TAO TE CHING by Lao Tzu {approx 500 BC} The Mystic Wisdom of Ancient China Translated by Raymond B. Blakney {1955} Part 5 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 5 of 9 - Chapters 37 to 45

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."

{37} The Way is always still, at rest ...

The Way is always still, at rest,
And yet does everything that's done.
If then the king and nobles could
Retain its potency for good,
The creatures all would be transformed.

But if, the change once made in them,
They still inclined to do their work,
I should restrain them then
By means of that unique
Original simplicity
Found in the Virgin Block,
Which brings disinterest,
With stillness in its train,
And so, an ordered world.

{38} A Man of Highest Virtue ...

A man of highest virtue
Will not display it as his own;
His virtue then is real.
Low virtue makes one miss no chance
To show his virtue off;
His virtue then is nought.
High virtue is at rest;
It knows no need to act.
Low virtue is a busyness
Pretending to accomplishment.

Compassion at its best
Consists in honest deeds;
Morality at best
Is something done, aforethought;
High etiquette, when acted out
Without response from others,
Constrains a man to bare his arms
And make them do their duty!

Truly, once the Way is lost,
There comes then virtue;
Virtue lost, comes then compassion;
After that morality;
And when that's lost, there's etiquette,
The husk of all good faith,
The rising point of anarchy.

Foreknowledge is, they say,
The Doctrine come to flower;
But better yet, it is
The starting point of silliness
. So once full-grown, a man will take
The meat and not the husk,
The fruit and not the flower.
Rejecting one, he takes the other.

{39} The Ancient receipt of the One ...

These things in ancient times received the One:

The sky obtained it and was clarified;
The earth received it and was settled firm;
The spirits got it and were energized;
The valleys had it, filled to overflow;
All things, as they partook it came alive;
The nobles and the king imbibed the One
In order that the realm might upright be;
Such things were then accomplished by the One.

Without its clarity the sky might break;
Except it were set firm, the earth might shake;
Without their energy the gods would pass;
Unless kept full, the valleys might go dry;
Except for life, all things would pass away;
Unless the One did lift and hold them high,
The nobles and the king might trip and fall.

The humble folk support the mighty ones;
They are base on which the highest rest.
The nobles and the king speak of themselves
As "orphans," "desolate" and "needy ones."
Does this not indicate that they depend
Upon the lowly people for support?

Truly a cart is more than the sum of its parts.

Better to rumble like rocks
Than to tinkle like jade.

{40} The Movement of the Way is a Return ...

The movement of the Way is a return;
In weakness lies its major usefulness.
From What-is all the world of things was born
But What-is sprang in turn from What-is-not.

{41} On Hearing of the Way ...

On hearing of the Way, the best of men
Will earnestly explore its length.
The mediocre person learns of it
And takes it up and sets it down.
But vulger people, when they hear the news,
Will laugh out loud, and if they did not laugh,
It would not be the Way.

And so there is a proverb:

"When going looks like coming back,
The clearest road is mighty dark."

Today, the Way that's plain looks rough,
And lofty virtue like achasm;
The purest innocence like shame,
The broadest power not enough,
Established goodness knavery,
Substantial worth like shifting tides.

Great space has no corners;
Great powers come late;
Great music is soft sound;
The great Form no shape.

The Way is obscure and unnamed;
It is a skilled investor, nonetheless,
The master of accomplishment.

{42} On the Sun and the Shade ...

The Way begot one,
And the one, two;
Then the two begot three
And three, all else.

All things bear the shade on their backs
And the sun in their arms;
By the blending of breath
From the sun and the shade,
Equilibrium comes to the world.

Orphaned, or needy, or desolate, these
Are conditions much feared and disliked;
Yet in public address, the king
And the nobles account themselves thus.
So a loss sometimes benefits one
Or a benefit proves to be loss.

What others have taught
I also shall teach:
If a violent man does not come
To a violent death,
I shall choose him to teach me.

{43} Instruction without Words ...

The softest of stuff in the world
Penetrates quickly the hardest;
Insubstantial, it enters
Where no room is.

By this I know the benefit
Of something done by quiet being;
In all the world but few can know
Accomplishment apart from work,
Instruction when no words are used.

{44} Which is Dearer, fame or self ..?

Which is dearer, fame or self?
Which is worth more, man or pelf?
Which would hurt more, gain or loss?

The mean man pays the highest price;
The hoarder takes the greatest loss;
A man content is never shamed,
And self-restrained, is not in danger:
He will live forever.

{45} The Wise Man, pure and still ...

Most perfect, yet it seems
Imperfect, incomplete:
Its use is not impaired.
Filled up, and yet it seems
Poured out, an empty void:
It never will run dry.

The straightest, yet it seems
To deviate, to bend;
The highest skill and yet
It looks like clumsiness.
The utmost eloquence,
It sounds like stammering.

As movement overcomes
The cold, and stillness, heat,
The Wise Man, pure and still,
Will rectify the world.

[Translational & Editorial Notes] [Part 1 of 9] [Part 2 of 9]>/a> [Part 3 of 9] [Part 4 of 9] [Part 5 of 9] [Part 6 of 9] [Part 7 of 9] [Part 8 of 9] [Part 9 of 9]

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TAO TE CHING by Lao Tzu {approx 500 BC} The Mystic Wisdom of Ancient China Translated by Raymond B. Blakney {1955} Part 5 of 9
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Summer of 1995