TAO TE CHING by Lao Tzu {approx 500 BC} The Mystic Wisdom of Ancient China Translated by Raymond B. Blakney {1955} Part 2 of 9
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Summer of 1995

The Mystic Wisdom of Ancient China

"Tao Te Ching" ... the Way of Life

Part 2 of 9 - Chapters 10 to 18

TAO: A road, a path, the way by which people travel, the way of nature and finally the Way of ultimate reality.

TE: Virtue, character, influence, moral force. The "outward effect of a man and the inward effect of the self."

{10} The Mystic Virtue ...

Can you govern your animal soul, hold to the One and never depart from it?
Can you throttle your breath, down to the softness of breath in a child?
Can you purify your mystic vision and wash it until it is spotless?
Can you love all your people, rule over the land without being known?
Can you be like a female, and passively open and shut heaven's gates?
Can you keep clear in your mind the four quarters of earth and not interfere?

Quicken them, feed them;
Quicken but do not possess them.
Act and be independent;
Be the chief but never the lord:
This describes the mystic virtue.

{11} The Nature of Usefulness ...

Thirty spokes will converge
In the hub of a wheel;
But the use of the cart
Will depend on the part
Of the hub that is void.

With a wall all around
A clay bowl is molded;
But the use of the bowl
Will depend on the part
Of the bowl that is void.

Cut out windows and doors
In the house as you build;
But the use of the house
Will depend on the space
In the walls that is void.

So advantage is had
From whatever is there;
But usefulness rises
From whatever is not.

{12} Choice and Discrimination ...

The five colors darken the eye;
The five sounds will deaden the ear;
The five flavors weary the taste;
Chasing the beasts of the field
Will drive a man mad.
The goods that are hard to procure
Are hobbles that slow walking feet.

So the Wise Man will do
What his belly dictates
And never the sight of his eyes.
Thus he will choose this but not that.

{13} The Nature of Favour and Disgrace ...

"Favor, like disgrace
Brings trouble with it;
High rank, like self,
Involves acute distress."

What does that mean, to say
That "favor, like disgrace
Brings trouble with it"?
When favor is bestowed
On one of low degree,

Trouble will come with it.
The loss of favor too
Means trouble for that man.
This, then, is what is meant
By "favor, like disgrace
Brings trouble with it."

What does it mean, to say
That "rank, like self,
Involves acute distress"?
I suffer most because
Of me and selfishness.
If I were selfless, then
What suffering would I bear?

In governing the world,
Let rule entrusted be
To him who treats his rank
As if it were his soul;
World sovereignty can be
Committed to that man
Who loves all people
As he loves himself.

{14} They Call it Elusive ...

They call it elusive, and say
That one looks
But it never appears.
They say that indeed it is rare,
Since one listens,
But never a sound.
Subtle, they call it, and say
That one grasps it
But never gets hold.
These three complaints amount
To only one, which is
Beyond all resolution.

At rising, it does not illumine;
At setting, no darkness ensues;
It stretches far back
To that nameless estate
Which existed before the creation.

Describe it as form yet unformed;
As shape that is still without shape;
Or say it is vagueness confused:
One meets it and it has no front;
One follows and there is no rear.

If you hold ever fast
To that most ancient Way,
You may govern today.
Call truly that knowledge
Of primal beginnings
The clue to the Way.

{15} The Ancient masters of the Way of Nature ...

The excellent masters of old,
Subtle, mysterious, mystic, acute,
Were much too profound for their times.
Since they were not then understood,
It is better to tell how they looked.

Like men crossing streams in the winter, How cautious!
As if all around there were danger, How watchful!
As if they were guests on every occasion, How dignified!
Like ice just beginning to melt, Self-effacing!
Like a wood-block untouched by a tool, How sincere!
Like a valley awaiting a guest, How receptive!
Like a torrent that rushes along, And so turbid!

Who, running dirty, comes clean like still waters?
Who, being quiet, moves others to fullness of life?
It is he who, embracing the Way, is not greedy;
Who endures wear and tear without needing renewal.

{16}The Way and Immortality ...

Touch ultimate emptiness,
Hold steady and still.

All things work together:
I have watched them reverting,
And have seen how they flourish
And return again, each to his roots.

This, I say, is the stillness:
A retreat to one's roots;
Or better yet, return
To the will of God,
Which is, I say, to constancy.
The knowledge of constancy
I call enlightenment and say
That not to know it
Is blindness that works evil.

But when you know
What eternally is so,
You have stature
And stature means righteousness
And righteousness is kingly
And kingliness divine
And divinity is the Way
Which is final.

Then, though you die,
You shall not perish.

{17} The Ruler of the People ...

As for him who is highest,
The people just know he is there.
His deputy's cherished and praised;
Of the third, they are frightened;
The fourth, they depise and revile.
If you trust people less than enough,
Some of them never trust you.

He is aloof, as if his talk
Were priced beyond the purchasing;
But once his project is contrived,
The folk will want to say of it:
"Of course! We did it by ourselves!"

{18} The Decline of the Way ...

The mighty Way declined among the folk
And then came kindness and morality.
When wisdom and intelligence appeared,
They brought with them a great hypocrisy.
The six relations were no more at peace,
So codes were made to regulate our homes.
The fatherland grew dark, confused by strife:
Official loyalty became the style.