Category: Tao Te

great accomplishment carries imperfection
yet usefulness is accomplished
great fullness does not replace emptiness
yet strength has its benefit

great intention can twist
great intelligence can be lost
great eloquence can misspeak

movement cares for cold
stillness responds to heat
quiet tranquility stillness restore discord

rank these — fame or self
which is most precious — self or wealth
more pain is generated by — gain or loss

the greater the attachment to things the greater the suffering
the more is saved the greater the loss
contentment does not disappoint
to know when to stop protects against trouble

the least of ten thousand things
exceeds the most powerful
that of little substance can enter anywhere
the same is true of the act of stillness

teach without words and work without doing
are seldom chosen choices

Tao’s emptiness gave one
one became two
two saw three
three might as well be ten thousand

within ten thousand yin is carried yang embraced
harmony follows intersections

we are anxious about being orphaned widowed worthless
yet the wise claim such status
understanding gain through loss
and what is lost in gain

a universal teaching
violent being leads to violent death
learn this

a wise student hears of Tao and engages deeply
an average student hears and periodically thinks of it
a foolish student hears and laughs aloud
were there no laughter Tao would not be Tao

now we can see
a bright path as dim
onward appearing retreat
a way of ease feeling difficult
virtue is but vanity
purity as hypocrisy
wealth never enough
strength temporary then frail
integrity impossible

later we will see
an ideal square is cornerless
better talents bloom late
highest notes are hard to hear
our best form has no shape
Tao has no name and is hidden
Tao nourishes and fulfills

returning is characteristic of Tao
yielding is a way of the way
precipitations develop and are named
being arises where emptiness prepared a way

 

= = = = = = =

Forty acknowledgements have been visited: forty-one to go.

Reflect on what Tao Te word(s) and phrase(s) seem to be cropping up during your day or slipping out of your mouth. You might throw them a party to thank them for assisting your return from a fear or stuckness in a form/condition.

If a word or phrase doesn’t come to mind, there is no Tao schedule to meet. Perhaps something will come over the next month-and-a-third.
Perhaps your own paraphrase will shine forth.
Perhaps a different model is better for you.

The following came from my friend Thomas as a response to a comment I made about testing on the post – “Transition to Te“. Most folks won’t see because it is tucked below the post on the blog site. His comment is something I wish I had come up with and so I am re-posting it here. This reminds me, How might you write a Tao Te that includes one of the thoughts/events from your day? Sounds like a good practice to practice before bedding down.

The tao that can be tested is not the eternal Tao.
The knowable that can be known is not the eternal Knowing.
The testless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The tested is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever untested, one is ever-present awareness.
Ever tested, one is pass/fail.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name:
this appears as unknowing.
Unknowing within unknowing.
The gate to all mystery.

(with apologies to Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English)

from before the ancient of days
sky expansive and clear – whole
earth circular and firm – whole
spirit filling and full – whole
valley between and once mountain – whole
ten thousand things arriving and returning – whole
constructs of power and country – whole
virtue of wholeness present and passing

clarity stabilizes
firmness coheres
strength persists
fullness nourishes
growth recapitulates
leadership builds

humility roots nobility
low shoulders are scaffolds
orphans widows worthless teach wisdom
evidence of strength

success carries no leverage
a jade wind chime
an exploding volcano

wise ones are at one with wisdom
unforced wisdom
the foolish attempt to look wise
shallow morality

humane humans rest easy
in what is done
foolish people fret their work
always more to be done

kindness enacted completes
justice attempted misses important considerations
those imposing order find they have no followers

a loss of Tao leaves wisdom
a loss of wisdom leaves kindness
a loss of kindness leaves justice
a loss of justice leaves ritual

ritual is faith’s shell
sequential loyalty begins confusion
projecting the present as future a shiny trap
folly shows through

the wise are comfortable in the depths
moving through ten thousand surfaces
finding pleasure in a flower sustenance in the fruit
living season by season

With Chapter 38, we practice implementing and growing the seeds sown in their antecedent. As with any change, we will face repeated choices that may grow easier over time, but not without setbacks. Chapter 81 will still challenge our understanding of Life, the Universe, and Everything, but the most difficult chapters are yet unwritten—what will we do with the next surprise that catches us off-guard while thinking we are doing so well?

In a sense, tests need to be reimagined. Their value is not a resulting grade, according to the giver of the test, but in our engagement with the test as an opportunity to further explore the edge between what we have come to know and what we have yet to sufficiently appreciate. A test is a lens clarifying a path toward a place where dragons dwell. Tests failed are as significant in our journey as those we easily Aced.

Even as Te cannot describe Tao, Te is never absent its background Tao. We find ourself in Tao and Tao in ourself. The mystery of this synchronicity keeps us returning to Tao and to ourself. Yet we do not return unchanged. Tao and Te find themselves gyring together. In phase and out of phase, they ascend and descend, go forth and return, together.

In an artificial transition from attending to Tao to attending to Te, we continue to be surprised by how they interact. We will learn more about Tao as we look more closely at Te. Be ready to make a Top 10 Te List and further adjust the Tao List.