:
Kindness and justice appear
To assume its place.
Learning arises:
The great pretense then follows
As night follows day.
Families in strife:
Comes filial piety
And obligation.
Country in turmoil:
Loyalty and servitude
Will soon rule the land.
19. Abandon Certainty
Abandon wisdom
And repudiate knowledge,
Gain a hundredfold.
Abandon kindness
And eliminate judgment,
Gain a hundredfold.
Abandon cunning
Give up accumulation,
What benefit comes.
The people return
To respect and affection.
Thieves cease to exist.
These three are helpful
But are still insufficient
Much more is needed.
Live with the plain,
And hold on to the simple.
Relinquish desire
20. Simple and Dull
Abandon learning
And so many worries end.
Live with I-don't-know.
Say yes or say yeah,
How great is the difference?
How does it matter?
Extol or condemn?
Admirable or offensive?
What's the difference?
Fear what others fear?
How clumsy and off center,
How inauthentic.
Others are cheerful
As if enjoying a feast
On a springtime day.
I alone am calm
Like an infant newly born
Who has yet to smile.
Weary and forlorn
Like someone without a home.
No place of my own.
What am I missing?
Others have enough and more.
I am such a fool!
Others are so bright.
I alone am dim and dark,
So simple and dull!
Aimless like the wind,
Unforthcoming as the sea.
Others have their goals,
I alone am mean,
Stubborn and single-minded.
Different from the rest,
I take sustenance
Only from the faceless core,
From our common ground.21. Profoundly Real
Vague and elusive,
Dao affirms all that appears.
This is its virtue.
Quiet and obscure.
The essence of all that lives.
Profoundly real.
Worthy of one's trust
From days past to time present.
Ancestor of all.
How do I know this,
Our ancient progenitor?
It lives here and now!
22. Yield and Be Whole
Yield to be made whole,
And bend to become straightened.
Empty to be filled.
Age to be renewed.
Have very little, gain much.
Have much, be confused.
Seers find oneness.
Not showing off, they are clear.
They do not claim truth.
Seers do not brag,
Thus they can accomplish
And this way survive.
Seers don't contend,
So no one contends with them.
Yield and be made whole.
Thus the old saying
Look within, wholeness returns.
Are these empty words?
23. Speak Little
To speak but little
Is the way nature performs.
It knows when to cease.
A morning wind storm
Or an evening rainfall,
Both know when to stop.
And what causes this?
It's due to heaven and earth.
If heaven and earth
Cannot make them last,
How much less could you or I?
So let us allow
And be one with Dao.
Let us value its virtue.
Be one with loss too.
Dao will welcome you
If you trust in its design.
Trust and be welcome.
24. Standing on Tiptoe
Standing on tiptoe
One is certain to topple.
Hastily walking
One loses the pace.
Delighting in attention
One cannot be clear.
Assured of oneself
One's nature cannot be seen.
Asserting oneself
One loses merit.
Overly proud of oneself
One doesn't endure.
Those with Dao call these
Excess food, useless effort.
Seers avoid them.
25. Four Kinds of Greatness
Confused and muddled
And before the beginning,
This something was here:
Perfect and complete,
Prior to heaven and earth,
Silent and alone,
Steady and steadfast,
Operating everywhere,
But never wearied.
Consider it the
Mother of heaven and earth.
Though it has no name,
If name be needed
Refer to it as the Dao,
Its well known nickname.
If pushed to name it
Call it vast and complete
Or great and remote.
When it is remote,
It is compelled to return
To its origin.
So the Dao is great,
Heaven is great, earth is great,
And so is mankind.
Four kinds of greatnessย—
The Dao and heaven and earth
And humanity.
Humans follow earth,
And Earth follows the heavens.
Heaven follows Dao.
What does Dao follow?
Dao follows its own pathway,
The way of nature.
26. Haste Gives Up Command
Calm: the master of haste.
Heavy: the root of lightness.
Guard these carefully.
Seers can wander all day
And not leave their provisions
For beautiful views.
They cannot be swayed.
A master of ten thousand
chariots cannot
Take the self lightly
For lightness loses its root,
Haste gives up command.
27. Leaving No Tracks
Walk and leave no tracks,
And speak and make no errors.
Count with no counter.
Lock without a bolt
And have it close securely.
That is good bonding.
This is good binding:
Tie it without a rope so
It can't be loosened.
Without objection
Seers help all, turn from none.
They are clear on this.
Seers are skillful
In assisting everyone,
Rejecting no one.
The are inspiration
For the skilled and examples
For the unskilled.
Honor the seer.
Value those in need of help.
They have potential.
Confusion will reign
When all this is forgotten.
Note it carefully.
28. The Uncarved Block
Know the masculine,
Hold fast to the feminine,
And receive the world.
Be the life and flow
Of what appears at present.
Become as a child.
Be an example.
Know the bright and guard the dark.
Wholeness is constant.
Knowing the lofty
While protecting the lowly,
You are the valley
Of all existence.
Return to the uncarved block,
To full potential.
When the uncarved block
Is whittled into vessels
Simplicity is lost.
29. Let Go and Let Be
Make over the world?
This cannot be done, because
The world follows Dao.
Meddle and spoil it.
Grasp it and it vanishes.
It can't be controlled.
Some lead, some follow.
Some blow hard, some breathe easy.
Some strong, some gentle.
Some build, some tear down.
Refuse the extravagant.
Avoid the extreme.
30. Weapons Rebound
Advise the ruler
Not to use weapons of war.
These always backfire.
A battle will yield
A crop of brambles and a
Long year of hunger.
Seers accomplish
Their purposes and then stop
Without using force.
Achieve, don't revel.
Achieve without being smug.
Achieve, don't compel.
Strength will soon grow old.
This is a long way from Dao,
Thus it soon expires.
31. Treat Victory As A Funeral
The best weapons are
Implements of ill omen,
Vile things to possess.
Seers favor Dao.
Warriors favor their own ways
And their own side.
Be calm and restrained
In the use of gun and sword
And other weapons.
No joy in killing.
Triumph is not beautiful.
If you find it so
You won't gain your ends.
The slaying of multitudes
Is cause for sorrow.
Treat your victory
As you would a funeral,
A sad occasion.
32. An Example To All
Dao cannot be named.
Simple and ordinary.
Irrepressible.
If those in the lead
Could guard it, many others
Would surely follow.
A sweet dew would fall.
People would live in balance
Of their own accord.
When naming begins
And rules arise: time to stop
And hold off danger.
The presence of Dao
Is an example to all
To go with the flow,
Like rivers and streams
As they descend to the sea.
This is nature's way.
33. Die Without Perishing
Know others: learning.
Know oneself: call it insight.
Bear others: adept.
Bear oneself: vigor.
If you know satisfaction
Then you are rich.
You don't have enough?
Then you'll never have enough.
You will not endure,
For Dao is enough.
Who dies without perishing
Will live long indeed.
34. Great Dao Is Ordinary
Great Dao overflows.
It goes left and it goes right.
It flows everywhere.
All depend on Dao,
And it turns away no one.
It works and achieves.
Claiming no credit,
It clothes and it nourishes
But won't take the lead.
It has no desires
So can be called ordinary.
All return to it.
It is great because
It doesn't assume greatness.
Greatness is assured.
35. The Great Image
See the great image,
And all things will come to you,
Whole and beyond harm.
Good food and music
Will attract the traveler,
But Dao lacks flavor.
Look and it's not seen.
Listen and it isn't heard.
Words of Dao are bland.
In using the Dao
It will not be depleted.
It can't be used up.
36. Fish in Deep Water
To be diminished
One must have been inflated.
And to be weakened
One must have been strong.
And to be terminated
One must have been set.
And to be withdrawn
One must have been acknowledged.
These are subtle views.
As fish should remain
In deep water, weapons should
Remain out of view.
37. Nothing Doing
The Dao does nothing,
Yet it leaves nothing undone.
If those in the lead
Could keep to the way,
Then all things would turn around
Of their own accord.
When attention turns,
Old desires die away,
Simplicity reigns.
Free of desires,
Everything settles into
Its natural place.
38. The Virtue of Dao
One with high virtue
Cannot be called virtuous,
And thus has virtue.
One with low virtue
Will boast and brag of itself,
And thus lacks virtue.
One with high virtue
Sees deeds arise on their own,
Spontaneously.
One with low virtue
Weighs and considers each deed,
Ponders what is best.
One with high virtue
Leads others with compassion
And is barely known.
One with low virtue
Leads by intimidation
And is resented.
When the Dao is lost
Benevolence comes
To stand in its stead.
Benevolence lost,
Morality takes its place.
Conscience is born.
When conscience is lost
Ritual is all that's left.
Confusion begins.
Ready certainty
Is the flower and folly.
It is not the fruit.
Keep to the fruitful.
Don't tarry with the flower.
Choose this over that.
39. Oneness
These have gained oneness:
The heavens attained oneness
And they became clear.
The earth gained oneness
And became calm and tranquil.
Spirit gained oneness
And became aware.
The valleys attained oneness
And became fruitful.
Leaders gained oneness
And became efficacious.
These all have attained.
The heavens might crack
If they had no clarity.
The earth might falter
If it were not clear.
The valleys might waste away
Were they not ample.
The high is rooted
In the low and the humble.
Leaders and rulers
Call themselves orphaned
And unworthy and alone.
They know their own root.
The clatter of stone
Is of far more value than
The dazzle of jade.
40. Reverse the Arrow of Attention
The action of Dao
Is reversal and return.
Softness is its way.
All beneath heaven
Are appearances of what is
Based in what is not.
41. Fools Laugh at Dao
The highest scholars
Upon hearing of the Dao
Follow it promptly.
The middling scholars
Noticing the Dao one day,
Ignore it the next.
The poorest scholars
Prove the value of Dao
By laughing at it.
And so it is said
The brightest Dao seems obscure
And unobtrusive.
As Dao advances
It seems to be retreating.
Plain and simple Dao
Seems to be broken.
The highest reaches of De
Seem like a valley.
Perfect innocence
Appears spotted and tarnished.
All-embracing De
Seems to be lacking.
The most energetic De
Seems to be listless.
The obvious truth
Seems fickle and erratic,
Unworthy of trust.
The great spaciousness,
Closer to you than your breath,
Lacks demarcations.
Great capacity
Is the last to be noticed.
The greatest music.
Is most elusive.
The everlasting image
Has no boundaries.
The Dao is hidden
And without a proper name
Or appellation.
For all these reasons
Dao sustains and nourishes,
Brings to completion.
42. One Yin, One Yang: This is Dao
Dao is one and whole
Yet contains the opposites
And all that exists.
Just what is this Dao?
It is yin on my shoulders
And yang in my arms.
Orphaned, abandoned,
Lonely and impoverished,
This too is the Dao.
It gains by losing
And it loses by gaining,
And this by design.
And so I teach that
Those who live by violence
Die by violence.
43. Doing Beyond Deeds
The softest substance
Under heaven surpasses
The strongest on earth.
What has no presence
Enters where there is no gap.
By this I can know
The benefit of
Letting be and not doing.
Rare under heaven
Are those who value
The teaching beyond words, the
Doing beyond deeds.
44. Knowing What's Enough
Your name or your life,
Which of the two is closer?
Your life or your worth,
Which of these means more?
Attachment comes with great cost,
Owning with great loss.
To know what's enough
Means there is no dishonor.
Knowing one's limits,
One avoids danger.
Knowing when it's time to stop
Ensures a long life.
45. False Appearances
Great accomplishment
Seems lacking, yet its use
Is not impaired.
The fullness of life
Depends upon emptiness,
Which cannot be drained.
Great veracity
Can come across as pretense.
Great skill seems awkward.
Articulate speech
Can appear indecisive
And amateurish.
Movement conquers cold.
Tranquility conquers heat.
Calm puts all things right.
46. Enough Is Enough
When Dao is observed
Race horses manure the fields.
When Dao is ignored
Steeds of war abound.
No curse exceeds not knowing
When one has enough.
No fault is greater
Than the craving for increase.
Enough is enough.
Know what is enough
And you will always have enough.
Wholeness is enough.
47. Without Opening a Window
Without leaving home
One can perceive the nature
Of this world of ours.
Without opening
A window, one sees the way
And nature of Dao.
Looking far away
One overlooks one's true home,
One's core and center.
The farther one goes
The more one becomes confused.
Seers don't go out,
Yet they comprehend.
They can see without looking
And do without doing.
48. One Loses Daily
To pursue knowledge
One must gain daily.
To pursue the Dao
One loses daily,
Loses through doing nothing.
In doing nothing,
There's nothing not done.
Let existence go its course.
Do not interfere.
49. As Children See
Seers have no fixed
Opinions or conclusions
To guard and defend.
They take on the views
And the heart and mind of all.
Be kind to the kind
And to the unkind.
Such is the way of kindness.
Trust those who trust you
And those who don't trust.
Such is the way of trusting.
Have trust in the Dao.
Having open hearts,
Seers can merge with others,
Uniting the world.
Seers hear and see
Without strain, as children do.
Can you do the same?
50. One in Ten
During their lifetimes
Three in ten adhere to life,
Three in ten to death.
Those just passing through
Are another three in ten.
And yet one in ten
Will know how to live
Without attracting danger.
And why is this so?
This one knows the Dao,
The vitality of life.
They are not harmed by
Wild tigers or bulls.
They do not carry weapons,
Yet they remain safe
From the tiger's claw
And from the horns of the bull.
They have found the place
Where weapons can't go
And death cannot overcome,
The void of the Dao.
51. Nourished by Dao's Virtue
All things come from Dao,
Are nourished by virtue and
Formed by existence.
Add in circumstance
And all beings are completed.
They honor Dao
And cherish virtue.
This happens on its own and
Without coercion.
Dao gives them their lives,
And virtue nourishes them,
Heals and protects them.
Can you do the same?
Giving life, making no claim,
Guiding without rules.
This is the virtue
Of living at the center
And wellspring of life.
52. The Mother Of Life
The wellspring of life
Can be labeled the mother.
Honor the mother.
Cherish her children.
Then return to the mother
And danger will end.
Stay calm and watchful
And there will be no struggle.
You will have it all.
Meddle in affairs
And find no end of troubles.
There will be no help.
Look in and look out
To find the wholeness of life.
Practice the constant.
53. Thievery
Seeing the great Dao,
My only fear is to stray.
Though the great way is
Plain and obvious,
People prefer the sidetracks.
The fields are weedy,
Granaries empty,
And the courts are divided.
Still there are those who
Dress in showy clothes,
Gorge themselves on food and drink,
Have wealth in excess.
These people are thieves.
This is robbing and bragging,
Far indeed from Dao.
54. Notice This-Here-Now
What is well planted
Will never be uprooted.
What is well embraced
Will never be lost.
Each generation will serve
And honor it well.
See this in your life,
And your virtue is one with
The virtue of Dao.
See this in your kin,
And your virtue is ample
And advances Dao.
See this in your town,
Your virtue is abiding.
See this in your realm,
Your virtue abounds.
See it in the universe,
Your virtue is all.
Using this virtue
See other lives through your own,
Other families,
Other towns and realms
And other worlds through your own.
This is your virtue.
How to see like this?
To see the nature of life?
Notice this-here-now.
55. The Newborn Child
Hold virtue's wholeness
To be like a newborn child.
Insects do not sting,
Wild beasts do not pounce,
And birds of prey do not strike.
Its muscles are soft
And its bones are weak.
Despite this, its grip is firm.
Not yet aware of
Male and female, its
Vitality is complete.
Its wholeness stands out.
Though it screams all day
Its voice does not become hoarse.
Harmony prevails.
To see harmony
Is to see the unchanging
Inner clarity.
Seeing clarity
Is to meet with good fortune.
Living by the will
May be known as strength,
But it is soon exhausted.
It quickly grows old.
This is not Dao's way.
What is not the way of Dao
Does not long endure.
56. Let Go Certainty
Those who know don't speak,
Those who speak don't really know.
Keep quiet and know.
Block the passages,
Close the doors, blunt the sharpness,
Loosen the tangles,
Soften the brightness,
And become one with the dust.
Original nature:
It cannot be used
To accept or to reject,
To profit or harm.
It cannot be used
To honor or to disgrace.
Thus it is held high.
57. Let Go Undue Desire
To rule a country
Use justice. To wage a war
Use craft and cunning.
To gain the whole world
Make use of indifference.
How do I know this?
Through this-here-now.
With so many restrictions
The people grow poor.
Having more weapons
Leads to troubles in the land.
Having more riches
Leads to more clutter.
Having more laws results in
Having more outlaws.
Thus the seer says
I engage in no action
And people reform.
I remain quiet
And people correct themselves.
I don't interfere
And life is enriched.
I let go undue desire
And life is simple.
58. Don't Divide
When the rule is mute
People are frank and sincere.
When the rule intrudes
People are hopeless.
Good luck can rest in the bad
And bad in the good.
And who knows the end?
Honesty can turn to deceit
And good to evil.
When rule isn't fair
Order becomes impairment.
And people are dazed
When weal becomes woe.
For this reason seers say
Define, don't divide.
Exact, don't damage.
Lead and direct but don't strain.
Shine but don't dazzle.
59. Humility Yields
In leading people
And following heaven's Dao,
Humility rules.
Humility yields
Desire and preference
And acquires virtue.
All is possible
With Dao's abundant virtue.
One knows no limits.
Knowing no limits
One can preserve the realm and
Its long-time mother.
The mother knows no
Limits. She lasts forever.
For this is to be
Deeply rooted in
A life-long vision of the
Dao and its virtue.
60. A Small Fish
Rule a large country
As you would cook a small fish.
Handle it with care.
With the world in tune
With Dao, hostile intentions
Have no power to
Cause harm to others.
Seers likewise do no harm.
Virtue reigns supreme.
61. The Virtue Of Yielding
A great realm lies low
And accepts the upstream flow.
The humble prevail.
The female uses
Calm to overcome the male.
Use calm to keep low.
Therefore, a great realm,
To win over a small realm,
Keeps low and humble.
A small realm keeps low
To win over a great realm
And thus to win trust.
One wins by bowing
And the other bows and wins.
Both win by yielding.
Great realms want allies.
Small realms want preservation.
Both can be supplied
When the great realm yields
And keeps properly humble.
Each gets what it wants.
62. Offer Dao
Dao grounds all of us:
Our treasure and our refuge
No matter our place.
Fine words can persuade.
Noble deeds can build renown.
If people lack these
Why abandon them?
The seer rejects no one.
We are all worthy.
When a new leader
Is selected, and the three
Ministers installed,
Do not send large discs
Of jade drawn by four horses.
Offer Dao instead.
Why has Dao endured?
Because, through Dao, seekers find
And faults are pardoned.
Thus it is valued
By the myriad beings
More than all else.
63. Act Early
Do without doing.
Work without effort. Savor
This which lacks flavor.
The greatest of all
Is ordinary and free
To all who can see.
For blame give virtue.
Manage the difficult while
It is still easy.
Handle the great while
It is still diminutive.
Accomplish the grand
While it is still small.
Difficult affairs arise
From what is easy.
Great affairs arise
From what is diminutive.
Seers are complete
Without acting great.
Thus they achieve their greatness.
Easy promises
Make for little trust.
Seers don't promise lightly,
Thus lightness is gained.
64. A Thousand Miles
Calm: easy to hold.
Beginning: easy to stop.
Weak: easy to break.
Small: easy to shed.
See things before they happen.
Order before chaos.
A tree that fills your
Embrace begins as a sprout.
A soaring tower
Rises from the ground.
A journey of a thousand
Miles starts at your feet.
Act and you spoil it.
Grasp and you lose it at once.
Neither act nor grasp.
People often spoil
Matters before completion.
With care at the start
And care at the end
Your affairs will not be spoiled.
Seers prefer that
Desires diminish.
Seers don't value rare goods.
They learn to unlearn.
Seers help others
In finding their own natures.
They do not meddle.
65. The Grand Accord
The rulers of old
Were skilled in following Dao.
Just how did they lead?
They left the people
To their simple, homely ways.
Folks are hard to rule
When they are clever
And cunning and ambitious.
Remaining simple
They are satisfied.
Leaders who remain simple
Are a boon to all.
Those who know this truth
Have found the virtue of Dao,
Which is to return
To the grand accord.
This virtue brings back wholeness
By turning around.
66. Stay Below
The rivers and seas
Command the valleys because
They lie below them.
Seers find themselves
Below, and thus they uphold
A high position.
Seers find themselves
Behind, and thus find themselves
Assuming the lead.
Seers stay above
But do not burden others.
Thus they gain support.
Seers don't contend,
So no one contends with them.
They hold on to Dao.
67. Three Treasures
Everyone affirms
That Dao is without equal
And like nothing else.
The Dao is simple.
It would have vanished long since
Were it otherwise.
I have three treasures:
Compassion, frugality
And humility.
I am without fear
When I am compassionate.
When I am frugal
I have much to give.
When I can remain humble
I can dare to lead.
Let go compassion
And you will never be brave.
Drop frugality
And you cannot give.
Abandon humility
And you soon perish.
Taking compassion
Into the realm of struggle
You are bound to win.
Those that heaven helps
Are helped by its compassion,
Aided by its love.
68. Not Contending
Skilled combatants are
Not aggressive, not angry.
Competent victors
Do not start battles.
This can be called the virtue
Of not contending.
Not to contend is
To be at one with nature's
Original end.
69. Victory to Those Who Grieve
In wartime they say:
Rather than act as the host,
We act as the guest.
Don't advance an inch.
Prefer to retreat a foot.
And so we progress
Without marching forth.
We prevail without weapons.
We don't need to fight.
A great disaster
It is to misjudge the foe
And lose our treasure.
Opposing sides meet
And the victory goes to
The side that can grieve.
70. Jade In The Heart
My words are easy
To understand and very
Easy to apply.
Yet few on this earth
Are able to understand
And to apply them.
My words have a source.
My deeds have an ancestor.
But few can see these.
If they do not see,
They do not understand me.
They can't see my way.
Therefore those who see,
Though they wear simple clothing,
Hold jade in the heart.
71. Knowing Is Sickness
Knowing how little
You know is utmost wisdom,
While knowing how much
You know is sickness.
Seers see the place where all
Are free of sickness.
72. Do Not Burden Others
When people don't fear
Power, disaster is just
Around the corner.
Don't burden people
In their daily lives or in
Their places of work.
Do not oppress them
And they will not oppose you.
Seers see their core
But do not show off.
They do not feel important.
They let go of that.
They esteem their core
And dismiss their importance.
It's this over that.
73. Its Net is Vast
One who dares will die,
And who doesn't dare will live.
One way benefits.
The other way harms.
Which of these will fortune spurn?
It seems no one knows.
Thus seers expect
Difficulties to arise
But Dao to prevail.
Dao responds without
Speaking and attracts without
Calling. It remains
At its ease. It's net
Is vast, and its mesh is loose,
Yet nothing slips through.
74. The Executioner
When people are not
Afraid of death, why would you
Threaten them with death?
When people fear death
Would they still be unruly?
Who would dare kill them?
Which of us would take
The executioner's place
To do the killing?
Take the place of the
Master carpenter? You are
Bound to cut your hand!
75. Oppressive Rulers
People go hungry
When leaders overtax their grain.
They are hard to rule
When leaders meddle
In their everyday living.
They don't fear dying
When leaders pile up
Riches they have taken from
The people's labor.
You will only see
The value of life if you
Don't chase after it.
76. Soft and Supple
Born soft and supple,
But stiff and rigid when dead.
The ten thousand things
Are tender in life
But dry and withered in death.
The stiff and the firm
Are the friends of death.
The pliant and the yielding
Are the friends of life.
And so strong armies
Are not victorious, and
Strong trees are cut down.
The strong and the hard
Will fall. The weak and the soft
Will thrive and endure.
77. Dao Gives
Dao's way of doing
Is like pulling on a bow.
What is high goes low.
What is low goes high.
The excessive is decreased.
The scant is increased.
Dao takes from excess
And gives where there's not enough.
Humanity's way is
Not like this at all.
It takes from the poorest and
Gives to the richest.
Who can offer their
Excess to the world? Only those
Who live with the Dao.
This is why seers act
But don't demand, accomplish
But don't dwell on it.
They take no credit.
They have no desire to show
Their worth to the world.
78. The Strength Of Weakness
Nothing is as soft
And as yielding as water,
Yet it overcomes
The rigid and strong.
In this it has no equal.
It is unsurpassed.
The weak trump the strong.
The soft upset the rigid.
Everyone know this.
No one applies it.
Due to this the seers say:
One who takes the blame
Is one who's fit to
Rule the realm. True words seem
Just the opposite.
79. Dao Favors Its Own
When hostilities
Are reconciled, surely some
Resentment lingers.
Repay it with good.
Seers take the debtor's part.
They make no demands.
They do what they must,
And they honor the contract.
Those who lack virtue
Insist on their claim.
Dao has no favorites, but
It favors its own.
80. Simple Living
Let the realm be small
And the inhabitants few.
Though they have the tools
To grow and increase,
They do not put them to use.
Though they know death
Is coming nearer, they
Do not try to escape it.
Though they have boats and
Carriages, they have
No cause to use them. Though they
have arms and armor,
They never show them.
Let them count by knotted cords
And relish their foods,
Delight in their clothes,
And admire their dwellings.
Let them love their lives.
Though other realms are
So near, their dogs and roosters
Can be heard, people
There grow old and die
Without ever traveling
Outside their own realm.
81. Seers Share Their Vision
True words are seldom
Eloquent, and eloquent
Words are seldom true.
Worthy people do
Not argue. Those who argue
Are rarely worthy.
Seers are seldom
Learned, and the learned are
Seldom perceptive.
Seers don't acquire.
They like to share their vision,
For the more they share,
The more all will gain.
They act without confronting
And thus do no harm.