Category Archives: Tao Te Ching

Holding a cup and overfilling it Cannot be as good as stopping short Pounding a blade and sharpening it Cannot be kept for long Gold and jade fill up the room No one is able to protect them Wealth and … Continue reading →

Water The highest goodness resembles water Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention It stays in places that people dislike Therefore it is similar to the TaoDwelling with the right location Feeling with great depth Giving with great kindness Speaking … Continue reading →

Heaven is ancient Earth is long-lasting Why is this so? Because they have no claims to life By having no claims to life they cannot be claimed by death The Sage puts his own views behind so ends up ahead … Continue reading →

The Spirit of the Valley The Valley of the Spirit is immortal and nourishing. It is called the Mysterious Female, our Creative Power. This Creative Power is our passageway, Revealing the Creation of Heaven and Earth itself. Like a babbling … Continue reading →

 1. But for heaven and earth’s humaneness, the ten thousand things are straw dogs. But for the holy man’s humaneness, the hundred families are straw dogs.2. Is not the space between heaven and earth like unto a bellows? It is … Continue reading →

The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled. Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things! Blunt the sharpness, Untangle the knot, Soften the glare, Merge with dust. Oh, hidden deep but ever present! I do not … Continue reading →

Translated by D. T. Suzuki & Paul Carus, 1880 Translated by Jane English & Gia-fu Feng, 1989 KEEPING THE PEOPLE QUIET.1. Not boasting of one’s worth forestalls people’s envy.Not prizing treasures difficult to obtain keeps people from committing theft.2. Not contemplating what kindles … Continue reading →

Yield and remain whole Bend and remain straight Be low and become filled Be worn out and become renewed Have little and receive Have much and be confused Therefore the sages hold to the one as an example for the … Continue reading →