The Daodejing is a poem, a collection of aphorisms, that talks about the natural design of life, the Dao, and the way we humans can live in accordance with this design rather than oppose it. It celebrates simplicity and spontaneity, naturalness and freedom. Above all, perhaps, it shows us the way to a wholeness of vision.

Dao is a single presence that can be viewed two ways. Look within to see the yin, your own faceless awareness. Look outward to see the yang, all that appears and occurs in this awareness. We can also call these two aspects of existence the void and the view. The two aspects of Dao are meant to be seen, not merely named and discussed. You can point to each of them with your finger. Point at your own face. What do you see? Certainly, you don't see a face. Isn't it more like a faceless openness to all that appears? The Daodejing often calls it emptiness, wu. But it's a living emptiness, aware of itself as empty, and it's full of the ten thousand things. Dao is your own faceless embrace of the living world. Dao is awareness (wu) embracing appearance (you). Spread your arms in front of you. Can you see this embrace that you are. It's a matter of noticing what you already are.

What is de? De is the power and harmony and flow that comes into a life in touch with its inner nature, and therefore with the Dao. When you see both sides of your natural presence, you are whole and fully anchored in the here and now. This is deeply satisfying. This is de, the wholeness of life.

These two views of the Dao are in no way separate or divided. They represent a single presence. They go together. They are complements. The Daodejing uses the umbrella terms yin and yang only once. More often it uses the demonstratives this and that, words that actually tell you where to look. Look in at this simple faceless capacity that embraces the world. Look out at that world of spontaneous appearances and happenings. Dao is both simple and spontaneous. Here the Dao does nothing and is nothing, and there all is done. This view of Daoist wholeness translates easily into the two prime and inseparable Daoist values of simplicity and spontaneity. Natural life is designed around these two views and values. One yin, one yang: this is Dao.

Simplicity. The Daodejing uses things in the natural world to symbolize simplicity. Pu is the uncarved block of wood. It is a symbol for simplicity, our natural state before we learn the rigid "ways" other people expect us to be and behave. Simple living, fewness of desires, and knowing when enough is enough are prime Daoist values. The infant and the child also suggest simplicity. They live from their own natures, not from what they have been told by others.

Spontaneity. The Dao does nothing and all is done. Water is a natural symbol for spontaneity. It does nothing (wuwei) but what is natural for it to do. It follows its own nature. Humans can do the same when they yield to their own natures (ziran) and allow others to do the same. We witness our experiences but do not cause them. They are given. They arise on their own.

Wholeness. There is no division between yin and yang or wu and you or this and that or void and view. They are complementary views of a single presence, of the Dao, of life, of this-here-now. Dao is both one and whole. The two are one and whole. This presence is what you are. It's your essential identity and the source of deep satisfaction.

Look in for nothing doing.

Look out for all is done.

Look in and out for wholeness,

And see the two as one.

That is the practice. It's what Douglas Harding called meditation for the marketplace. It's a matter of seeing or noticing the faceless awareness at the center of your being. Notice your essential nature. If you value the seeing, it will come back to you over and over again. It will come again in its own. Given time, it will become your customary way of looking on the world. Empty and faceless awareness embracing the world, that's what Douglas called the Grand Design and Laozi called the Great Image. It's your design. See it and own it.

1 DAO JING

A spoken Dao is not the constant Dao.

No name can name the absolute.

Absence is the source of heaven and earth.

Presence is the mother of all things.

As absence one sees awareness.

As presence one sees appearance.

Though they go by different names

The two are truly one and the same.

They are both subtle and deep,

These gateways to perception.

1 Awareness and Appearance

Laozi begins the Book of Dao by telling us that the spoken Dao, the word Dao, is not the constant Dao, not the experience of Dao. This verse describes the grand design of perception and thereby defines the Dao. I have translated wu and you as absence and presence, which point to awareness and appearance, the two complementary aspects of this-here-now, of present moment experience. Look within for awareness, the essence of Dao, which is objectless, pure subjectivity. Look without to see the presence of all that appears and occurs. Look both ways at once. There is no division between the two views. Dao is this single presence or awareness/appearance. See both ways at once and you are wholly present. This is Dao, life, presence. This is what we are, our real identity. Yet most of us remain cases of mistaken identity. Laozi will have more to say on this matter in the verses that follow.

2

When all see beauty as beauty,

There is ugliness too.

When all see kindness as kindness,

There is unkindness as well.

Thus it is that

Presence and absence arise together.

Difficult and easy complete each other.

Long and short shape each other.

Lofty and lowly lean on each other.

Sound and song harmonize each other.

Front and back accompany one another.

Thus seers act without acting

And teach without speaking.

All beings arise in the present,

And none is rejected.

They are nourished but not owned

And served but not claimed.

Ends are achieved,

But credit isn't taken.

Since it isn't taken, it isn't lost.

2 Judgment and Emptiness

"See things for what they are, exactly as given in your Emptiness -- in this Openness, which manifestly has no preferences, no resentments, no checklist of good and bad things, no categories of beautiful and ugly, acceptable and unacceptable. And see what comes from paying attention to the way you already are." Douglas Harding

3

Not praising the talented

Ensures that people won't contend.

Not valuing rare treasures

Ensures that people won't steal.

Not displaying what people desire

Ensures them calm hearts.

Seers prefer empty hearts and full bellies,

Weak ambitions and strong bones.

They lead us away from knowing and wanting,

So the clever ones don't dare to act.

Act without acting and order prevails.

3 Simplicity

This verse talks about two kinds of simplicity. The first is the material of simple living. Much of what we desire is based on what others have and what merchants want us to buy. How much do we really need? Very little, in Laozi's view. Few of us would not profit by paring down our possessions and desires.

A Daoist recluse says that Daoists "...believe the secret of happiness lies in learning to have few wants. A simple dwelling, a few sets of garments to suit the changing seasons, plain food tasty enough to tempt the appetite -- these are all that is needed for tranquil living. If people were content to have no more, there would be so much to share with others that poverty would be rare." from John Blofeld / p56 / Beyond the Gods / 1974

The second kind of simplicity is our own natural inner simplicity, our capacity or awareness. Nothing is simpler or more central than this capacity. It is the inner "space" in which everything appears. It is your essence. It's the ground of what you are. It can't be lost, but it can be forgotten. Laozi reminds us not to forget.

4

Dao is empty and never needs filling,

So empty and deep it precedes all beings.

It blunts the sharp

And loosens the tangled.

It softens the glare

And unites with the dust.

So deep and clear it seems everlasting.

I don't know whose child it is.

It appears to be the original.

4 Loosen the tangles

This verse shows what seeing (or alignment with Dao) does. It blunts the sharp by bringing back to awareness the place where there are no sharp divisions. It unties the tangles and knots of life by centering us in the place where there is no-thing to get tangled or knotted. It tells us how seeing works to soften the glares of the world and settle the dust of disagreement.

It is about the wu-you complements again. We are made whole when we have both sides in our awareness, when we see them as one presence. We aren't totally caught up in the world of affairs. We aren't centered in the world. Instead, we have a center that softens and settles the world.

Douglas Harding often said that with headless seeing there is only one thing to do. Everything else follows from that and takes care of itself. So when life is giving us sharp jabs, we can return to the place where there is no sharpness. See who you are at center, and let that seeing do the work. Maybe the jabs won't be as painful. Maybe your tangled affairs will work themselves out. Maybe you won't be as anxious about them. This is the power or virtue (de) of first person seeing, of alignment with Dao. It seems to me that Laozi is telling us the same thing that Douglas did. There is only one thing to do. Go back to the place where it all begins, before all images.

In that way seeing falls into the heart. It's not withdrawal. It's a return to your original nature. You still live in the world, but now that world lives in you as well. Nature wears down mountains slowly. Seeing in the world works slowly too. It softens the glare. It doesn't eliminate it. It settles the blowing dust. The dust is still there, but now it is fertile and productive. It works slowly, and only in the present moment.

5

Heaven and earth are not benevolent.

They regard all things as straw dogs.

Seers are not benevolent.

They regard the people as straw dogs.

Isn't the space between heaven and earth

Like a bellows?

Though it is empty,

The more it is used, the more it gives.

Talk of it counts for little.

Better to watch the inner core.

5 Straw Dogs

Both nature and seers are impartial. They play no favorites.

Holmes Welch in his 1957 book Taoism, The Parting of the Way paraphrases Verse Five as follow "The universe is not moral, not 'our kind,' not kind the way the Rites requires. The universe regards the things in it as straw dogs. The Sage is not moral, not 'our kind,' not kind the way the Rites requires. He regards men -- including himself -- as straw dogs. But the universe, amoral as it is, supports us. If we call on its orderliness, it never fails us -- any more than the law of gravity will fail us. Try to call on morality the same way, and you will quickly exhaust its support. Forget morality; follow your inner nature."

6

The valley spirit doesn't die.

It is called the mysterious female.

The gateway of the mysterious female

Is called the root of heaven and earth.

It is always present

And seen without effort.

6 The Valley Spirit

This verse uses four different images to symbolize aspects of Dao -- the valley, the spirit, the female, and the root. These include receptivity, support, creativity, and nourishment. All of these can describe what we are to ourselves as first-person. We are this faceless awareness in receipt of the world.

7

Heaven lasts and earth endures.

They last and endure because

They have no selves.

Thus they last forever.

Seers keep to the back

Yet find themselves in front.

Free of selves they are preserved.

Is it not because they have no selves

That they are themselves?

7 No Selves

Heaven and earth have no selves. They operate on the basis of intricate natural processes. Can you see that this is true of human beings as well? There is no self-contained conscious entity at the helm of one's life.

The design of volition is exactly parallel with the design of vision and other areas of perception. Decisions are given in and to our void nature, our capacity. Decisions are perceived just as sounds are perceived. Where do they come from? Their origins are perceptible only as emptiness or as capacity. There is no need to go beyond this understanding. There is no need to posit a phantom entity that chooses. That's just a complication, legs on a snake. Choices appear. Decisions appear. They show up, just like everything else does. They show up in our capacity. They aren't put there by phantom agent called a self. Self is the wholeness of capacity and its contents. Nothing beyond this two-way design is necessary. We don't need a third wheel on the bicycle.

8

The highest good is like water.

Water benefits all beings

And contends with none.

It occupies the places that people revile.

In this it is close to Dao.

In dwelling it values the ground.

In feeling it values the deep.

In giving it values the true.

In speaking it values trust.

In leading it values order.

In working it values ability.

In acting it values timing.

When no one contends,

No one is blamed.

8 Like Water

Water goes where it must, sometimes gently and sometimes with frightful power. Isn't this true of us too? We go where we must. We act spontaneously even when it seems we are uncertain and don't know what to do. We are designed to be uncertain at times. Water has no self. It doesn't know it's obeying the rule of gravity. It just lives its own nature. We go where we must too. We follow our own way. We don't have to understand it. We can't understand it. It's too complicated. But we are it -- spontaneously and automatically and by definition.

Like water, we go where we go, and we are never right or wrong. Water has only one way to go, and it doesn't 'know' that way until it goes there. We don't know the way to go either -- until we find ourselves already there. All we can do is "see -- and see what happens."

9

Keep on filling,

Better to stop in time.

Pound and hone,

Sharpness can't endure.

Fill a room with gold and jade,

It can't be protected.

Pride in wealth and fame,

How you have failed.

Complete your task and then withdraw.

This is the nature of Dao.

9 Enough!

We fill and hone the outer world and line it with treasures. We establish our position in the world, while we ignore its position in us. Time to stop! Do your work, then quietly step back to the near side, to the center, to your true position, to the Dao. To do otherwise you invite disaster, retribution, and a downfall.

10

Can you embrace...

Awareness with no separation?

Breath as soft as a newborn child?

Vision deep and open and without flaw?

Guidance of people without artifice?

A gentle passage through heaven's gate?

Clear seeing by means of unknowing?

To produce and encourage,

To produce without owning,

To act without prescribing,

To lead without controlling,

This is called deep virtue.

10 Embracing Life

Resisting or not resisting either can happen. "See, and see what happens," as Douglas Harding used to say. That seems to cover it. Life is on its own course. Even resisting happens on its own. Even resisting is "going with the flow." There's no way to get outside of life and affect it from that position. I am what is happening -- no exceptions. Noticing this can affect the flow. If I notice I am resisting what is happening, I may laugh at myself and relax. Or I may just accept that I am resisting the flow. I can't see that there's any way of getting a wedge into a situation that will be outside the spontaneous flow of events. There is no separate me outside of and beyond life itself, beyond the whole. Laozi says "do nothing" because there is no doer separate from all the doings. All that I do, and all that is done to and for me, is happening on its own. I can't help but laugh when I catch myself thinking otherwise. Life is living me, not the other way around.

11

Thirty spokes share one hub.

Its emptiness makes the cart useful.

Mold clay into a bowl.

Its emptiness makes the bowl useful.

Cut doors and windows to make a room.

The empty spaces make the room useful.

What exists is beneficial because

Emptiness allows it to function.

11 The Wheel

The wheel is a wonderfully precise image for the Dao. Douglas Harding had wheels of his own. He called them maps. One of his maps is pictured on the left. His maps are wheels with their spokes going out in all directions from the hub. This wheel is a map of my first-person private identity, of myself as I am to myself. At the center is the hub, the empty (Laozi's word) and faceless (Douglas's word) center of my presence (you), a nonpresence (wu) in fact. Here at the hub I AM pure capacity or awareness. How do I look to myself from this hub? What do I see when I look outward and downward at the spokes of the wheel? You can try it for yourself. Spread your arms in front of you by about 160 degrees, just to the point where they come into view and frame your world. Look down at your feet. Bring your attention up to your chest. Do you see the line on your chest where your view of your body ends? Below that line is awareness only (I AM) and absence or nonpresence (I AM NOT), both clearly in your view as shown on the map or wheel. Now look straight out. In the nearer regions, you see the place where humans reside. With a large mirror you can even see your own public appearance. Look beyond this human region and you see the scenery. Farther still you see the heavens, the sun, planets, stars, and galaxies. It's all part of who you really are. It's what's presented to the hub of the wheel, to your own aware center. Now look within. It's easy to do. Point a finger at the place where others see your face. Do you see a face? Or do you see emptiness (wu), empty and aware capacity for the world of appearances, the realm of I AM NOT?

The hub is the center, the heart, the place of faceless awareness. It's also still, empty, single, and constant. The spokes are many, but they converge in the one hub of all. The spokes are not constant. They change positions. This verse sums it all up in one homely image, the wheel.

So what is the Dao? What is my real identity? Is it the Hub? Is it the Whole wheel -- both the hub and the spokes? Inwardly I AM NOT. Outwardly I AM ALL. At the hub and center I AM.

12

The five colors blind the eye.

The five tones deafen the ear.

The five flavors dull the palate.

Racing and hunting madden the heart.

Rare goods block one's advance.

Seers act from the belly, not the eye,

Dismissing that, accepting this.

12 (and 72) Dismissing That, Accepting This

"Emptiness is a favourite synonym for the Tao, which is like enclosed by a pot and without which it is useless, and like the still hub without which a wheel cannot turn, Taoists also describe it as the Void, the Valley, the inexhaustible and bottomless and formless Origin of all forms, the Uncarved Block, the Always-so, the Primal Simplicity, the Quietness, Darker than any Mystery. Most significant of all, it it This and not That. In other words, it is right here. What one really is, one's own True Nature as well as the Nature of Things." Douglas Harding, Religions of the World, p 57.

13

Favor and disgrace are equally frightful.

Greatness and adversity are both selfish.

Why are favor and disgrace equally frightful?

Favor implies a fall.

Thus to gain favor is as frightening

As it is to lose it.

And so it is said that favor and disgrace

Are equally frightful.

Why are greatness and adversity both selfish?

I believe greatness and adversity

Are consequences of self-concern.

If I had no concern for myself

What adversity could I have?

Regard all actions on earth as your own,

Then all the world can depend on you.

Value all actions on earth as your own,

Then all the world can be entrusted to you.

13 Occurrence Appearing of Itself

Why are favor and disgrace equally frightful? Because favor and disgrace establish you as a self, as one among many. Why are greatness and adversity both selfish? Because greatness and adversity are terms used to give you a rank and a rating. A self with a rating -- is that what you want to be?

To Laozi you are an expression of the whole, of the Dao. You are like a wave on the ocean -- a spontaneous expression of the whole. Your doings are not separate and self-contained. To use David Hinton's words, your doings are "occurrence appearing of itself." See your wider identity and you will regard all actions on earth as your own. And since they are your own, you will value them as your own.

14

It isn't seen by looking.

Call it invisible.

It isn't heard by listening.

Call it inaudible.

It isn't held by grasping.

Call it intangible.

These three can't be fathomed.

They blend into one.

Not bright above,

Not dark below,

Forever without a name,

It turns back to nonexistence.

Call it form without form,

The image of nonexistence.

Call it vague and elusive,

With no face to see and no back to follow.

Behold the ancient Dao to keep the present,

And follow Dao's thread to the source.

14 No Face to See

Dao is awareness, which appears as void or emptiness. Can you see the emptiness in the place where others see your face? This is the emptiness or void that is your no-face or no-head. It is wide open for the world, for the ten thousand things of creation.

Your only task is to see this emptiness whenever it occurs to you to look. See your empty face, the void in its infinity and eternity each moment. You will also see the ten thousand things that occur in time and space.

Your own body is one of these ten thousand things that are manifested in you, in your awareness, in the Dao. See the truth of who you are. To yourself, you are not the body topped off with a head. That is your image to other people.

15

Seers of old were adept at cultivating Dao

Subtle and mysterious, open and deep,

Deep beyond understanding.

Because they can't be understood,

One can only relate how they appeared.

Alert as if crossing a stream in winter.

Watchful as if wary of their neighbors.

Deferential as a guest.

Generous as melting ice.

Simple as an uncarved block.

Expansive as a valley.

Opaque as murky water.

Who can let murkiness calmly clear?

Who can let this clarity come alive?

Those who guard Dao desire no excess.

Desiring no excess,

They are not worn out

But renewed instead.

15 Appearance

The seers of old were adept at cultivating Dao, the wholeness of perception. The headless seers of today are adept in the same ways. They see that their essence is subtle and mysterious, open and deep. It is the experience of the central or inner voidness of this-here-now, the hole at the center of the whole of present moment experience.

How do seers appear to others? Laozi tells us a few of the ways. Seers are alert and watchful, and so they appear to others. Alertness is the watchword of headless seeing, conscious attention to one's nature as empty capacity for the world to happen in and to, awareness itself.

Seers are deferential to others, because they see that there are only others. Seeing their emptiness, seers count as nothing themselves. Seers are generous, because nothingness is their most precious possession. This nothingness is both simple and expansive, simple in itself and expansive in its ability to include all that appears. Seers are opaque in appearance to others, but calm and clear and alive to themselves.

Seers already have the wholeness of Dao. They don't wear themselves out seeking more than they need from the world. They are renewed instead by the seeing the depth and fullness of the experience of living.

16

Attain complete openness.

Maintain a steady calm.

All things arise together,

And I watch them return.

Each of the multitude returns to the root.

Return to the root brings stillness.

It is called a return to the real.

Return to the real reveals the constant.

Seeing the constant brings clarity.

Not seeing the constant invites adversity.

To see the constant is to accept what is.

To accept is to be fair.

To be fair is to be whole.

To be whole is to be natural.

To be natural is to hold Dao.

To hold Dao is to endure.

When self dies so does danger.

16 The Place of Openness

Where is this place of complete openness? Point a finger to your own headlessness. Where else can you find total openness and imperturbability but here at the calm center of perception? Return your attention to the only constant in life, the constant Dao of Laozi's first verse.

17

The best leaders are barely known to exist.

The next best are loved and praised.

The next are feared,

And the next despised.

Without enough trust you will not be trusted.

If you are wise and consider your words,

When your task is complete

And your work is finished,

The people will say

It happened on its own.

17

The best leadership comes from your true position as this faceless awareness—so invisible and natural that there's no sense of a separate leader doing anything. When you try to lead from the position of being a person, you become increasingly problematic: loved, then feared, then despised as your efforts to control backfire. But when you let life unfold from the aware emptiness you are, everything happens so effortlessly that even you can't take credit. This is ziran—the spontaneous functioning of awareness itself, leading without a leader, accomplishing without effort. When your work completes itself through this natural intelligence, people say "it happened on its own," which is precisely true since you are not the doer but the space in which all doing spontaneously arises.

18

When the great Dao is abandoned,

Kindness and justice arise.

When learning and wisdom appear,

The great pretense follows.

When families are not at peace,

Filial piety appears.

When the country is in turmoil,

Loyal servants abound.

18 The Great Pretense

I find the DDJ to be about both values and vision. And when it comes to the vision aspect, "Putting on a False Face" is a very apt expression, because it's exactly what we do. We identify so closely with our faces, yet we never see them. We only imagine them. A face above my shoulders is a fabrication, a lie, and a put-on. It's a false face. And it messes with our values. Zen wants us see our Original Face, the face we had before our ancestors were born. So how do we see it? The word itself gives us a clue. One of the opposites of original is reflection, as when we look in a mirror. Are you willing to go up to a mirror and actually look at the face you see there. I suspect it will seem childish or that you will think that you can follow the idea in your mind to the same effect. But I don't think you will get what I am saying just from the words. It's a matter of Seeing, not of understanding. Anyway, if you do go and look at the face in the mirror, you will see just what a reflected (false) face looks like. And you will also see what your original face looks like, which is like no face at all. You are the pure original. The face in the mirror is a reflection, and if you think this face is on your shoulders, you have put on a false face and are living from a fabrication. There is nothing but capacity, transparency, or aware spaciousness on you shoulders. That's your original face, your true face, and it's empty and open and accepting of everything in view. It's the only face you will ever see directly.

19

Abandon wisdom and discard knowledge.

People gain a hundredfold.

Abandon kindness and discard judgment.

People return to respect and affection.

Abandon cleverness and discard profit.

Robbers and thieves cease to exist.

These three are helpful but not sufficient.

Something more is needed.

See the plain and embrace the simple.

Reduce the self and diminish desire.

19 See the Plain

Abandon the wisdom that divides experience into spiritual and mundane, the knowledge that separates knower from known. When you drop these artificial categories, people naturally return to simple respect and affection because the barriers created by judgment dissolve. Abandon the cleverness that calculates spiritual profit, and the thieves of comparison and competition disappear. But dropping concepts isn't enough—something more direct is needed. See the plain awareness you are right now, reading these words. Embrace the simple fact of being aware, without any special understanding required. Reduce the self by recognizing you're not the solid person you appear to be to others, but this transparent space in which all persons appear. Diminish desire by seeing that as this faceless awareness, you already embrace everything and lack nothing. The great simplicity isn't a practice to achieve but the obvious reality to notice—you are this ordinary, unadorned consciousness in which all wisdom, kindness, and cleverness spontaneously arise and pass away.

20

Abandon learning and worries end.

Yes and yeah.

How great is the difference?

Admirable and offensive.

How different are these?

People fear what must be feared.

How crude and off center!

Others seem so bright and cheerful,

As if enjoying a great feast

Or climbing a terrace in springtime.

I alone am calm, giving no sign,

Like a newborn child who has yet to smile,

Weary and forlorn like one without a home.

Others have more than enough.

I alone seem wanting.

I am such a fool!

Others are so bright and cheerful.

I alone am dim and dark.

Others are so keen and alert.

I alone am dim and dull,

Quiet like the sea,

Aimless like the wind.

Others all have their goals.

I alone am stubborn and mean.

I alone, different from the rest,

Value sustenance from the source.

20 Calm at the Center

Laozi's three treasures (67) are compassion, frugality, and humility. This verse goes deeply into the value of humility. One who adopts this Dao of seeing may appear to others to be dim and dark and dull. Could this be a reflection of the dim and dark and dull nature of awareness itself? It has no properties. It doesn't shine. It makes no appearance. Its function is to allow for the appearance of everything in its embrace. It embraces what appears naturally. It isn't the director. It is aimless like the wind. It has no goals. Laozi calls it the source. It is the source of our capacity to experience the world of appearance. It is our central identity.

Let others identify with what they know, with the opinions of others. Approval may make them seem bright and cheerful, but this does not last. Everything changes. The only constant in the inner Dao, the headless space. Awareness remains awareness, while nothing that appears in awareness changes constantly. Awareness is the anchor, stubborn and humble. It's always here, and though it's quiet like the sea, it's what allows for the tides of life, the changes that every year, indeed every moment, of life brings. Awareness and occurrence, the constant and the changing, these are the complementary elements of complete living. Though awareness in itself appears empty and bland, it is the ground of living experience. Add that back to your life. It is the capacity for experiencing. Being consciously aware of this constant openness at one's center brings a richness to living that is always available. The more you include it in your perception, the more completely satisfying your life will be.

21

Great virtue comes only from Dao.

Dao seems elusive and vague.

Vague and elusive, yes,

But it reveals all that appears.

Elusive and vague, yes,

And it holds all that lives.

Quiet and obscure, yes,

But it contains all essence.

This essence is deeply real

And, at center, worthy of your trust.

From long ago past to present day,

Its name is not forgotten.

Use it to see the ancestor of all.

How do I know the ancestor of all?

Through this-here-now!

21 Vague and Elusive

Great virtue, meaning the fullness of life, comes only from Dao, from seeing the whole of this-here-now. The great void at your center, meaning your own facelessness, may seem vague and elusive, yet it is the very essence of your life and identity. It may be quiet and obscure, yet without it nothing would appear, nothing would occur. It reveals. It holds. It contains. It is the power or virtue behind it all, behind life itself. See this (this-here-now) as your essence, and trust this seeing to bring balance to your life. Use it in your life as our ancestors used it in theirs.

22

To yield is to be made whole.

To bend is to be straightened.

To empty is to be filled.

To age is to be renewed.

To have little is to gain much.

To have much is to be confused.

Therefore seers embrace oneness

And become examples for all.

They don't show off, and so they are clear.

They don't claim truth, and so they appear.

They do not brag, and so they produce.

They do not boast, and so they survive.

Because they don't contend

No one in the world contends with them.

The old saying is

Yield and be whole.

Are these empty words?

Look within and wholeness returns.

22 Yield and Be Whole

What are you being asked to yield? Nothing but your false view of yourself as one among many. To have little is to gain much. Can you go further? Yield until you have nothing left. When you are nothing at your core, you will be filled with all that appears. Being nothing, you are empty and clear of heart. Being empty, there is nothing to brag about. At center I am the same as everyone else.

23

To speak but little is natural.

A wind storm doesn't last the morning.

A downpour doesn't last the day.

What causes these?

Heaven and earth.

If heaven and earth can't make them last,

How could a person?

Follow Dao and be one with Dao.

Value virtue and be one with virtue.

Accept loss and be one with loss.

At one with Dao, Dao welcomes you.

At one with virtue, virtue welcomes you.

At one with loss, loss welcomes you.

Not trusting enough, you won't be trusted.

23 Natural Speaking and Being One

To speak little is natural when you recognize what you are—this silent awareness that hosts all words. Like windstorms and downpours, intense experiences arise naturally but don't last long. What causes these temporary storms of thought and emotion? They emerge from the same source as the weather: the natural functioning of heaven and earth, the interplay of yin and yang (void and view) in your own immediate experience. From your position as this faceless awareness, speaking little comes naturally because words arise spontaneously when needed, like rain when the conditions are right. You don't need to manufacture conversation any more than you need to manufacture breathing. Both happen naturally when you notice and allow the organic flow of what you are.

24

Standing on tiptoe, one isn't steady.

Walking astride, one has no pace.

Showing oneself, one isn't clear.

Sure of oneself, one isn't seen.

Asserting oneself, one has no merit.

Proud of oneself, one doesn't endure.

Those with Dao call these

Excess food and useless effort,

Things which all deplore.

Those with Dao avoid them.

24 Standing on Tiptoe

Standing on tiptoe to appear taller is like trying to be someone other than who you really are. When you identify with your public appearance—what others see when they look at you—you become unsteady, off-balance. You're trying to be what you're not. But when you see what you really are to yourself—this faceless, empty awareness—you find your natural stance. You don't need to show off or assert yourself because you know your true identity. The headless space you are doesn't need to prove anything. It simply is, steady and clear, embracing all that appears without effort or strain.

25

Something exists formless and complete

Before heaven and earth are born.

Silent and empty,

It stands alone and doesn't move.

Occurring everywhere and never in danger,

Take it as the mother of heaven and earth.

I don't know its name.

Needing to find a word, I call it Dao.

Needing to name a name, I call it great.

Great means going on.

Going on means going far.

Going far means returning.

Therefore, Dao is great.

Heaven is great.

Earth is great.

People are also great.

In our world there are four great things,

And people are one of them.

People heed the ways of earth.

Earth heeds the ways of heaven.

Heaven heeds the ways of Dao.

Dao heeds the ways that are.

25 a) Formless and Complete, b) and Four Great Things

a) Before heaven and earth are born, something exists formless and complete. What is this? It's the awareness that allows the world to appear. Laozi calls it the mother of heaven and earth.

Zhuanzi tells the story of Hundun. "Hundun had a perfect and permanent life at the center of the world, but was devoid of personal features -- he had no face. The kings from the periphery decided to come to the center and do Hundun a favor by giving him a facial shape. They drilled seven holes into his body, the facial openings, and he immediately perished." ...from Daoism Explained, Hans-Georg Moeller, page 35.

Hundun represents the private and faceless identity that lies at the center of your being. The kings from the periphery represent all the well-meaning people in your world who want you to identify with your public appearance, to believe that you are at center what you look like from a distance. The outcome, of course, is the immediate death of your central identity.

What you are for yourself at no distance is a faceless embrace of the world, capacity for all things, awareness itself. Others see your face. That is your public identity, your appearance to others. To accept that as your central identity is tantamount to death, the death of your true view of yourself. Don't let others drill holes in your facelessness.

b) People heed the ways of earth. Earth heeds the ways of heaven. Heaven heeds the ways of Dao. Dao heeds the ways that are. Resisting or not resisting, either can happen. "See, and see what happens," as Douglas Harding used to say. That seems to cover it. Life is on its own course. Even resisting happens on its own. Even resisting is "going with the flow." There's no way to get outside of life and affect it from that position. I am what is happening -- no exceptions. Noticing this can affect the flow. If I notice I am resisting what is happening, I may laugh at myself and relax. Or I may just accept that I am resisting the flow. There is no way of getting a wedge into a situation that will be outside the spontaneous flow of events. There is no separate me outside of and beyond life itself, beyond the whole. Laozi says "do nothing" because there is no doer separate from all the doings. All that I do, and all that is done to and for me, is happening on its own. I can't help but laugh when I catch myself thinking otherwise. Life is living me, not the other way around.

26

Heavy is the root of lightness.

Calm is the master of haste.

Thus seers wander all day

Without leaving their provision.

Though the views are beautiful,

They are not swayed.

When a master of 10,000 chariots

Takes the self lightly in the world,

Lightness loses its root,

And haste surrenders command.

24 Standing on Tiptoe Standing on tiptoe to appear taller is like trying to be someone other than who you really are. When you identify with your public appearance—what others see when they look at you—you become unsteady, off-balance. You're trying to be what you're not. But when you see what you really are to yourself—this faceless, empty awareness—you find your natural stance. You don't need to show off or assert yourself because you know your true identity. The headless space you are doesn't need to prove anything. It simply is, steady and clear, embracing all that appears without effort or strain.

27

Good walkers leave no track.

Good speakers make no error.

Good reckoners need no counter.

Good closers don't bolt the gate,

Yet it can't be opened.

Good binders don't knot the rope,

Yet it can't be loosened.

This is why seers excel at assisting others

While rejecting no one,

And excel at saving situations

While rejecting nothing.

Call this the practice of clarity.

The skilled are examples to the unskilled.

And the unskilled are helpful to the skilled.

If you don't value example or cherish help,

Though clever, you are much confused.

Call this a deep mystery.

27 Good Practice What leaves no track? Awareness itself. When you see from your true position—this faceless center—there's no separate self doing the seeing. Good speakers make no error because the words arise spontaneously in emptiness, not from a calculating self. This is why seers excel at helping others while rejecting no one. From their position as nothing and no one, they can embrace everyone. The headless one you are is the perfect example to others of what they really are too, and the perfect student of their own wisdom appearing in your awareness.

28

Knowing the male while guarding the female,

You are like a river to all the world.

As a river to the world,

Virtue is constant and does not depart.

Go back to the infant.

Knowing the white while guarding the black,

You are a model for all the world.

As a model for all the world,

Virtue is constant and does not falter.

Go back to the infinite.

Knowing the lofty while guarding the lowly,

You are like a valley for all the world.

As a valley for all the world,

Virtue is constant and always enough.

Go back to the uncarved block.

Carving the block makes the tools

That seers use to show the way.

Yet the greatest rule does not divide.

28 Male and Female Traditionally, the male is the active, outward-looking yang aspect of your nature, and the female is the receptive, inward-looking yin aspect. Know both, but guard the female—remain anchored in the receptive emptiness that receives all experience. Like a river to all the world, this faceless capacity never runs dry. Return to the infant consciousness that simply receives what appears without judgment. Go back to the infinite openness you were before you learned to identify with a particular body-mind. The uncarved block is your original face—featureless, simple, whole.

29

Some want to make over the world.

I see that it can't be accomplished.

The world is a sacred occurrence

And can't be directed.

Meddle and spoil it.

Grasp and lose it.

Some lead and some follow.

Some blow hard and some breath easy.

Some are strong and some are gentle.

Some build up and some tear down.

Thus seers shun the extreme,

Shun the extravagant,

Shun the excessive.

29 Sacred Occurrence Some want to remake the world according to their plans and preferences. But from the headless position, you see that the world is a sacred occurrence appearing spontaneously in your awareness. You can't direct what appears any more than you can direct the weather. Trying to control what arises in consciousness is like trying to grasp water. The world includes both building up and tearing down, both strength and gentleness. All of this happens by itself in the space you are. Seers avoid extremes because they see from the center, the still point where all opposites meet.

30

Those who use Dao to assist a ruler

Don't use weapons of war on the world.

Such deeds tend to backfire.

An army yields a crop of brambles.

A battle yields a year of hunger.

The skilled achieve their ends then stop,

Not daring to consider force.

They achieve but don't revel.

They achieve but don't assert.

They achieve but don't boast.

They achieve but aren't smug.

They achieve but don't compel.

Strength as a rule grows old.

This isn't Dao,

And not being Dao,

It soon expires.

Those who align with Dao don't use force because they understand that everything happens by itself. Like a skilled gardener who works with natural processes rather than against them, seers achieve their ends without violence. They don't need to compel because they see that all movement arises spontaneously in awareness. The brambles and hunger that follow warfare are natural consequences of opposing the flow of what is. But when you act from your true position—this empty center—your actions align with the natural order. Strength that relies on force grows old quickly because it fights against the way things actually work.

31

Even the best weapons are

Implements of ill omen,

Vile things to possess.

Seers of Dao do not abide them.

Worthy people at home favor the left.

In war they favor the right.

Weapons are instruments of ill omen,

Not proper for worthy people.

When weapons must be employed

It's best to be calm and restrained.

Triumph is not beautiful.

To find it beautiful

Is to delight in killing.

Those who delight in killing

Do not gain their ends in this world.

Fortune favors the left.

Adversity favors the right.

Lower commanders occupy the left.

Higher commanders occupy the right.

This is protocol for a funeral.

The slaying of multitudes

Calls for sorrow and weeping.

Observe a victory as a funeral.

31 Weapons and Peace Even the finest weapons are instruments of harm, tools that create separation between self and other. But from the headless position, you see there are no others—only various appearances arising in the awareness you are. Those who see their true nature prefer the left side, the position of receptivity and peace. When weapons must be used, it's with sadness, not celebration, because you recognize that what appears to be the enemy is also appearing in your own awareness. Victory feels like a funeral because there's no real separation between winner and loser—both are faces of the one presence you are.

32

Dao is always nameless.

It is simple and ordinary,

And no one can suppress it.

If leaders and rulers could guard it

All beings would naturally follow.

Heaven and earth would rain sweet dew.

Unbidden, people would live in balance.

Rules arise and naming begins.

Naming appears and it's time to stop.

Knowing when to stop prevents danger.

The presence of Dao is an example to all

Like river valleys streaming to the sea.

32 Nameless Simplicity Dao has no name because awareness itself can't be captured in words. It's simpler than anything that appears in it, yet no one can suppress or contain it. If leaders could guard this understanding—that they are not separate from those they lead—natural harmony would follow. Sweet dew represents the natural abundance that flows when artificial divisions dissolve. When you stop trying to categorize and control what appears in awareness, knowing when to stop prevents the danger of losing yourself in concepts and missing the direct experience of what you are.

33

Who knows others has learning.

Who knows oneself has insight.

Who bears others is capable.

Who bears oneself is strong.

Who knows satisfaction is rich.

Who holds a point of view advances.

Who stays in place endures.

Who dies without perishing lives long.

33 True Knowledge To know others through learning is useful, but to see and to know yourself as this aware space is wisdom. You can bear others' burdens when you see they're not really others—they're appearances in your own consciousness. To bear yourself means to accept your own presence as both the emptiness and the fullness, the yin and yang, the void and the view of immediate experience. True satisfaction comes from recognizing this, not from accumulating more experiences. Who stays in place in the center endures because the center never moves. This faceless awareness neither is born nor dies—it's your own timeless nature.

34

Great Dao is overflowing,

Going left and going right.

All things depend on it for life,

And it never turns away.

It works and achieves

But never claims credit.

It clothes and nourishes

But won't take the lead.

Since it has no desires,

It can be called ordinary.

All things return to it,

Though it doesn't force them back.

It can be called great.

Since it doesn't assume greatness,

Its greatness is assured.

34 Great Overflow The great Dao is like water overflowing its banks, going everywhere without preference. All appearances depend on your awareness for their existence, yet awareness never demands credit. It clothes all experiences without taking center stage. Since this empty space has no desires of its own, it seems ordinary—just the simple fact of being aware. Everything returns to it naturally because everything appears in it. You don't force experiences back to awareness; they're already there. This ordinariness is actually greatness because it makes everything else possible.

35

Behold the great image

And life comes home,

Calmly and beyond all harm,

Satisfied with wholeness.

Music and food attract the stranger.

But talk of Dao plainly lacks flavor.

Look for it, and it isn't seen.

Listen for it, and it isn't heard.

But use it, and it's never used up.

35 The Great Image

The great image is the big picture or the grand design, the image of wholeness. It's what you see when you notice the whole field of vision. It includes all the appearances and occurrences you are looking at. It also includes the unchanging and faceless emptiness you are looking from.

The character for great can indicate a simple experiment in perception. Stand with your arms in front of you and just barely visible on either side, that is, spread out about 160 degrees. Do you see that with this gesture you, physically and consciously, embrace the world?

36

To be diminished

It must have been inflated.

To be weakened

It must have been strong.

To be abolished

It must have been established.

To be taken away

It must have been granted.

Call these subtle insights.

The soft and weak overcome

The hard and strong.

Fish must remain in deep water

And weapons remain out of view.

36 Natural Cycles To see something diminished, it must first have been inflated in your perception. These cycles happen naturally in awareness—expansion and contraction, strength and weakness, establishment and dissolution. This offers subtle insight into the nature of experience: everything that appears in consciousness goes through changes. The soft awareness you are outlasts all the hard appearances that come and go in it. Like fish that must stay in deep water, your true identity must remain in the depth of not-knowing, and the sharp weapons of fixed opinions should stay out of view.

37

Dao does nothing and all is done.

If those in the lead could do the same,

All beings would thrive on their own.

When desires grow and striving begins,

I will call on nameless simplicity,

And the people will no longer want.

With not wanting comes peace

And natural order in the world.

Doing Nothing When Dao does nothing, all is done. When you act from your position as awareness itself rather than as a person trying to achieve something, natural harmony results. If those in leadership could see this—that they are not separate doers but the space in which all doing happens—everyone would thrive spontaneously. When desires and striving take over, return to nameless simplicity: this faceless awareness that wants nothing because it already is everything. With not wanting comes peace because you realize you're not lacking anything.

38 DE JING

High virtue is not virtuous,

Thus it has virtue.

Common virtue holds on to virtue,

Thus it lacks virtue.

High virtue neither acts

Nor ponders action.

Common virtue acts

And ponders each act.

High kindness acts

But doesn't ponder action.

High manners acts

And ponders each deed.

High ritual acts,

And getting no response,

Bares it arms and throws punches.

Lose Dao and virtue remains.

Lose virtue and benevolence remains.

Lose benevolence and morality remains.

Lose morality and ritual remains.

Ritual means loyalty and trust are thin

And confusion has begun.

Ready certainty is the flower of Dao

And the beginning of folly.

This is why seers

Stay with the core and not the surface,

Stay with the essence and not the blossom.

They refuse that and admit this.

38 High and Low Virtue

High virtue flows naturally from your true position as this faceless awareness—it doesn't think of itself as virtuous any more than water thinks of itself as wet. Common virtue comes from the person trying to be good, constantly monitoring and managing their behavior, which ironically destroys the natural goodness that would otherwise arise spontaneously. This verse traces the progressive fall from immediate recognition: first you lose direct contact with your nature as aware emptiness, then virtue becomes self-conscious effort, then kindness becomes calculated benevolence, then morality becomes rigid rules, until finally you're left with empty rituals that resort to force when they fail. The more you move from the core recognition of what you are toward the surface appearance of being a person, the more confused and aggressive your "virtue" becomes. True seers stay with the essence—this simple awareness reading these words—rather than the blossoming displays of achievement. They refuse the surface show of enlightenment and admit the plain fact of being ordinarily, effortlessly aware.

39

Of old, these have gained oneness.

Heaven gained oneness

And became clear.

Earth gained oneness

And became calm.

Spirit gained oneness

And became perceptive.

Valleys gained oneness

And became bountiful.

The myriad beings gained oneness

And became prolific.

Leaders and rulers gained oneness

And became sovereign.

These all have attained.

If heaven were not clear,

It might crack.

If earth were not calm,

It might falter.

If spirit were not perceptive,

It might perish.

If valleys were not bountiful,

They might wither.

If the myriad beings were not lively,

They might die.

The high is rooted in the low.

The prominent is grounded in the humble.

Thus leaders and rulers call themselves

Orphaned, alone, and unworthy.

Don't they all see the common root?

The humble counts in wholeness.

Prefer the clatter of stone

To the dazzle of jade.

39 Beautiful Pattern

"I don't believe anything is accidental, in the larger sense. There's a beautiful pattern. Not plan — plans always have to be thought up. But the universe works together; everything connects. Otherwise it would fall apart." James Broughton

40

Returning is the movement of Dao.

Yielding is the way of Dao.

All in the world are born in presence,

And presence is born in absence.

40 Returning

All things are born and live and die in your clear and empty awareness, in your sight. Only awareness remains forever open and unchanged. You are origin and eternity. Can you reverse the arrow of attention and return it to the source and enabler of all that appears, to the ground of "occurrence appearing of itself?"

See the Seer. View the view.

Mark the two as one.

You have captured all there is.

That's it! Fini! You're done!

41

Keen people hear of Dao

And apply it in earnest.

Average people hear of Dao

And keep it now and then.

Dull people hear of Dao

And laugh out loud.

If they didn't laugh,

It wouldn't be Dao.

Thus the old sayings:

Bright Dao seems dark.

Advanced Dao seems withdrawn.

Plain Dao seems rough.

High virtue seems hollow.

Great clarity seems opaque.

Ample virtue seems deficient.

Proven virtue seems corrupt.

Natural truth seems fickle.

The great whole has no corners.

The great container holds at last.

The great tone is rarely heard.

The great image is never fixed.

Dao is hidden and without a name.

Because Dao accepts, it also fulfills.

41

Can you see your own face in the same direct way you can see your hand? No one would answer yes to this question. No one is getting this wrong. You can see your hand directly, and you can see its reflection in the mirror. You can see the reflection of your face in the mirror, but is this you? Are you a reflection? Or are you the original? Aren't you the original, faceless, open and transparent awareness centered right here on your shoulders? You aren't the face in the mirror. You aren't like that. You aren't solid and opaque. You have no color. You have no features. You are the one in receipt of all these.

This brightest and most obvious of all spots in the universe is just not seen. This empty center of awareness is not noticed. Even if it is noticed when it is pointed out, most people fail to see its worth. They seldom attend to attention itself. Others don't even give it a chance. They laugh at it without hesitation. Laozi playfully tells us that their laughter proves its truth.

42

Dao is born as one.

One is born as two.

Two is born as three.

Three is born as 10,000 beings.

All beings shoulder yin and embrace yang,

Whose energies blend in harmony.

People have reason to hate

Being orphaned, alone, and poor.

Yet those who lead take these as titles.

Thus one might gain through loss

Or lose through gain.

What others have taught, I teach as well.

Those who live by violence

Prepare their own demise.

I will make this my main tenet.

42 Yin and Yang, Void and View

Look in and see the yin.

Look out and see the yang.

Look in and out and see the Dao,

And now you see the whole shebang!

From one comes two, and these makes three, and thus ten thousand come to be. Laozi is talking of the grand design of immediate perception. The three terms Dao, yin and yang are not metaphysical terms. They are not mere words or names. They are concrete, physical, and visible. You can literally point to them with a finger. To look in at the yin, point your finger to your own faceless awareness. To look out at the yang, point your finger to the world of appearances directly in front of you. See that nothing separates these two views of your presence, of your life in the moment, of Dao. To see both sides is to see wholeness and to know

Just what is the Dao?

It is yin on my shoulders

And yang in my arms.

43

In this world the softest approach

Quickly overcomes the hardest,

And absence goes where there is no space.

Thus I know the value of not acting.

The lesson of not speaking

And the value of not acting

Are seldom realized in this world.

43 Yielding

Is it possible to overcome limitations by yielding? Yield your limited identity as a someone. See that you are nothing now. You are an absence, an aware void. Accept your unlimited ability as capacity to receive the world. Accept your softness. Yield all contention and opposition. Give up this hard attitude. All is as it must be. You are not a somebody up against others. Others live in you. You are unlimited capacity to host the world.

44

Name or life, which is nearer?

Life or wealth, which means more?

Gain or loss, which hurts more?

Attachment comes with great cost,

And possession brings a heavy loss.

To know sufficiency means no disgrace.

To know limitation means no danger.

This is the way to a long life.

44 Name or Life

Your life, your presence is nearer than your name. It's nearer than your wealth. It's not a possession. It's your essence, your true nature. It's your sufficiency and safety and satisfaction. It's your true center, your lasting nature. 

45

Great accomplishment seems lacking,

Yet its use is not impaired.

Great fullness seems empty,

Yet its use is not depleted.

Great honesty seems crooked.

Great skill seems awkward.

Great eloquence seems halting.

While activity conquers cold,

And tranquility conquers heat,

Calm and clear set the world aright.

45 Apparent Contradictions Great accomplishment seems lacking because awareness itself accomplishes everything by doing nothing. Great fullness seems empty because this spacious awareness appears void yet contains all experience. To others, the headless way might seem crooked, awkward, or halting because it doesn't follow conventional patterns of seeking and achieving. Activity conquers cold by generating heat, but tranquility conquers heat by not resisting it. Similarly, when you remain calm and clear in your true position as awareness, the world naturally rights itself around this still center.

46

When Dao is observed

Race horses manure the fields.

When Dao is ignored

War horses breed on the farms.

No disaster exceeds

Not knowing what is enough.

No fault exceeds

The desire to gain.

One who knows what is enough

Always has enough.

46 Enough and Too Much When people live in alignment with Dao—aware of their true nature as this spacious presence—they're content with simple living. War horses in the fields suggest the militarization of everyday life that comes from not knowing what's enough. The greatest disaster is not recognizing that you already are what you're seeking. As this aware emptiness, you lack nothing. The desire to gain more experiences, more knowledge, more achievements, comes from forgetting that you're the space in which all gains appear. One who knows what is enough

(awareness itself) always has enough.

47

Without going out the door,

One knows the world.

Without looking out a window,

One sees the nature of Dao.

The farther one goes,

The less one knows.

Seers don't go out, yet they perceive.

They don't appear, yet they are clear.

They don't act, yet they achieve.

47 Knowing Without Going You don't need to travel anywhere to know the world because the entire world appears in your awareness right here. The nature of Dao is visible without looking out any window—just look in at your own faceless presence. The farther you go seeking truth outside yourself, the less you understand about what you really are. Seers don't go anywhere because they never left their true position. They don't appear as special people because they know they are the space in which all people appear. They don't act from a separate self because they see that all actions arise spontaneously in awareness.

48

In the pursuit of learning one gains daily.

In the pursuit of Dao one loses daily,

Loses and loses through doing nothing.

Though one does nothing,

There's nothing not done.

Exerting effort to gain the world

Is always overreaching.

No effort is ever enough for this.

48

Lose your beliefs. Lose your certainty. We humans know nothing about ultimate matters. This verse aligns beautifully with headless seeing, where we "lose" the fundamental belief in being a separate, bounded self. Just as Laozi advocates releasing our certainties about ultimate matters, headless seeing invites us to drop the most basic assumption of all—that we are a person with a head looking out at the world. We discover that what we took to be solid knowledge (about the world, about ourselves) dissolves into direct, immediate awareness. Direct seeing reveals that our most fundamental "knowledge"—about reality, about who we are—is actually a conceptual overlay that obscures the simple, present awareness that needs no beliefs to function perfectly.

49

Seers have no consistent heart.

They take on the heart of the people.

I am kind to the kind.

I am kind to the unkind too.

Virtue is kind.

I trust the trustworthy.

I trust the untrustworthy too.

Virtue is trusting.

Seers act to unite the world.

They merge their hearts with other hearts.

The people strain to hear and see.

Seers hear and see as children do.

49 The Open Heart Seers have no fixed perspective because they see from the position of pure openness. They take on the heart of whatever appears because everything appears in their own awareness. From this position of faceless receptivity, you're naturally kind to everyone—kind and unkind people alike—because you see they're not really separate from you. You trust everyone because trustworthy and untrustworthy are just different faces appearing in the same awareness. This childlike way of seeing doesn't categorize experiences as good or bad but simply receives whatever arises with innocent clarity.

50

Life arises linked to death.

Life's adherents are three in ten.

Death's adherents are three in ten.

People whose lives

Are on the way to death's domain

Are also three in ten.

Why is this so?

Because they live in the thick of life.

Some are good at managing their lives.

Meeting no rhinos or tigers in their travels,

They carry no armor or weapons for battle.

The rhino's horn finds no place to gore.

The tiger's claw finds no place to seize.

A weapon's blade finds no place to stab.

Why is this so?

They have no place for death to enter.

50 Life and Death Life and death are complementary aspects appearing in awareness. Most people live thickly identified with their bodies and thoughts, always moving toward death's domain through resistance and struggle. But some manage their lives skillfully by remaining identified with the timeless awareness they truly are. For them, no tigers or weapons can find a place to attack because they have no separate self that can be harmed. They live in the place where death cannot enter—this pure awareness that witnesses all births and deaths without being touched by them.

51

Dao bears them.

Virtue raises them.

Existence forms them.

Circumstance completes them.

Thus it is that all beings

Honor Dao and cherish virtue.

Honoring Dao and cherishing virtue

Happens spontaneously, without coercion.

Dao gives them life.

Virtue rears them,

Nourishes them,

Shelters and heals them,

Fosters and protects them.

Giving life, making no claim,

Acting without expectation,

Guiding without rules:

This is called deep virtue.

51 Deep Virtue This verse echoes the fundamental truth that everything arises spontaneously in awareness. You don't create your experiences; they appear naturally like flowers blooming. Dao gives them existence by being the space in which they can appear. This happens without effort or expectation, like a mother caring for children she didn't plan to have. The deepest virtue is this natural giving that expects nothing in return—the way awareness freely hosts all experience without demanding payment or praise.

52

The origin of all is called the mother.

Find the mother

And know the children.

Know the children

And return to the mother.

When self ends, so does danger.

Block the passages,

Close the doors,

And all your life there is no struggle.

Open the passages and,

Wrapped up in affairs,

All your life there is no help.

Seeing the ordinary is called clarity.

Keeping the pliant is called strength.

In light of this,

One returns to clarity

And precludes disaster.

Call this the practice of the constant.

52 Return to the Mother The mother is this aware emptiness that gives birth to all experience. Find this source—your own faceless nature—and you'll understand all the children (appearances) that arise in it. Block the passages of seeking outside yourself, close the doors of endless desires, and there's no struggle. Open yourself to countless pursuits and affairs, and there's no help to be found. The ordinary awareness you are is clearer than any special state. This soft receptivity is stronger than any force. Practice returning to this constant presence and disasters dissolve naturally.

53

If I perceive the great Dao,

My only fear is to stray from it.

Though the great Dao is plain and obvious,

Most people prefer the sidetracks.

While the courts are divided,

The fields are weedy

And the granaries are empty,

Some dress in showy clothes,

Wear sharp swords,

Eat and drink their fill,

And have wealth in excess.

This is robbing and bragging

And far indeed from Dao.

53 The Plain Way The great Dao is so plain and obvious that most people miss it entirely. It's simpler to seek exotic spiritual practices than to notice the aware space you already are. While courts are divided with complex arguments and fields lie untended, some dress in fancy spiritual clothing and accumulate impressive experiences. But this accumulation is theft from your own simplicity. True wealth lies in recognizing the faceless awareness that's reading these words right now—no special clothes or experiences required.

54

What is well planted won't be uprooted.

What is well embraced won't be lost.

Each generation will serve and honor it.

See this in life,

And your virtue is real.

See it in the family,

And your virtue is ample.

See it in the community,

And your virtue is lasting.

See it in the country,

And your virtue is abundant.

See it in the world,

And your virtue is everywhere.

See other lives through your own

And other families, other communities,

And other countries through your own

See other worlds through your own.

How to perceive the nature of the world?

Through this-here-now!

54 Well Planted What is well planted in awareness won't be uprooted by changing circumstances. Each generation can serve and honor this recognition of what they really are. See this in your own life—that you are this aware space—and your virtue becomes real rather than pretended. Extend this seeing to others, and you realize the same awareness looks out through every face. All families, communities, and countries are appearances in the one consciousness. How to understand the world? Through this immediate recognition of what you are right here, right now.

55

Holding virtue's wholeness,

One is like a newborn baby.

Poisonous insects do not sting.

Wild beasts do not pounce.

Birds of prey do not strike.

Despite weak bones and soft muscles,

Its grip is firm.

Not yet aware of male and female,

Its wholeness stands out.

Its vitality is complete.

It can scream all day and not get hoarse.

Harmony is at its peak.

Perceiving harmony is to see the constant.

Seeing the constant is to know clarity.

Enhancing life is to meet good fortune.

Living by the will may be called strength,

But when things grow strong,

They then grow old.

This isn't Dao.

What isn't Dao soon passes.

55 The Unborn Child Holding virtue's wholeness means living from the completeness you already are as awareness itself. Like a newborn who hasn't yet learned to identify with its body, you remain untouched by the poisons of separative thinking. Your grip on truth is firm because it's based on direct seeing, not concepts. Not yet divided into preferences, your wholeness naturally stands out. You can engage fully with life's dramas without getting hoarse because you know you're the space in which all drama appears, not one of the actors.

56

Those who know do not speak.

Those who speak do not know.

Block the passages.

Close the doors.

Blunt the sharpness.

Loosen the tangles.

Soften the glare.

Unite with the dust.

Call this original oneness.

It can't be used to accept or reject.

It can't be used to profit or harm.

It can't be used to honor or humiliate.

Thus the world holds it high.

56 Original Oneness Those who truly know the headless way rarely speak about it because it's too simple and immediate for words. Those who speak constantly about spiritual matters often miss the direct simplicity of what they are. Block the passages of seeking elsewhere, close the doors of complicated practices. This original oneness you are can't be used for personal advantage because there's no person separate from it to benefit. It can't be used to accept or reject because it naturally embraces everything that appears. Thus the world holds it high—it's the most precious thing, hiding in plain sight.

57

One uses principle to rule a country.

And surprise to wage a battle,

But no effort at all to gain the world.

How do I know this is so?

Through this-here-now!

With so many restrictions in the world,

The people still grow poor.

People have effective tools

Yet the country remains confused.

People are clever and cunning,

Yet strange events occur all the time.

The laws are broadcast more and more,

Yet robbers and thieves abound.

Thus the seers declare:

I do nothing,

And people reform themselves.

I remain calm,

And people correct themselves.

I don't interfere,

And people enrich themselves.

I renounce desire,

And people simplify themselves.

57 Effortless Rule When you rule from your true position as awareness itself, you use no effort because everything happens naturally. The more restrictions you place on what can appear in consciousness, the poorer your experience becomes. The more clever you try to be about managing your inner life, the more strange and confused it becomes. But from the position of doing nothing—simply being the space in which everything appears—people naturally reform themselves, situations correct themselves, and life enriches itself through its own spontaneous wisdom.

58

When the rule is subdued and muted,

The people are honest and sincere.

When the rule is able and exacting,

The people are hopeless and lacking.

Disaster depends on good fortune,

And good fortune hides in disaster.

Who knows where it ends?

If there is no fairness,

Order becomes impairment,

And benefit becomes calamity.

The people have long been confused.

Thus the seers say:

Define but don't divide.

Exact but don't damage.

Direct but don't strain.

Shine but don't dazzle.

58 Hidden Fortune When awareness rules gently—not trying to control what appears in it—experiences arise with honesty and sincerity. When you try to manage your inner life with rigid control, experiences become defensive and lacking. Fortune and disaster are complementary faces appearing in the same consciousness. The people become confused when they forget what they really are. Define experiences without dividing yourself from them. Direct attention without straining. Shine awareness without trying to dazzle others with your spirituality.

59

In ruling people and serving heaven,

There is nothing like frugality

Frugality calls for a timely commitment,

And with this comes abundant virtue.

With abundant virtue, all is possible.

When all is possible, one knows no limits.

Who knows no limits can hold the country.

Hold the country's mother to last forever.

Call this being deeply and firmly rooted

In a life-long vision of Dao.

59 The Root and Mother Frugality here means being content with the simplicity of pure awareness rather than always seeking more experiences. This contentment comes from recognizing that abundant virtue is your very nature as this spacious presence. When you realize your limitless capacity as awareness, you can hold any situation without being overwhelmed. The country's mother is this source awareness that gives birth to all experience. Being deeply rooted in this recognition provides a lifelong vision that doesn't depend on changing circumstances.

60

Rule a large country

As you would cook a small fish.

When the world is in tune with Dao,

Hostile intentions have no power

And cause no harm to others.

Seers likewise do no harm.

Thus virtue abides and no harm arises.

60 Small Fish and No Harm Rule your inner life as you would cook a delicate fish—with the lightest touch. When your actions come from alignment with your true nature as awareness, even hostile appearances lose their power to disturb you. They arise in your presence but cannot harm the space they appear in. Similarly, seers do no harm because they see no real separation between themselves and others. All appearances are held equally in the same aware embrace, so virtue naturally abides.

61

A great country flows downstream

To where all the world meets

The world's female.

The female using calm

Always overcomes the male.

One uses calm to keep low.

Therefore, a great country keeps low

To win over the small country,

And a small country keeps low

To win over the great country.

Thus, one wins by bowing,

While the other bows and wins.

Great countries only want to unite

And support the people.

Smaller countries only want to join

And serve the people.

Both will get what they desire

When the great country is properly humble.

61 Flowing Downstream Like a great river that collects all waters, awareness naturally draws all experiences to itself. The female principle—receptive openness—always overcomes the male principle of aggressive seeking through patient calm. Countries, like experiences, are won by yielding rather than forcing. Both great and small appearances want to be embraced by awareness. When you remain properly humble—identified with the space rather than with what appears in it—both the grand and the simple find their natural place.

62

Dao is the depth of all beings,

A treasure for the skilled,

A refuge for the unskilled.

Fine words can be used to barter.

Noble deeds can build renown.

But if people lack skill

Why reject their existence?

When a ruler is established

And the three ministers are installed,

Presenting large discs of jade

Drawn behind four horses

Is not equal to sitting still and offering Dao.

Why did the ancients values this Dao?

Was it not claimed that seekers will find

And faults will be forgiven?

Thus it is valued by all in the world.

62 Universal Treasure Dao is the depth of all appearances, equally treasuring the skilled and unskilled faces that arise in awareness. Fine words and noble deeds have their place, but even unskilled thoughts and actions deserve the refuge of conscious acceptance. When you offer the simple presence of awareness—just sitting still and being the space for whatever appears—this is more valuable than any elaborate spiritual practice or doctrine. Seekers find what they're looking for, and faults are forgiven, because everything is received equally in this vast embrace.

63

Do without doing.

Work without effort.

Savor without tasting.

Greatness is ordinary, and much is little.

Answer blame with virtue.

Plan the difficult while it is still easy.

Accomplish the great while it is still small.

In this world difficult affairs

Surely arise from easy ones.

In this world great affairs

Surely arise from small ones.

Seers are complete without acting great.

Thus they achieve their greatness.

Easy promises prompt little trust,

And too much ease bodes much trouble.

So seers expect difficulty

Yet have none in the end!

63 Acting Without Acting Work without effort by letting actions arise naturally from awareness rather than from a sense of being a separate doer. The small child's natural responsiveness is greater than the adult's complex strategies. When you answer difficulties with the virtue of simple presence, problems often resolve themselves. Plan while situations are still easy by remaining anchored in the ease of your true nature. Expect difficulties from the position of being nothing special, and you'll find you have none in the end because awareness itself is never threatened by what appears in it.

64

What is calm is easy to hold.

What hasn't yet begun is easy to plan.

What is brittle is easy to break.

What is tiny is easy to scatter.

Take action from what doesn't exist.

Create order from what isn't confused.

A tree that fills your embrace

Grows from a tiny sprout.

A nine story tower

Rises from a heap of earth.

A journey of a thousand miles

Begins beneath your feet.

Act and you spoil it.

Grasp and you lose it.

Seers do nothing and thus spoil nothing,

Grasp nothing and thus lose nothing.

People often spoil matters

Just before completion.

With care at the end

As well as the beginning,

Affairs are not spoiled.

Thus seers desire no desires

And don't value rare goods.

They learn without study

And return to what others miss.

Helping all to find their own natures, ziran

They do not meddle.

64 Before and After Take action before problems solidify by remaining in the space where thoughts first arise. What is calm in awareness is easy to hold; what hasn't yet manifested is easy to guide. The mighty tree of complex problems grows from the tiny sprout of a single resistant thought. Act from awareness itself and you spoil nothing; grasp nothing and lose nothing. People often spoil their spiritual progress just before completion by trying too hard. Care for your practice as tenderly at the end as at the beginning. Help all beings find their original nature by doing nothing to interfere with what they already are.

65

The ancients were skilled in following Dao

Not to make people bright,

But to keep them simple.

People are difficult to rule

When they are too clever.

Using cleverness to rule

Is a country's ruin.

Not using cleverness to rule

Is a country's boon.

To know these two is

Also to study the design.

To constantly study the design

Is called deep virtue.

Profound and remote indeed!

All beings turn around completely

And thus attain the grand accord.

65 Simple People The ancients who were skilled in Dao didn't try to make people clever but helped them return to their natural simplicity. People become difficult when they think too much about what they are instead of simply being it. Using complex teachings to guide others toward truth is like giving them tools to build barriers to their own simplicity. The design worth studying is this immediate recognition of yourself as aware presence. When all beings turn completely around to face their source, they discover the grand accord they never actually left.

66

Rivers and seas command the valleys

Because they are good at keeping below,

Thus they command a hundred valleys.

Wanting to be above others,

One keeps oneself below them.

Wanting to be ahead of others,

One keeps oneself behind them.

This is how seers stay above

But do not burden others,

Stay ahead but do not harm others.

All the world gladly supports them

And never tires of it.

Because they don't contend

No one is able to contend with them.

66 Below and Behind Rivers command valleys by flowing to the lowest places. Similarly, awareness embraces all experience by taking the humble position—being nothing special, making no claims for itself. To stay above the fray without burdening others, keep yourself below them in your own estimation. To lead without harming, stay behind your own thoughts and desires. From this position of being last and least, all the world gladly receives your natural authority because you're not competing with anyone for anything.

67

All the world calls my Dao great.

There is nothing like it.

It is great because it has no likeness.

If it had a likeness surely

It would have been diluted long ago.

I have three treasures.

The first is compassion.

The second is frugality.

The third is humility.

Compassion allows boldness.

Frugality allows generosity.

Humility allows enduring capacity.

To be bold without compassion,

To be generous without frugality,

To lead without humility,

These are deadly indeed!

With compassion the battle is won

And the defense is certain.

What heaven sustains

It protects with compassion.

67 Three Treasures Dao appears great because it resembles nothing that appears in it—it has no particular characteristics yet makes all characteristics possible. The three treasures are practical expressions of this recognition. Compassion flows naturally when you see that apparent others are appearing in your own awareness. Frugality comes from recognizing the abundance of being this aware space itself. Humility arises from seeing that you are not the special person you appear to be to others, but the ordinary awareness in which all persons appear.

68

Skilled warriors are not aggressive.

Skilled fighters are not angry.

Skilled victors engage no foe.

Skilled leaders stay below.

Call it the virtue of not contending.

Call it using the power of others.

Call it being one with nature's original end.

68 No Contending Skilled warriors are not aggressive because they understand there's no real enemy—only various appearances in the one awareness. Skilled fighters aren't angry because anger requires believing in separation. Those who achieve victory engage no foe because they see that what appeared to be opposition was actually another face of their own being. This is the virtue of not contending: recognizing that there's only one existence appearing as many.

69

There is an adage in time of war:

We dare not act the host,

But act the guest instead.

Rather than advance an inch,

We withdraw a foot instead.

Call this to advance without marching,

To capture without arms,

To depose without a fight,

And to seize without weapons.

There is no greater disaster

Than to underrate the foe.

This can cost us our treasure.

When opposing forces meet

Victory goes to the side that grieves.

69 The Grieving Victor In any conflict, it's better to act as a guest than as a host—remain humble and responsive rather than controlling. Advance by withdrawing to your true position as awareness itself rather than marching forward as a separate self. When opposing forces meet, victory goes to the side that grieves because they understand the cost of conflict: the apparent loss of unity. There's no greater disaster than underestimating what appears to be your opponent while forgetting that they too are appearing in your own consciousness.

70

My words are very easy to understand

And very easy to apply.

Yet no one can understand them,

And no one can apply them.

My words have an ancestor.

My deeds have a rule.

When people don't understand this,

They don't understand me.

Those who understand me are rare,

And to me they are precious.

Thus seers wear coarse clothing

While hiding jade within.

70 Hidden Jade These words are easy to understand because they point to what you immediately are—this aware presence reading them. They're easy to apply because they require no effort, just recognition. Yet people rarely understand because they seek something more complex than their own simple awareness. The ancestor of these words is this immediate recognition itself. Those who understand are rare and precious because they see the obvious that most overlook. Seers appear ordinary while hiding the jade of recognition within.

71

Knowing one doesn't know is best.

Not knowing this is a delusion.

To be sick of this delusion is to end it.

Seers are not sick

Because they are sick of the delusion.

Thus they are not delusional.

71 The Delusion of Knowing The greatest knowledge is knowing that you don't know the ultimate nature of what you are—you simply are it. Pretending to know creates the delusion of being someone who has great understanding. To be sick of this pretense is to end it. True seers aren't sick with the disease of supposed enlightenment because they're sick of claiming to be enlightened. They're not delusional about their status because they've dropped all considerations of rank and rating.

72

When people don't fear power,

Greater power is on the way.

Never confine their homes.

Never burden their lives.

Only when you do not burden them

Will they feel no burden.

Hence seers perceive the self

Without showing the self.

They esteem the self

Without exalting the self.

They dismiss that and prefer this.

72 Inner Authority When people don't fear the false power of spiritual pretense, real presence naturally emerges. Never confine awareness to narrow spiritual concepts. Never burden your natural being with heavy practices. Only when you don't burden your simple awareness with improvement projects will you feel no burden. Seers perceive the self, the core, without making a show of it. They value their true nature without exalting their spiritual achievements. They dismiss spiritual appearance and prefer the simple intimacy of being aware.

73

Courage to dare leads to death.

Courage not to dare leads to life.

Of these two, one benefits and one harms.

Heaven spurns one, and who knows why?

For this reason seers expect difficulties.

Heaven's Dao prevails without striving,

Responds without speaking,

Attracts without calling,

And plans at its ease.

Heaven's net is vast and wide.

Its mesh is loose,

Yet nothing slips through.

73 Heaven's Net Courage that dares to be someone special leads to the death of natural simplicity. Courage that doesn't dare to claim special achievement leads to the life of immediate presence. Heaven's way works without effort—just as your awareness effortlessly receives all experience. The vast net of consciousness is loose enough that nothing feels trapped, yet nothing escapes the embrace of what you are. Everything that appears is naturally caught in the web of your own being.

74

If people don't fear death,

Why use death to threaten them?

Suppose they were always afraid of death

And still caused trouble.

We can detain them and kill them,

But who would dare?

There is an executioner to do the killing.

Taking the executioner's place in killing

Is like replacing the carpenter in carving.

In taking the place of the master carpenter,

Few will fail to cut their hand.

74 The Natural Executioner When people don't fear the death of their false identity, why threaten them with more practices? There's a natural executioner at work—the simple recognition of what you are dissolves all pretense automatically. Taking on the role of an enlightened authority yourself is like trying to replace a master carpenter when you have no skill. You'll only cut yourself on the sharp tools of concepts and methods.

75

The people go hungry

When their leaders tax too much.

This is why they go hungry.

The people are hard to rule

When their leaders meddle.

This is why they are hard to rule.

The people take death lightly

When their leaders crave life's riches.

This is why they take death lightly.

Only by not chasing after life

Are you good at valuing life.

75 Simple Values People hunger for truth when their teachers tax them with complex practices. They become hard to guide when leaders meddle with their natural wisdom. They take their lives lightly when teachers chase after impressive experiences and states. Only by not pursuing special attainments are you good at valuing the simple awareness you already are. The richness of ordinary consciousness is easily overlooked when you're chasing experiential riches.

76

People are born soft and weak.

They die stiff and firm.

Plants are soft and supple while alive,

But dry and brittle when they die.

The stiff and firm are the friends of death,

The supple and soft are the friends of life.

This is why strong armies do not triumph,

And strong trees are cut down.

The strong and great belong below.

The soft and weak belong above.

76 Soft and Strong Seekers often start soft and receptive but become stiff with accumulated knowledge and achievements. Living teachings become brittle doctrine when they die. The soft awareness you are outlasts all the rigid structures of conceptual understanding. Strong positions and fixed viewpoints eventually get cut down. True strength belongs to the soft recognition of what you simply are, while all achievements and attainments naturally belong below this recognition.

77

Heaven's Dao is like the bending of a bow.

What is high is lowered.

What is low is raised.

Where there is excess it is diminished.

Where there is not enough it is increased.

Heaven's Dao takes where there is excess

And gives where there is not enough.

Humanity's way is not like this.

It takes where there is not enough

And gives where there is plenty.

Who can offer their excess to the world?

Only those who have Dao.

This is why seers act but don't demand

And accomplish but don't dwell on it.

They have no desire to show their worth.

77 Heaven's Bow The natural way works like bending a bow—what's high gets lowered, what's low gets raised. Where there's too much seeking, it gets diminished; where there's not enough simple presence, it gets increased. But humanity's way usually works backward—taking presence from those who have little and giving experiences to those who already have plenty. Who can offer their excess spiritual achievements to the world? Only those who know they are not the achiever. This is why awareness acts but demands nothing, accomplishes but doesn't dwell on accomplishments.

78

Nothing is as soft and yielding as water.

Yet in attacking the rigid and strong,

It is unsurpassed.

This is by no means easy.

The weak overcomes the strong.

The soft overcomes the rigid.

Everyone knows this,

Yet no one applies it.

Thus the seers say:

Accept a country's humiliation.

Become a master of the land and harvest.

Accept a country's misfortune.

Become a ruler of the world.

True words seem just the reverse.

78 Soft Water Nothing is softer than the awareness you are, yet nothing is more effective at dissolving rigid thoughts and fixed positions. The weak awareness overcomes strong opinions; soft presence dissolves hard resistance. Everyone knows this principle, yet few apply it to their own lives. Accept your country's humiliation—acknowledge that your achievements are nothing special. Accept your inner misfortunes—welcome whatever arises in awareness. True words often seem backward to the achieving mind.

79

When great hostilities are reconciled,

Surely some hostility lingers.

How can this be considered good?

This is why seers take the debtor's part

And make no demands on others.

Those with virtue honor the contract.

Those without virtue assert their claim.

Nature's Dao has no favorites

But always favors people with skills.

79 Lingering Hostility Even when great inner conflicts seem resolved, some subtle resistance often remains. How can this be considered complete realization? This is why true seers take the position of the debtor—they owe everything to the awareness they are, claiming nothing for themselves. Those with real virtue honor the simple contract of being aware; those without virtue assert their claims and achievements. The natural way has no favorites but always supports those skilled in recognizing what they are.

80

Small countries with few people!

Though they have hundreds of implements,

None of them are used.

Though they know death is coming,

They don't wander off.

Though they have boats and carriages,

They have no cause to use them.

Though they have arms and armor,

They have to cause to show them.

Let the people return to knotted cords

For keeping count.

Let them relish their food,

Admire their clothes,

Enjoy their dwellings,

And delight in their lives.

Though adjacent countries are so near

Their dogs and roosters can be heard,

People there grow old and die

Without ever visiting one another.

80 Simple Country Let there be small communities of people content with the simple implements of awareness rather than complex spiritual technologies. Though they know death is always possible, they don't wander far from their true home in immediate presence. Let them return to the knotted cords of direct experience for keeping track of what matters. Though neighboring spiritual communities can be heard discussing their practices, let people grow old and die content with their own simple recognition, without needing to visit exotic teachings.

81

True words are seldom eloquent.

Eloquent words are seldom true.

Worthy people rarely argue.

Those who argue are rarely worthy.

Perceptive people are seldom learned.

Learned people are seldom perceptive.

Seers don't hoard.

The more you help others,

The more you gain.

The more you support others,

The more you have.

The Dao of nature helps without harming.

The Dao of seers acts without contending.