Author: harinam

Tao Te Ching – Verse 57

If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.
The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 57 – If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao.”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 56

Those who know don’t talk.
Those who talk don’t know.
Close your mouth,
block off your senses,
blunt your sharpness,
untie your knots,
soften your glare,
settle your dust.
This is the primal identity.
Be like the Tao.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 56 – Those who know don’t talk. Those who talk don’t know.”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 55

He who is in harmony with the Tao
is like a newborn child.
Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak,
but its grip is powerful.
It doesn’t know about the union
of male and female, yet its member can stand erect, so intense is its vital power.
It can scream its head off all day,
yet it never becomes hoarse,
so complete is its harmony. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 55 – He who is in harmony with the Tao is like a newborn child”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 52

In the beginning was the Tao.
All things issue from it;
all things return to it.

To find the origin,
trace back the manifestations.
When you recognize the children
and find the mother,
you will be free of sorrow.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 52 – In the beginning was the Tao. All things issue from it; all things return to it.”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 51

Every being in the universe
is an expression of the Tao.
It springs into existence,
unconscious, perfect, free,
takes on a physical body,
lets circumstances complete it.
That is why every being
spontaneously honors the Tao.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 51 – Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 50

The Master gives himself up
to whatever the moment brings.
He knows that he is going to die,
and he has nothing left to hold on to:
no illusions in his mind,
no resistances in his body.
He doesn’t think about his actions;
they flow from the core of his being.
He holds nothing back from life;
therefore he is ready for death,
as a man is ready for sleep
after a good day’s work. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 50 – The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 49

The Master has no mind of her own.
She works with the mind of the people.
She is good to people who are good.
She is also good to people who aren’t good.
This is true goodness.
She trusts people who are trustworthy.
She also trusts people who aren’t trustworthy.
This is true trust.
The Master’s mind is like space.
People don’t understand her.
They look to her and wait.
She treats them like her own children. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 49 – The Master has no mind of her own. She works with the mind of the people.”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 47

Without opening your door,
you can open your heart to the world.
Without looking out your window,
you can see the essence of the Tao.
The more you know,
the less you understand.
The Master arrives without leaving,
sees the light without looking,
achieves without doing a thing. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 47 – Without opening your door, you can open your heart to the world”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 46

When the world has the Tao
Fast horses are retired to till the soil
When the world lacks the Tao
Warhorses give birth on the battlefield

There is no crime greater than greed
No disaster greater than discontentment
No fault greater than avarice
Thus the satisfaction of contentment
is the lasting satisfaction

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao,
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.
There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy.
Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)

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Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 46 – When the world has the Tao Fast horses are retired to till the soil. When the world lacks the Tao Warhorses give birth on the battlefield”