Tao te ching_ annotated & explained - Derek Lin [18]
Achieves without striving
48
Pursue knowledge, daily gain1
Pursue Tao, daily loss2
Loss and more loss
Until one reaches unattached action3
With unattached action, there is nothing one cannot do4
Take the world by constantly applying noninterference
The one who interferes is not qualified to take the world5
49
The sages have no constant mind1
They take the mind of the people as their mind2
Those who are good, I am good to them
Those who are not good, I am also good to them
Thus the virtue of goodness
Those who believe, I believe them
Those who do not believe, I also believe them
Thus the virtue of belief3
The sages live in the world
They cautiously merge their mind for the world
The people all pay attention with their ears and eyes
The sages care for them as children4
50
Coming into life, entering death
The followers of life, three in ten1
The followers of death, three in ten2
Those whose lives are moved toward death
Also three in ten
Why? Because they live lives of excess3
I’ve heard of those who are good at cultivating life4
Traveling on the road, they do not encounter rhinos or tigers
Entering into an army, they are not harmed by weapons
Rhinos have nowhere to thrust their horns
Tigers have nowhere to clasp their claws
Soldiers have nowhere to lodge their blades5
Why? Because they have no place for death6
51
Tao produces them
Virtue raises them1
Things shape them
Forces perfect them2
Therefore all things respect the Tao and value virtue
The respect for Tao, the value of virtue
Not due to command but to constant nature3
Thus Tao produces them
Virtue raises them
Grows them, educates them
Perfects them, matures them
Nurtures them, protects them4
Produces but does not possess
Acts but does not flaunt
Nurtures but does not dominate5
This is called Mystic Virtue6
52
The world has a beginning
We regard it as the mother of the world1
Having its mother
We can know her children2
Knowing her children
Still holding on to the mother
Live without danger all through life
Close the mouth
Shut the doors
Live without toil all through life
Open the mouth
Meddle in the affairs
Live without salvation all through life3
Seeing details is called clarity4
Holding on to the soft is called strength5
Utilize the light
Return to the clarity
Leaving no disasters for the self
This is called practicing constancy6
53
If I have a little knowledge
Walking on the great Tao
I fear only to deviate from it1
The great Tao is broad and plain2
But people like the side paths3
The courts are corrupt
The fields are barren
The warehouses are empty4
Officials wear fineries
Carry sharp swords
Fill up on drinks and food
Acquire excessive wealth5
This is called robbery
It is not the Tao!
54
That which is well established cannot be uprooted
That which is strongly held cannot be taken
The descendants will commemorate it forever1
Cultivate it in yourself; its virtue shall be true
Cultivate it in the family; its virtue shall be abundant
Cultivate it in the community; its virtue shall be lasting
Cultivate it in the country; its virtue shall be prosperous
Cultivate it in the world; its virtue shall be widespread2
Therefore observe others with yourself
Observe other families with your family
Observe other communities with your community
Observe other countries with your country
Observe the world with the world3
With what do I know the world?
With this
55
Those who hold an abundance of virtue
Are similar to newborn infants1
Poisonous insects do not sting them
Wild beasts do not claw them
Birds of prey do not attack them2
Their bones are weak, tendons are soft
But their grasp is firm3
They do not know of sexual union but can manifest arousal
Due to the optimum of essence4
They can cry the whole day and yet not be hoarse
Due to the optimum of harmony5
Knowing harmony is said to be constancy
Knowing constancy is said to be clarity6
Excessive vitality is said to be inauspicious
Mind overusing