Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu (6th Century B.C.) also known as Lao Tse, Laotze, Laosi, Laocius) was a poet and philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching. This is a body of mystical writings giving an insight into ultimate reality. The Tào Té Chīng forms an important basis of Daoism.
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”- Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu’s date of birth is unknown. Many say it was between 600 and 300 B.C.E. He was known for his writing of the ‘Tao-Te Ching‘ (tao-meaning the way of all life, te-meaning the fit use of life by men, and ching-meaning text or classic). Lao Tzu was not his real name, but in honor of his name, it meant ‘Old Master’He attracted many followers, but he refused to set his ideas down in writing. He believed that written words might solidify into formal dogma. He wanted his philosophy to remain a natural way to live life with goodness, serenity, and respect. He believed a person’s conduct should be governed by instinct and conscience
“At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.”
- Lao Tzu
He believed that human life is constantly influenced by outside forces. He believed ‘simplicity’ to be the key to truth and freedom. He encouraged his followers to observe, and seek to understand the laws of nature; to develop intuition and build up personal power; to use that power to lead life with love, and without force.“
"When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.”
- Lao Tzu
People say that he was a contemporary of Confucius and served as curator of the dynastic archives until retiring to the mythical K’un-lun Mountains. He transmitted his teachings to a border guard who compiled the Lao-Tzu, also titled Tao-te Ching. His work was dated back to 4th to 2nd century B.C. It’s parables and verse advocate passive and intuitive behavior in natural harmony with the Tao. This is a cosmic unity underlying all phenomena. It emphasizes the value of wu-wei by which one returns to a primitive state closer to the Tao. This is a stage of creative possibility symbolized by the child or an uncarved block. It also promotes a laissez-faire approach to government.Lao Tzu set off into the desert on a water buffalo leaving civilization behind. When he arrived at the final gate at the great wall protecting the kingdom, the gatekeeper persuaded him to record the principles of his philosophy for posterity. The ancient Chinese text is the world’s most translated classic next to the Bible
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The Emptiness of a Vessel
The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel;
and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness.
How deep and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of
all things!
We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of things;
we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others.
How pure and still the Tao is, as if it would ever so continue!
I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before God
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The Tao That can be Trodden
The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.
The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
(Conceived of as) having no name,
it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name,
it is the Mother of all things.
Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
Under these two aspects, it is really the same;
but as development takes place, it receives the different names.
Together we call them the Mystery.
Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that
is subtle and wonderful
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The Beauty of the Beautiful
All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful,
and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is;
they all know the skill of the skilful,
and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is.
So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the idea of) the other;
that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the other;
that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other;
that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one with the other;
that the musical notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another;
and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another.
Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.
All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to show itself;
they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership;
they go through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a reward for the results).
The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an achievement).
The work is done, but how no one can see;
‘Tis this that makes the power not cease to be
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Keep the People from Rivalry
Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to
keep the people from rivalry among themselves;
not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves;
not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep their minds from disorder.
Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government,
empties their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills,
and strengthens their bones.
He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge
and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge,
to keep them from presuming to act (on it).
When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.
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Heaven and Earth
Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be
benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt
with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they
deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a
bellows?
‘Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power;
‘Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more.
Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see;
Your inner being guard, and keep it free
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The Valley Spirit
The valley spirit dies not, aye the same;
The female mystery thus do we name.
Its gate, from which at first they issued forth,
Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth.
Long and unbroken does its power remain,
Used gently, and without the touch of pain.
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Heaven is Long-Enduring
Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason
why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is
because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are
able to continue and endure.
Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in
the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him,
and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no
personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?
keep the people from rivalry
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The Highest Excellence
The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence
of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying,
without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men
dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao.
The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place;
that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of associations is in
their being with the virtuous; that of government is in its securing
good order; that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability; and
that of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.
And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about
his low position), no one finds fault with him.
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A Vessel Unfilled
It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to
carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been
sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.
When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them
safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil
on itself. When the work is done, and one’s name is becoming
distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven
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The Thirty Spokes
The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty
space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is
fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that
their use depends. The door and windows are cut out (from the walls)
to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its
use depends. Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for
profitable adaptation, and what has not that for (actual) usefulness.
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In Loving the People
When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one
embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided
attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of
pliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed away
the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without
a flaw.
In loving the people and ruling the state, cannot he proceed
without any (purpose of) action? In the opening and shutting of his
gates of heaven, cannot he do so as a female bird? While his
intelligence reaches in every direction, cannot he (appear to) be
without knowledge?
(The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them; it produces
them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not
boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control them.
This is what is called ‘The mysterious Quality’ (of the Tao).
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Colour’s Five Hues
Colour’s five hues from th’ eyes their sight will take;
Music’s five notes the ears as deaf can make;
The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste;
The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste
Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange,
Sought for, men’s conduct will to evil change.
Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and
not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the
latter, and prefers to seek the former
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We Look and We do not See
We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it ‘the
Equable.’ We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it ‘the
Inaudible.’ We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we
name it ‘the Subtle.’ With these three qualities, it cannot be made
the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and
obtain The One.
Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure.
Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again
returns and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless,
and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting and
Indeterminable.
We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not see
its Back. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things
of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the
beginning, this is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao
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