1. No words for Tao

#T-L 1 No words for Tao; words are for things. To know Tao, no desire; desires are for things. Both sourced in darkness, doorway to no-thing

2. without doing

#T-L 2 Knowing good creates bad. But natural opposites rely on each other. So the sage does without doing. Things come & go w/o one’s acting

3. clearing thought & will

#T-L 3 Don’t praise people & things; public will confuse. Lead by clearing thought & will, fulfilling needs. Act by not-doing; all in peace.

4. bottomless emptiness

#T-L 4 Tao is bottomless emptiness, seeming source of all things. Harmonizing, it perhaps exists. Its birth is unknown, image older than God

5. isn’t humane

#T-L 5 The cosmos isn’t humane nor is the sage: all beings are sacrificial. The cosmos will always make more. So abide in the silent center.

6. feminine mystery

#T-L 6 The valley spirit never dies; call it the feminine mystery. Its gate is the root of the cosmos. Ethereal: but in use, inexhaustible.

7. being free of self

#T-L 7 The world abides, for it doesn’t exist for itself. So by yielding the body, one is present. And being free of self, one is fulfilled.

8. truth, like water

#T-L 8 As truth, like water, one helps all, vies w/ none, lives low. As Tao. All has its truth. By not resisting, one is free from illusion.

9. Nature’s Way

#T-L 9 A cup filled to the brim will spill; acts done in excess produce the opposite. When work’s complete, the self retreats: Nature’s Way.

10. the seam of opposites

#T-L 10 Can you rest in the seam of opposites? See Spirit and Instinct as One? Give birth w/o claiming, rear w/o ruling. This deepest power.

11. in non-existence, rationale

#T-L 11 Form clay into a cup; thru emptiness comes function. Same for a wheel or home. In being is assistance; in non-existence, rationale.

12. attends to the inner

#T-L 12 Indulgence dulls the senses; excitement maddens the mind; treasure limits action. So the sage attends to the inner & not the outer.

13. knowing the world

#T-L 13 Honor & disgrace bind us to opinion. Suffering is bound to the self. By knowing the world is truly one’s self, we may attend to all.

14. journey here and now

#T-L 14 Not seen, heard, nor felt: one. Rising, not light; falling, not dark: formless form. Hold the Ancient Way to journey here and now.

15. Never fulfilled

#T-L 15 Ancients: alert—crossing winter river; yielding—melting ice; obscure—murky waters. Settle to clarity; stir to life. Never fulfilled.

16. Realizing

#T-L 16 Find emptiness & abide in stillness: see all things rise & return to the root. Not knowing is suffering. Realizing—never loses life.

17. it happens naturally

#T-L 17 Best leaders are almost anonymous. Next—loved. Then—feared. Worst—scorned. No words; just do! People will say it happens naturally.

18. When Tao declines

#T-L 18 When Tao declines, righteousness rises. When knowledge appears, pretense emerges. When the nation is in chaos, loyal ministers show.

19. the essential

#T-L 19 Abandon knowledge, morality; ingenuity & profit. Rely on the essential: see simplicity—hold the innate; lessen self—diminish desire.

20. the frontier before dawn

#T-L 20 People so busy & full! I’m the frontier before dawn, child before first smile. Mind of a fool—sea—the wind! I nurture on the Mother.