The Tao gives life to all things, and its Virtue nourishes them, Tao

  Verse 51

The Tao gives life to all things,
and its Virtue nourishes them,
forms each according to its nature
and gives to each its inner strength.

Therefore, the ten thousand things all venerate the Tao and honour its Virtue.
It has never been decreed that the Tao be venerated and its Virtue be honoured;
they have always been so treated spontaneously.

Thus, the Tao gives life to all things;
and its Virtue raises them, nourishes them,
brings them to their full growth,
feeds, shelters, and protects them.

Giving life without claiming authority,
benefiting without demanding gratitude,
guiding without control.
This is called hidden Virtue.


Verse 52

All things under heaven had a common beginning,
and that beginning could be considered
the Mother of all things.

When you know the Mother
you will also know the children.

Know the children, yet hold fast to the Mother,
and to the end of your days
you will be free from danger.

Block the passages!
Shut the doors!
And, to the end of your days
your strength will not fail you.

Open the passages!
Increase your activities!
And, to the end of your days
you will be beyond help.

See the small and develop clear vision.
Practise yielding and develop strength.
Use the outer light to return to the inner light,
and save yourself from harm.

This is known as following the Always-so.


Verse 53

If I have even little sense,
I will walk upon the great path of Tao
and only fear straying from it.

This Great Way is straight and smooth
yet people often prefer the side roads.

The courtyard is well kept
but the fields are full of weeds,
and the granaries stand empty.

Still, there are those of us
who wear elegant clothes, carry sharp swords,
pamper ourselves with food and drink
and have more possessions than we can use.

These are the actions of robbers.
This is certainly far from the Tao.

Verse 54

What is well rooted cannot be pulled up.
What is firmly grasped will not slip loose.
It will be honoured from generation to generation.

When cultivated in your person, Virtue will be real.
When cultivated in your household, Virtue will be plentiful.
When cultivated in your village, Virtue will endure.
When cultivated in your country, Virtue will abound.
When cultivated in your world, Virtue will be universal.

Hence, through yourself look at Self.
Through your household look at Household.
Through your community look at Community.
Through your country look at Country.
Through your world look at World.

How do I know that the world is like this?
Because of what is within me.


Verse 55

A person who is filled with Virtue is like a newborn child.
Poisonous insects will not sting, wild animals will not pounce,
birds of prey will not swoop down.

Although bones are soft and sinews weak, a child’s grip is firm.
The union of man and woman is not known,
yet there is completeness,
because a child’s vital force is at its height.
Crying all day will not produce hoarseness,
because there is perfect harmony.

To know harmony is to know the Always-so.
To know the Always-so is to be awakened.

Trying to fill life to the brim invites a curse.
For the mind to make demands upon the breath of life brings strain.

Whatever has been forced to a peak of vigour approaches its decay.
This is not the way of Tao.
And that which goes against the Tao will quickly pass away.


Verse 56

Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.

Block the passages!
Shut the doors!
Blunt the sharpness!
Untangle the knots!
Soften the glare!
Settle with the dust!
This is the Mystery of Evenness.

Those who have achieved this cannot be enclosed
nor kept at a distance;
they cannot be benefited nor harmed,
honoured nor disgraced.

Therefore, this is the noblest state under heaven.

Verse 57

Govern the country by being straightforward.
Wage war by being crafty.
Win all under heaven by not meddling.

How do I know that this is so?
By what is within me.

The more restrictions there are, the poorer are the people.
The more pointed the people’s weapons,
the more disorder there is in the country.

The more ingenious and clever the people,
the more strange the contrivances that appear.
The more laws and edicts that are posted,
the more thieves and robbers that arise.

Hence an Old One has said:
I act without striving and the people transform themselves.
I love stillness and the people straighten themselves.
I do not meddle and the people prosper by themselves.
I am free from desires and the people themselves
return to the simplicity of the Uncarved Block.


Verse 58

When the government is unseen the people are simple and happy.
When the government is lively the people are cunning and discontented.

On misery perches happiness.
Beneath happiness crouches misery.

Who knows when this will cease?
The straight changes into the crooked.

The good becomes the ominous.
Surely the people have been confused for a long time.

Therefore, the True Person squares without cutting,
carves without hacking,

straightens without dislocating,
gives forth light without blinding.


Verse 59

For governing others and serving heaven
there is nothing better than moderation.

A person who is moderate returns to the path.
Returning to the path brings an abundance of Virtue.

This good store of Virtue cannot be conquered.
Virtue that cannot be conquered knows no limit.

Only a person who has limitless Virtue is fit to lead.
Only the leader who possesses the Mother of the country will long endure.

This is called making the roots go deep by restraining the trunk.
Learn to focus your life and you will see many days.


Verse 60

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish.
Let all under heaven be governed in accordance with the Tao,
and demons will not manifest their power.

It is not that they lack power
but rather they will not use their power
to harm the people.

They are not the only ones who have power
and do not use it to harm the people.

The True Person does not harm the people.
Whenever there is no harm done,
that power flows into the common Virtue.



................Neelnjna