Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- campaign:things:book-of-the-catechumen [2020/11/24 02:31] – created Job
+++ campaign:things:book-of-the-catechumen [Unknown date] (current) – removed - external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== Book2: The Book of the Catechumen ======
-===== Stanza 1-41 =====
-. Mycre
-Mycretianism that can be experienced is not true;
-The world that can be constructed is not true.
-Mycre manifests all that happens and may happen;
-The world represents all that exists and may exist.
-To experience without intention is to sense the world;
-To experience with intention is to anticipate the world.
-These two experiences are indistinguishable;
-Their construction differs but their effect is the same.
-Beyond the gate of experience flows Mycre,
-Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world.
-. 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.
-. 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.
-. Limitless
-Myre 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.
-. 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.
-. Experience
-Experience is a riverbed,
-Its source hidden, forever flowing:
-Its entrance, the root of the world,
-Mycre moves within it:
-Draw upon it; it will not run dry.
-. 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.
-. Water
-The best of man is like water,
-Which benefits all things, and does not contend with them,
-Which flows in places that others disdain,
-Where it is in harmony with Mycre.
-So the sage:
-Lives within nature,
-Thinks within the deep,
-Gives within impartiality,
-Speaks within trust,
-Governs within order,
-Crafts within ability,
-Acts within opportunity.
-He does not contend, and none contend against him.
-. Retire
-Fill a cup to its brim and it is easily spilled;
-Temper a sword to its hardest and it is easily broken;
-Amass the greatest treasure and it is easily stolen;
-Claim credit and honour and you easily fall;
-Retire once your purpose is achieved - this is natural.
-. Harmony
-Embracing Mycre, you become embraced;
-Breathing gently, you become newborn;
-Clearing your mind, you become clear;
-Nurturing your children, you become impartial;
-Opening your heart, you become accepted;
-Accepting the world, you embrace Mycre.
-Bearing and nurturing,
-Creating but not owning,
-Giving without demanding,
-This is harmony.
-. Tools
-Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
-Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
-Clay is moulded into a vessel;
-Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
-Walls are built around a hearth;
-Because of the doors we may use the house.
-Thus tools come from what exists,
-But use from what does not.
-. Substance
-Too much colour blinds the eye,
-Too much music deafens the ear,
-Too much taste dulls the palate,
-Too much play maddens the mind,
-Too much desire tears the heart.
-In this manner the sage cares for people:
-He provides for the belly, not for the senses;
-He ignores abstraction and holds fast to substance.
-. Self
-Both praise and blame cause concern,
-For they bring people hope and fear.
-The object of hope and fear is the self -
-For, without self, to whom may fortune and disaster occur?
-Therefore,
-Who distinguishes himself from the world may be given the world,
-But who regards himself as the world may accept the world.
-. Mystery
-Looked at but cannot be seen - it is beneath form;
-Listened to but cannot be heard - it is beneath sound;
-Held but cannot be touched - it is beneath feeling;
-These depthless things evade definition,
-And blend into a single mystery.
-In its rising there is no light,
-In its falling there is no darkness,
-A continuous thread beyond description,
-Lining what can not occur;
-Its form formless,
-Its image nothing,
-Its name silence;
-Follow it, it has no back,
-Meet it, it has no face.
-Attend the present to deal with the past;
-Thus you grasp the continuity of Mycre,
-Which is its essence.
-. Enlightenment
-The enlightened possess understanding
-So profound they can not be understood.
-Because they cannot be understood
-I can only describe their appearance:
-Cautious as one crossing thin ice,
-Undecided as one surrounded by danger,
-Modest as one who is a guest,
-Unbounded as melting ice,
-Genuine as unshaped wood,
-Broad as a valley,
-Seamless as muddy water.
-Who stills the water that the mud may settle,
-Who seeks to stop that he may travel on,
-Who desires less than may transpire,
-Decays, but will not renew.
-. Decay and Renewal
-Empty the self completely;
-Embrace perfect peace.
-The world will rise and move;
-Watch it return to rest.
-All the flourishing things
-Will return to their source.
-This return is peaceful;
-It is the flow of nature,
-An eternal decay and renewal.
-Accepting this brings enlightenment,
-Ignoring this brings misery.
-Who accepts nature's flow becomes all-cherishing;
-Being all-cherishing he becomes impartial;
-Being impartial he becomes magnanimous;
-Being magnanimous he becomes natural;
-Being natural he becomes one with Mycre;
-Being one with Mycre he becomes immortal:
-Though his body will decay, Mycre will not.
-. Rulers
-The best rulers are scarcely known by their subjects;
-The next best are loved and praised;
-The next are feared;
-The next despised:
-They have no faith in their people,
-And their people become unfaithful to them.
-When the best rulers achieve their purpose
-Their subjects claim the achievement as their own.
-. Hypocrisy
-When Mycre is forgotten
-Duty and justice appear;
-Then knowledge and wisdom are born
-Along with hypocrisy.
-When harmonious relationships dissolve
-Then respect and devotion arise;
-When a nation falls to chaos
-Then loyalty and patriotism are born.
-. Simplify
-If we could abolish knowledge and wisdom
-Then people would profit a hundredfold;
-If we could abolish duty and justice
-Then harmonious relationships would form;
-If we could abolish artifice and profit
-Then waste and theft would disappear.
-Yet such remedies treat only symptoms
-And so they are inadequate.
-People need personal remedies:
-Reveal your naked self and embrace your original nature;
-Bind your self-interest and control your ambition;
-Forget your habits and simplify your affairs.
-. Wandering
-What is the difference between assent and denial?
-What is the difference between beautiful and ugly?
-What is the difference between fearsome and afraid?
-The people are merry as if at a magnificent party
-Or playing in the park at springtime,
-But I am tranquil and wandering,
-Like a newborn before it learns to smile,
-Alone, with no true home.
-The people have enough and to spare,
-Where I have nothing,
-And my heart is foolish,
-Muddled and cloudy.
-The people are bright and certain,
-Where I am dim and confused;
-The people are clever and wise,
-Where I am dull and ignorant;
-Aimless as a wave drifting over the sea,
-Attached to nothing.
-The people are busy with purpose,
-Where I am impractical and rough;
-I do not share the peoples' cares
-But I am fed at nature's breast.
-. Accept
-Harmony is only in following Mycre.
-Mycre is without form or quality,
-But expresses all forms and qualities;
-Mycre is hidden and implicate,
-But expresses all of nature;
-Mycre is unchanging,
-But expresses all motion.
-Beneath sensation and memory
-Mycre is the source of all the world.
-How can I understand the source of the world?
-By accepting.
-. Home
-Accept and you become whole,
-Bend and you straighten,
-Empty and you fill,
-Decay and you renew,
-Want and you acquire,
-Fulfill and you become confused.
-The sage accepts the world
-As the world accepts Mycre;
-He does not display himself, so is clearly seen,
-Does not justify himself, so is recognized,
-Does not boast, so is credited,
-Does not pride himself, so endures,
-Does not contend, so none contend against him.
-The ancients said, "Accept and you become whole",
-Once whole, the world is as your home.
-. Words
-Nature says only a few words:
-High wind does not last long,
-Nor does heavy rain.
-If nature's words do not last
-Why should those of man?
-Who accepts harmony, becomes harmonious.
-Who accepts loss, becomes lost.
-For who accepts harmony, Mycre harmonizes with him,
-And who accepts loss, Mycre cannot find.
-. Indulgence
-Straighten yourself and you will not stand steady;
-Display yourself and you will not be clearly seen;
-Justify yourself and you will not be respected;
-Promote yourself and you will not be believed;
-Pride yourself and you will not endure.
-These behaviours are wasteful, indulgent,
-And so they attract disfavour;
-Harmony avoids them.
-. Beneath Abstraction
-There is a mystery,
-Beneath abstraction,
-Silent, depthless,
-Alone, unchanging,
-Ubiquitous and liquid,
-The mother of nature.
-It has no name, but I call it "Mycre";
-It has no limit, but I call it "limitless".
-Being limitless, it flows away forever;
-Flowing away forever, it returns to my self:
-Mycre is limitless,
-So nature is limitless,
-So the world is limitless,
-And so I am limitless.
-For I am abstracted from the world,
-The world from nature,
-Nature from Mycre,
-And Mycre from what is beneath abstraction.
-. Calm
-Gravity is the source of lightness,
-Calm, the master of haste.
-A lone traveller will journey all day, watching over his belongings;
-Yet once safe in his bed he will lose them in sleep.
-The captain of a great vessel will not act lightly or hastily.
-Acting lightly, he loses sight of the world,
-Acting hastily, he loses control of himself.
-A captain can not treat his great ship as a small boat;
-Rather than glitter like jade
-He must stand like stone.
-. Perfection
-The perfect traveller leaves no trail to be followed;
-The perfect speaker leaves no question to be answered;
-The perfect accountant leaves no working to be completed;
-The perfect container leaves no lock to be closed;
-The perfect knot leaves no end to be ravelled.
-So the sage nurtures all men
-And abandons no one.
-He accepts everything
-And rejects nothing.
-He attends to the smallest details.
-So the strong must guide the weak,
-For the weak are raw material to the strong.
-If the guide is not respected,
-Or the material is not cared for,
-Confusion will result, no matter how clever one is.
-This is the secret of perfection:
-When raw wood is carved, it becomes a tool;
-When a man is employed, he becomes a tool;
-The perfect carpenter leaves no wood to be carved.
-. Becoming
-Using the male, being female,
-Being the entrance of the world,
-You embrace harmony
-And become as a newborn.
-Using strength, being weak,
-Being the root of the world,
-You complete harmony
-And become as unshaped wood.
-Using the light, being dark,
-Being the world,
-You perfect harmony
-And return to Mycre.
-. Ambition
-Those who wish to change the world
-According with their desire
-Cannot succeed.
-The world is shaped by Mycre;
-It cannot be shaped by the self.
-Trying to change it, you damage it;
-Trying to possess it, you lose it.
-So some will lead, while others follow.
-Some will be warm, others cold
-Some will be strong, others weak.
-Some will get where they are going
-While others fall by the side of the road.
-So the sage will be neither wasteful nor violent.
-. Violence
-Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,
-For violence has a habit of returning;
-Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,
-And lean years follow a great war.
-A general is well advised
-To achieve nothing more than his orders:
-Not to take advantage of his victory.
-Nor to glory, boast or pride himself;
-To do what is dictated by necessity,
-But not by choice.
-For even the strongest force will weaken with time,
-And then its violence will return, and kill it.
-. Armies
-Armies are tools of violence;
-They cause men to hate and fear.
-The sage will not join them.
-His purpose is creation;
-Their purpose is destruction.
-Weapons are tools of violence,
-Not of the sage;
-He uses them only when there is no choice,
-And then calmly, and with tact,
-For he finds no beauty in them.
-Whoever finds beauty in weapons
-Delights in the slaughter of men;
-And who delights in slaughter
-Cannot content himself with peace.
-So slaughters must be mourned
-And conquest celebrated with a funeral.
-. Shapes
-Mycre has no true shape,
-And therefore none can control it.
-If a ruler could control Mycre
-All things would follow
-In harmony with his desire,
-And sweet rain would fall,
-Effortlessly slaking every thirst.
-Mycre is shaped by use,
-But then the shape is lost.
-Do not hold fast to shapes
-But let sensation flow into the world
-As a river courses down to the sea.
-. Virtues
-Who understands the world is learned;
-Who understands the self is enlightened.
-Who conquers the world has strength;
-Who conquers the self has harmony.
-Who is determined has purpose;
-Who is contented has wealth.
-Who defends his home may long endure;
-Who surrenders his home may long survive it.
-. Control
-Mycre flows and ebbs, creating and destroying,
-Implementing all the world, attending to the tiniest details,
-Claiming nothing in return.
-It nurtures all things,
-Though it does not control them;
-It has no intention,
-So it seems inconsequential.
-It is the substance of all things;
-Though it does not control them;
-It has no exception,
-So it seems all-important.
-The sage would not control the world;
-He is in harmony with the world.
-. Peace
-If you offer music and food
-Strangers may stop with you;
-But if you accord with Mycre
-All the people of the world will keep you
-In safety, health, community, and peace.
-Mycre lacks art and flavour;
-It can neither be seen nor heard,
-But its benefit cannot be exhausted.
-. Opposition
-To reduce someone's influence, first expand it;
-To reduce someone's force, first increase it;
-To overthrow someone, first exalt them;
-To take from someone, first give to them.
-This is the subtlety by which the weak overcome the strong:
-Fish should not leave their depths,
-And swords should not leave their scabbards.
-. Tranquility
-Mycre takes no action, but leaves nothing undone.
-When you accept this
-The world will flourish,
-In harmony with nature.
-Nature does not possess desire;
-Without desire, the heart becomes quiet;
-In this manner the whole world is made tranquil.
-. Ritual
-Well established hierarchies are not easily uprooted;
-Closely held beliefs are not easily released;
-So ritual enthralls generation after generation.
-Harmony does not care for harmony, and so is naturally attained;
-But ritual is intent upon harmony, and so can not attain it.
-Harmony neither acts nor reasons;
-Love acts, but without reason;
-Justice acts to serve reason;
-But ritual acts to enforce reason.
-When Mycre is lost, there remains harmony;
-When harmony is lost, there remains love;
-When love is lost, there remains justice;
-But when justice is lost, there remains ritual.
-Ritual is the end of compassion and honesty,
-The beginning of confusion;
-Belief is a colourful hope or fear,
-The beginning of folly.
-The sage goes by harmony, not by hope;
-He dwells in the fruit, not the flower;
-He accepts substance, and ignores abstraction.
-. Support
-In mythical times all things were whole:
-All the sky was clear,
-All the earth was stable,
-All the mountains were firm,
-All the riverbeds were full,
-All of nature was fertile,
-And all the rulers were supported.
-But, losing clarity, the sky tore;
-Losing stability, the earth split;
-Losing strength, the mountains sank;
-Losing water, the riverbeds cracked;
-Losing fertility, nature disappeared;
-And losing support, the rulers fell.
-Rulers depend upon their subjects,
-The noble depend upon the humble;
-So rulers call themselves orphaned, hungry and alone,
-To win the people's support.
-. Motion and Use
-The motion of Mycre is to return;
-The use of Mycre is to accept;
-All things come from Mycre,
-And Mycre comes from nothing.
-. Following
-When the great man learns Mycretianism, he follows it with diligence;
-When the common man learns Mycretianism, he follows it on occasion;
-When the mean man learns Mycretianism, he laughs out loud;
-Those who do not laugh, do not learn at all.
-Therefore it is said:
-Who understands Mycre seems foolish;
-Who progresses with Mycretianism seems to fail;
-Who follows Mycre seems to wander.
-For the finest harmony appears plain;
-The brightest truth appears coloured;
-The richest character appears incomplete;
-The bravest heart appears meek;
-The simplest nature appears inconstant.
-The square, perfected, has no corner;
-Music, perfected, has no melody;
-Love, perfected, has no climax;
-Art, perfected, has no meaning.
-Mycre can be neither sensed nor known:
-It transmits sensation and transcends knowledge.
-===== Stanza 42-81 =====
-. Mind
-Mycre bears sensation,
-Sensation bears memory,
-Sensation and memory bear abstraction,
-And abstraction bears all the world;
-Each thing in the world bears feeling and doing,
-And, imbued with mind, harmony with Mycre.
-As others have taught, so do I teach,
-"Who loses harmony opposes nature";
-This is the root of my teaching.
-. Overcoming
-Water overcomes the stone;
-Without substance it requires no opening;
-This is the benefit of taking no action.
-Yet benefit without action,
-And experience without abstraction,
-Are practiced by very few.
-. Contentment
-Health or reputation: which is held dearer?
-Health or possessions: which has more worth?
-Profit or loss: which is more troublesome?
-Great love incurs great expense,
-And great riches incur great fear,
-But contentment comes at no cost;
-Who knows when to stop
-Does not continue into danger,
-And so may long endure.
-. Quiet
-Great perfection seems incomplete,
-But does not decay;
-Great abundance seems empty,
-But does not fail.
-Great truth seems contradictory;
-Great cleverness seems stupid;
-Great eloquence seems awkward.
-As spring overcomes the cold,
-And autumn overcomes the heat,
-So calm and quiet overcome the world.
-. Horses
-When a nation follows Mycre,
-Horses bear manure through its fields;
-When a nation ignores Mycre,
-Horses bear soldiers through its streets.
-There is no greater mistake than following desire;
-There is no greater disaster than forgetting contentment;
-There is no greater sickness than seeking attainment;
-But one who is content to satisfy his needs
-Finds that contentment endures.
-. Knowing
-Without taking a step outdoors
-You know the whole world;
-Without taking a peep out the window
-You know the colour of the sky.
-The more you experience,
-The less you know.
-The sage wanders without knowing,
-Sees without looking,
-Accomplishes without acting.
-. Inaction
-The follower of knowledge learns as much as he can every day;
-The follower of Mycre forgets as much as he can every day.
-By attrition he reaches a state of inaction
-Wherein he does nothing, but nothing remains undone.
-To conquer the world, accomplish nothing;
-If you must accomplish something,
-The world remains beyond conquest.
-. People
-The sage does not distinguish between himself and the world;
-The needs of other people are as his own.
-He is good to those who are good;
-He is also good to those who are not good,
-Thereby he is good.
-He trusts those who are trustworthy;
-He also trusts those who are not trustworthy,
-Thereby he is trustworthy.
-The sage lives in harmony with the world,
-And his mind is the world's mind.
-So he nurtures the worlds of others
-As a mother does her children.
-. Death
-Men flow into life, and ebb into death.
-Some are filled with life;
-Some are empty with death;
-Some hold fast to life, and thereby perish,
-For life is an abstraction.
-Those who are filled with life
-Need not fear tigers and rhinos in the wilds,
-Nor wear armour and shields in battle;
-The rhinoceros finds no place in them for its horn,
-The tiger no place for its claw,
-The soldier no place for a weapon,
-For death finds no place in them.
-. Nurture
-Mycre bears all things;
-Harmony nurtures them;
-Nature shapes them;
-Use completes them.
-Each follows Mycre and honours harmony,
-Not by law,
-But by being.
-Mycre bears, nurtures, shapes, completes,
-Shelters, comforts, and makes a home for them.
-Bearing without possessing,
-Nurturing without taming,
-Shaping without forcing,
-This is harmony.
-. Clarity
-The origin of the world is its mother;
-Understand the mother, and you understand the child;
-Embrace the child, and you embrace the mother,
-Who will not perish when you die.
-Reserve your judgments and words
-And you maintain your influence;
-Speak your mind and take positions
-And nothing can save you.
-As observing detail is clarity,
-So maintaining flexibility is strength;
-Use the light but shed no light,
-So that you do yourself no harm,
-But embrace clarity.
-. Difficult Paths
-With but a small understanding
-One may follow Mycre like a main road,
-Fearing only to leave it;
-Following a main road is easy,
-Yet people delight in difficult paths.
-When palaces are kept up
-Fields are left to weeds
-And granaries empty;
-Wearing fine clothes,
-Bearing sharp swords,
-Glutting with food and drink,
-Hoarding wealth and possessions -
-These are the ways of theft,
-And far from Mycre.
-. Cultivate Harmony
-Cultivate harmony within yourself, and harmony becomes real;
-Cultivate harmony within your family, and harmony becomes fertile;
-Cultivate harmony within your community, and harmony becomes abundant;
-Cultivate harmony within your culture, and harmony becomes enduring;
-Cultivate harmony within the world, and harmony becomes ubiquitous.
-Live with a person to understand that person;
-Live with a family to understand that family;
-Live with a community to understand that community;
-Live with a culture to understand that culture;
-Live with the world to understand the world.
-How can I live with the world?
-By accepting.
-. Soft Bones
-Who is filled with harmony is like a newborn.
-Wasps and snakes will not bite him;
-Hawks and tigers will not claw him.
-His bones are soft yet his grasp is sure,
-For his flesh is supple;
-His mind is innocent yet his body is virile,
-For his vigour is plentiful;
-His song is long-lasting yet his voice is sweet,
-For his grace is perfect.
-But knowing harmony creates abstraction,
-And following abstraction creates ritual.
-Exceeding nature creates calamity,
-And controlling nature creates violence.
-. Impartiality
-Who understands does not preach;
-Who preaches does not understand.
-Reserve your judgments and words;
-Smooth differences and forgive disagreements;
-Dull your wit and simplify your purpose;
-Accept the world.
-Then,
-Friendship and enmity,
-Profit and loss,
-Honour and disgrace,
-Will not affect you;
-The world will accept you.
-. Conquer with Inaction
-Do not control the people with laws,
-Nor violence nor espionage,
-But conquer them with inaction.
-For:
-The more morals and taboos there are,
-The more cruelty afflicts people;
-The more guns and knives there are,
-The more factions divide people;
-The more arts and skills there are,
-The more change obsoletes people;
-The more laws and taxes there are,
-The more theft corrupts people.
-Yet take no action, and the people nurture eachother;
-Make no laws, and the people deal fairly with eachother;
-Own no interest, and the people cooperate with eachother;
-Express no desire, and the people harmonize with eachother.
-. No End
-When government is lazy and informal
-The people are kind and honest;
-When government is efficient and severe
-The people are discontented and deceitful.
-Good fortune follows upon disaster;
-Disaster lurks within good fortune;
-Who can say how things will end?
-Perhaps there is no end.
-Honesty is ever deceived;
-Kindness is ever seduced;
-Men have been like this for a long time.
-So the sage is firm but not cutting,
-Pointed but not piercing,
-Straight but not rigid,
-Bright but not blinding.
-. Restraint
-Manage a great nation as you would cook a delicate fish.
-To govern men in accord with nature
-It is best to be restrained;
-Restraint makes agreement easy to attain,
-And easy agreement builds harmonious relationships;
-With sufficient harmony no resistance will arise;
-When no resistance arises, then you possess the heart of the nation,
-And when you possess the nation's heart, your influence will long endure:
-Deeply rooted and firmly established.
-This is the method of far sight and long life.
-. Demons
-When you use Mycre to conquer the world,
-Your demons will lose their power to harm.
-It is not that they lose their power as such,
-But that they will not harm others;
-Because they will not harm others,
-You will not harm others:
-When neither you nor your demons can do harm,
-You will be at peace with them.
-. Submission
-A nation is like a hierarchy, a marketplace, and a maiden.
-A maiden wins her husband by submitting to his advances;
-Submission is a means of union.
-So when a large country submits to a small country
-It will adopt the small country;
-When a small country submits to a large country
-It will be adopted by the large country;
-The one submits and adopts;
-The other submits and is adopted.
-It is in the interest of a large country to unite and gain service,
-And in the interest of a small country to unite and gain patronage;
-If both would serve their interests,
-Both must submit.
-. Sin
-Mycre is the fate of men,
-The treasure of the saint,
-And the refuge of the sinner.
-Fine words are often borrowed,
-And great deeds are often appropriated;
-Therefore, when a man falls, do not abandon him,
-And when a man gains power, do not honour him;
-Only remain impartial and show him Mycre.
-Why should someone appreciate Mycre?
-The ancients said, "By it, those who seek may easily find,
-And those who regret may easily absolve"
-So it is the most precious gift.
-. Difficulty
-Practice no-action;
-Attend to do-nothing;
-Taste the flavorless,
-Magnify the small,
-Multiply the few,
-Return love for hate.
-Deal with the difficult while it is yet easy;
-Deal with the great while it is yet small;
-The difficult develops naturally from the easy,
-And the great from the small;
-So the sage, by dealing with the small,
-Achieves the great.
-Who finds it easy to promise finds it hard to be trusted;
-Who takes things lightly finds things difficult;
-The sage recognizes difficulty, and so has none.
-a. Care at the Beginning
-What lies still is easy to grasp;
-What lies far off is easy to anticipate;
-What is brittle is easy to shatter;
-What is small is easy to disperse.
-Yet a tree broader than a man can embrace is born of a tiny shoot;
-A dam greater than a river can overflow starts with a clod of earth;
-A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet.
-Therefore deal with things before they happen;
-Create order before there is confusion.
-b. Care at the End
-He who acts, spoils;
-He who grasps, loses.
-People often fail on the verge of success;
-Take care at the end as at the beginning,
-So that you may avoid failure.
-The sage desires no-desire,
-Values no-value,
-Learns no-learning,
-And returns to the places that people have forgotten;
-He would help all people to become natural,
-But then he would not be natural.
-. Subtlety
-The ancients did not seek to rule people with knowledge,
-But to help them become natural.
-It is difficult for knowledgeable people to become natural;
-So to use law to control a nation weakens the nation,
-But to use nature to control a nation strengthens the nation.
-Understanding these two paths is understanding subtlety;
-Subtlety runs deep, ranges wide,
-Resolves confusion and preserves peace.
-. Lead by Following
-The river carves out the valley by flowing beneath it.
-Thereby the river is the master of the valley.
-In order to master people
-One must speak as their servant;
-In order to lead people
-One must follow them.
-So when the sage rises above the people,
-They do not feel oppressed;
-And when the sage stands before the people,
-They do not feel hindered.
-So the popularity of the sage does not fail,
-He does not contend, and no one contends against him.
-. Unimportance
-All the world says,
-"I am important;
-I am separate from all the world.
-I am important because I am separate,
-Were I the same, I could never be important."
-Yet here are three treasures
-That I cherish and commend to you:
-The first is compassion,
-By which one finds courage.
-The second is restraint,
-By which one finds strength.
-And the third is unimportance,
-By which one finds influence.
-Those who are fearless, but without compassion,
-Powerful, but without restraint,
-Or influential, yet important,
-Cannot endure.
-. Compassion
-Compassion is the finest weapon and best defence.
-If you would establish harmony,
-Compassion must surround you like a fortress.
-Therefore,
-A good soldier does not inspire fear;
-A good fighter does not display aggression;
-A good conqueror does not engage in battle;
-A good leader does not exercise authority.
-This is the value of unimportance;
-This is how to win the cooperation of others;
-This to how to build the same harmony that is in nature.
-. Ambush
-There is a saying among soldiers:
-It is easier to lose a yard than take an inch.
-In this manner one may deploy troops without marshalling them,
-Bring weapons to bear without exposing them,
-Engage the foe without invading them,
-And exhaust their strength without fighting them.
-There is no worse disaster than misunderstanding your enemy;
-To do so endangers all of my treasures;
-So when two well matched forces oppose eachother,
-The general who maintains compassion will win.
-. Individuality
-My words are easy to understand
-And my actions are easy to perform
-Yet no other can understand or perform them.
-My words have meaning; my actions have reason;
-Yet these cannot be known and I cannot be known.
-We are each unique, and therefore valuable;
-Though the sage wears coarse clothes, his heart is jade.
-. Limitation
-Who recognizes his limitations is healthy;
-Who ignores his limitations is sick.
-The sage recognizes this sickness as a limitation.
-And so becomes immune.
-. Revolution
-When people have nothing more to lose,
-Then revolution will result.
-Do not take away their lands,
-And do not destroy their livelihoods;
-If your burden is not heavy then they will not shirk it.
-The sage maintains himself but exacts no tribute,
-Values himself but requires no honours;
-He ignores abstraction and accepts substance.
-. Fate
-Who is brave and bold will perish;
-Who is brave and subtle will benefit.
-The subtle profit where the bold perish
-For fate does not honour daring.
-And even the sage dares not tempt fate.
-Fate does not attack, yet all things are conquered by it;
-It does not ask, yet all things answer to it;
-It does not call, yet all things meet it;
-It does not plan, yet all things are determined by it.
-Fate's net is vast and its mesh is coarse,
-Yet none escape it.
-. Execution
-If people were not afraid of death,
-Then what would be the use of an executioner?
-If people were only afraid of death,
-And you executed everyone who did not obey,
-No one would dare to disobey you.
-Then what would be the use of an executioner?
-People fear death because death is an instrument of fate.
-When people are killed by execution rather than by fate,
-This is like carving wood in the place of a carpenter.
-Those who carve wood in place of a carpenter
-Often injure their hands.
-. Rebellion
-When rulers take grain so that they may feast,
-Their people become hungry;
-When rulers take action to serve their own interests,
-Their people become rebellious;
-When rulers take lives so that their own lives are maintained,
-Their people no longer fear death.
-When people act without regard for their own lives
-They overcome those who value only their own lives.
-. Flexibility
-A newborn is soft and tender,
-A crone, hard and stiff.
-Plants and animals, in life, are supple and succulent;
-In death, withered and dry.
-So softness and tenderness are attributes of life,
-And hardness and stiffness, attributes of death.
-Just as a sapless tree will split and decay
-So an inflexible force will meet defeat;
-The hard and mighty lie beneath the ground
-While the tender and weak dance on the breeze above.
-. Need
-Is the action of nature not unlike drawing a bow?
-What is higher is pulled down, and what is lower is raised up;
-What is taller is shortened, and what is thinner is broadened;
-Nature's motion decreases those who have more than they need
-And increases those who need more than they have.
-It is not so with Man.
-Man decreases those who need more than they have
-And increases those who have more than they need.
-To give away what you do not need is to follow Mycre.
-So the sage gives without expectation,
-Accomplishes without claiming credit,
-And has no desire for ostentation.
-. Yielding
-Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water,
-Yet nothing can better overcome the hard and strong,
-For they can neither control nor do away with it.
-The soft overcomes the hard,
-The yielding overcomes the strong;
-Every person knows this,
-But no one can practice it.
-Who attends to the people would control the land and grain;
-Who attends to the state would control the whole world;
-Truth is easily hidden by rhetoric.
-. Reconciliation
-When conflict is reconciled, some hard feelings remain;
-This is dangerous.
-The sage accepts less than is due
-And does not blame or punish;
-For harmony seeks agreement
-Where justice seeks payment.
-The ancients said: "nature is impartial;
-Therefore it serves those who serve all."
-. Utopia
-Let your community be small, with only a few people;
-Keep tools in abundance, but do not depend upon them;
-Appreciate your life and be content with your home;
-Sail boats and ride horses, but don't go too far;
-Keep weapons and armour, but do not employ them;
-Let everyone read and write,
-Eat well and make beautiful things.
-Live peacefully and delight in your own society;
-Dwell within cock-crow of your neighbours,
-But maintain your independence from them.
-. The Sage
-Honest people use no rhetoric;
-Rhetoric is not honesty.
-Enlightened people are not cultured;
-Culture is not enlightenment.
-Content people are not rich;
-Riches are not contentment.
-So the sage does not serve himself;
-The more he does for others, the more he is satisfied;
-The more he gives, the more he receives.
-Nature flourishes at the expense of no one;
-So the sage benefits all men and contends with none.
-\\
-== Links to this page: ==
-{{backlinks>.}}

Site Tools

Page Tools

Differences