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Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu

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# Chapter 1 
   
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 ## The tao that can be told 
 ## is not the eternal Tao. 
 ## The name that can be named 
 ## is not the eternal Name. 
   
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 ## The unnamable is the eternally real. 
 ## Naming is the origin 
 ## of all particular things. 
   
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 ## Free from desire 
 ## you realize the mystery. 
 ## Caught in desire, 
 ## you see only the manifestations. 
   
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 ## Yet mystery and manifestations 
 ## arise from the same source. 
 ## This source is called darkness. 
   
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 ## Darkness within darkness 
 ## The gateway to all understanding.

# Chapter 2 
   
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 ## When people see some things as beautiful, 
 ## other things become ugly. 
 ## When people see some things as good, 
 ## other things become bad. 
   
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 ## Being and non-being create each other. 
 ## Difficult and easy support each other. 
 ## Long and short define each other. 
   
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 ## High and low depend on each other. 
 ## Before and after follow each other. 
   
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 ## Therefore the Master acts without doing anything 
 ## and teaches without saying anything. 
   
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 ## Things arise and she lets them come; 
 ## Things disappear and she lets them go. 
   
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 ## She has but doesn't possess, 
 ## acts but doesn't expect. 
   
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 ## When her work is done, she forgets it. 
 ## That is why it lasts forever.

# Chapter 3 
   
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 ## If you overesteem great men, 
 ## people become powerless. 
 ## If you overvalue possesions, 
 ## people begin to steal. 
   
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 ## The Master leads 
 ## by emptying people's minds 
 ## and filling their cores, 
 ## by weakening their ambition 
 ## and toughening their resolve. 
   
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 ## He helps people lose everything they know, 
 ## everything they desire, 
 ## and creates confusion 
 ## in those who think that they know. 
   
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 ## Practice not-doing, 
 ## and everything will fall into place.

# Chapter 4 
   
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 ## The Tao is like a well: 
 ## used but never used up. 
 ## It is like the eternal void: 
 ## filled with infinite possibilities. 
   
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 ## It is hidden but always present. 
 ## I don't know who gave birth to it. 
 ## It is older than God.

# Chapter 5 
   
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 ## The Tao doesn't take sides; 
 ## it gives birth to both good and evil. 
 ## The master doesn't take sides; 
 ## she welcomes both saints and sinners. 
   
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 ## The Tao is like a bellows: 
 ## it is empty yet infinitely capable. 
 ## The more you use it, the more it produces; 
 ## the more you talk of it, the less you understand. 
   
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 ## Hold on to the center.

# Chapter 6 
   
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 ## The Tao is called the Great Mother: 
 ## empty yet inexhaustible, 
 ## it gives birth to infinite worlds. 
   
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 ## It is always present within you. 
 ## You can use it any way you want.

# Chapter 7 
   
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 ## The Tao is infinite, eternal. 
   
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 ## Why is it eternal? 
 ## It was never born; 
 ## thus it can never die. 
   
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 ## Why is it infinite? 
 ## It has no desires for itself; 
 ## thus it is present for all beings. 
   
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 ## The Master stays behind; 
 ## that is why she is ahead. 
   
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 ## She is detached from all things; 
 ## that is why she is one with them. 
   
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 ## Because she has let go of herself, 
 ## she is perfectly fulfilled.

# Chapter 8 
   
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 ## The supreme good is like water, 
 ## which nourishes all things without trying to. 
   
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 ## It is content with the low places that people distain. 
 ## thus it is like the Tao. 
   
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 ## In dwelling, 
 ## live close to the ground. 
   
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 ## In thinking, 
 ## keep to the simple. 
   
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 ## In conflict, 
 ## be fair and generous. 
   
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 ## In governing, 
 ## don't try to control. 
   
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 ## In work, 
 ## do what you enjoy. 
   
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 ## In family life, 
 ## be completely present. 
   
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 ## When you are content to be simply yourself 
 ## and don't compare or compete, 
 ## everybody will respect you.

# Chapter 9 
   
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 ## Fill your bowl to the brim 
 ## and it will spill. 
   
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 ## Keep sharpening your knife 
 ## and it will blunt. 
   
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 ## Chase after money and security 
 ## and your heart will never unclench. 
   
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 ## Care about people's approval 
 ## and you will be their prisoner. 
   
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 ## Do your work, then step back. 
 ## The only path to serenity.

# Chapter 10 
   
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 ## Can you coax your mind from its wandering 
 ## and keep to the original oneness? 
   
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 ## Can you let your body become 
 ## supple as a newborn child's? 
   
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 ## Can you cleanse your inner vision 
 ## until you see nothing but the light? 
   
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 ## Can you love people and lead them 
 ## without imposing your will? 
   
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 ## Can you deal with the most vital matters 
 ## by letting events take their course? 
   
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 ## Can you step back from your own mind 
 ## and thus understand all things? 
   
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 ## Giving birth and nourishing, 
 ## having without possessing, 
 ## acting with no expectations, 
 ## leading and not trying to control: 
 ## this is the supreme virtue.

# Chapter 11 
   
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 ## We join spokes together in a wheel, 
 ## but it is the center hole 
 ## that makes the wagon move. 
   
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 ## We shape clay into a pot, 
 ## but it is the emptiness inside 
 ## that holds whatever we want. 
   
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 ## We hammer wood for a house, 
 ## but it is the inner space 
 ## that makes it livable. 
   
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 ## We work with being, 
 ## but non-being is what we use.

# Chapter 12 
   
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 ## Colors blind the eye. 
   
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 ## Sounds deafen the ear. 
   
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 ## Flavors numb the taste. 
   
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 ## Thoughts weaken the mind. 
   
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 ## Desires wither the heart. 
   
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 ## The Master observes the world 
 ## but trusts his inner vision. 
   
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 ## He allows things to come and go. 
   
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 ## His heart is open as the sky.

Continued...

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

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