The Way that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not real.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.
To experience without abstraction is to sense the world;
To experience with abstraction is to know the world.
These two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs but their effect is the same.
Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way,
Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
1 - The Way
Labels:
ching,
lao tzu,
li tao,
tao daoism,
tao li,
tao te,
tao te ching,
tao te ching book,
taoism,
the tao te ching
2 - Abstraction
When beauty is abstracted
Then ugliness has been implied;
When good is abstracted
Then evil has been implied.
So alive and dead are abstracted from nature,
Difficult and easy abstracted from progress,
Long and short abstracted from contrast,
High and low abstracted from depth,
Song and speech abstracted from melody,
After and before abstracted from sequence.
The Sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.
Then ugliness has been implied;
When good is abstracted
Then evil has been implied.
So alive and dead are abstracted from nature,
Difficult and easy abstracted from progress,
Long and short abstracted from contrast,
High and low abstracted from depth,
Song and speech abstracted from melody,
After and before abstracted from sequence.
The Sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.
Labels:
ching,
lao tzu,
li tao,
tao daoism,
tao li,
tao te,
tao te ching,
tao te ching book,
taoism,
the tao te ching
3 - Without Action
Not praising the worthy prevents contention,
Not esteeming the valuable prevents theft,
Not displaying the beautiful prevents desire.
In this manner the sage governs people:
Emptying their minds,
Filling their bellies,
Weakening their ambitions,
And strengthening their bones.
If people lack knowledge and desire
Then they can not act;
If no action is taken
Harmony remains.
Not esteeming the valuable prevents theft,
Not displaying the beautiful prevents desire.
In this manner the sage governs people:
Emptying their minds,
Filling their bellies,
Weakening their ambitions,
And strengthening their bones.
If people lack knowledge and desire
Then they can not act;
If no action is taken
Harmony remains.
Labels:
ching,
lao tzu,
li tao,
tao daoism,
tao li,
tao te,
tao te ching,
tao te ching book,
taoism,
the tao te ching
4 - Limitless
The Way is a limitless vessel;
Used by the self, it is not filled by the world;
It cannot be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;
Its depths are hidden, ubiquitous and eternal;
I don't know where it comes from;
It comes before nature.
Used by the self, it is not filled by the world;
It cannot be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;
Its depths are hidden, ubiquitous and eternal;
I don't know where it comes from;
It comes before nature.
Labels:
ching,
lao tzu,
li tao,
tao daoism,
tao li,
tao te,
tao te ching,
tao te ching book,
taoism,
the tao te ching
5 - Nature
Nature is not kind;
It treats all things impartially.
The Sage is not kind,
And treats all people impartially.
Nature is like a bellows,
Empty, yet never ceasing its supply.
The more it moves, the more it yields;
So the Sage draws upon experience
And cannot be exhausted.
It treats all things impartially.
The Sage is not kind,
And treats all people impartially.
Nature is like a bellows,
Empty, yet never ceasing its supply.
The more it moves, the more it yields;
So the Sage draws upon experience
And cannot be exhausted.
Labels:
ching,
lao tzu,
li tao,
tao daoism,
tao li,
tao te,
tao te ching,
tao te ching book,
taoism,
the tao te ching
6 - Experience
Experience is a riverbed,
Its source hidden, forever flowing:
Its entrance, the root of the world,
The Way moves within it:
Draw upon it; it will not run dry
Its source hidden, forever flowing:
Its entrance, the root of the world,
The Way moves within it:
Draw upon it; it will not run dry
Labels:
ching,
lao tzu,
li tao,
tao daoism,
tao li,
tao te,
tao te ching,
tao te ching book,
taoism,
the tao te ching
7 - Complete
Nature is complete because it does not serve itself.
The Sage places himself after and finds himself before,
Ignores his desire and finds himself content.
He is complete because he does not serve himself.
The Sage places himself after and finds himself before,
Ignores his desire and finds himself content.
He is complete because he does not serve himself.
Labels:
ching,
lao tzu,
li tao,
tao daoism,
tao li,
tao te,
tao te ching,
tao te ching book,
taoism,
the tao te ching
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