Lives by using non-action in his duties,And practicing no-talking in his teachings.The ten thousand creatures arise, but do not have abeginning.Creating but not possessing;Acting, but not concerned with the results;Accomplishing tasks, but not dwelling on them.Now : only because there is no dwelling,Thus the results do not depart.WHAT WOULD THE SAGE DO?Thus the sage :Lives by using non-action in his duties,And practicing no-talking in his teachings.Thus the governing of the sageEmpties their heart/minds, fills their bellies,Weakens their ambitions, strengthens their bones.The sage is not kind;Thus the 100 families become as straw dogs to him.Thus the sage :Puts his self behind others, yet finds his self before them.Considers his self extraneous, yet his self survives.Is this not because he has no self-interests?Therefore he can achieve his self-interests.Thus the sage :Acts on what is inside, he does not act on what he sees.Therefore he leaves that and chooses this.Thus the sage :Embraces the One, thus serving as an example to theworld –He does not display himself, therefore he has insight.Does not consider himself correct, therefore hedistinguishes himself.Does not boast about himself, therefore he possessesmerit.Does not brag about himself, therefore he endures.Now : only because he does not strive,Therefore no one in the world can strive against him.Thus the sage :Is always good at helping people,Therefore he does not abandon people.Is always good at helping creatures,Therefore he does not abandon creatures.This is called following your insight.Thus the sage :Removes the extremes,Removes the extravagant and wasteful,Removes the arrogance.Thus the sage can achieve greatnessBecause he does not act great.Therefore he can achieve greatness.Thus the sage :Does not travel, yet knows.Does not display himself, yet has a reputation.Does not act, yet accomplishes.The sage does not have a constant heart/mind,Thus the 100 families’ heart/minds become hisheart/mind.The sage lives in the world, taking it all in.And so he serves the world, merging with theirheart/minds.The 100 families all pay attention to their ears and eyes,And the sage treats them all like his children.Therefore : the sage says –I use non-action, and the citizens naturally transform.I cherish stillness, and the citizens naturally becomehonest and just.I use non-interference, and the citizens naturally becomewealthy.I am without-desire, and the citizens naturally return tothe state of the uncarved block.Thus the sage :Is honest and does not divide,Is honorable and does not injure,Is straightforward and does not indulge in excess,Is bright but does not dazzle.The sage also does not injure people.Thus the sage in the end does not act great,Therefore he can achieve his greatness.Thus the sage plans for things to be difficult,Therefore in the end he is without difficulty!Thus the sage :Does not act, therefore he does not ruin.Does not grasp, therefore he does not lose.Thus the sage :Desires to not desire,Does not value rare goods,Learns to not learn.Thus the sage :In desiring to be above the citizens,He must by means of his speech be lower-than them.In desiring to be before the citizens,He must by means of his self be behind them.Thus the sage :Lives above them, but the citizens are not burdened.Lives in front of them, but the citizens are not harmed.Thus the world is pleased to promote him, and does nottire of him.Thus the sage wears coarse cloth, but carries jade in hisheart.The sage is not sickBecause he is sick of sickness.Thus he is not sick.Thus the sage :Knows himself but not display himself,Loves himself but does not exalt himself.Therefore he leaves that and chooses this.Thus the sage :Acts, but is not concerned with the results.Accomplishes his tasks, but does not dwell on them.He does not desire to display his virtue.Thus the sage says :Accepting upon oneself the disgrace of the nationIs called being master of the shrines.Accepting upon oneself the misfortune of the nationIs called being king of the world.Thus the sage :Holds the left side of an agreement,But does not demand payment of people.The sage does not accumulate things –Since through serving people, the more one has;Since through giving to people, one has even more.The Way of the sage acts yet does not strive.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). You are free to download this work and share it with others as long as I retain credit for the work. But you cannot change or build on this work in any way, or use it commercially (that is, for your profit), without my permission.
Lives by using non-action in his duties,
And practicing no-talking in his teachings.
The ten thousand creatures arise, but do not have a
beginning.
Creating but not possessing;
Acting, but not concerned with the results;
Accomplishing tasks, but not dwelling on them.
Now : only because there is no dwelling,
Thus the results do not depart.
WHAT WOULD THE SAGE DO?
Thus the sage :
Lives by using non-action in his duties,
And practicing no-talking in his teachings.
Thus the governing of the sage
Empties their heart/minds, fills their bellies,
Weakens their ambitions, strengthens their bones.
The sage is not kind;
Thus the 100 families become as straw dogs to him.
Thus the sage :
Puts his self behind others, yet finds his self before them.
Considers his self extraneous, yet his self survives.
Is this not because he has no self-interests?
Therefore he can achieve his self-interests.
Thus the sage :
Acts on what is inside, he does not act on what he sees.
Therefore he leaves that and chooses this.
Thus the sage :
Embraces the One, thus serving as an example to the
world –
He does not display himself, therefore he has insight.
Does not consider himself correct, therefore he
distinguishes himself.
Does not boast about himself, therefore he possesses
merit.
Does not brag about himself, therefore he endures.
Now : only because he does not strive,
Therefore no one in the world can strive against him.
Thus the sage :
Is always good at helping people,
Therefore he does not abandon people.
Is always good at helping creatures,
Therefore he does not abandon creatures.
This is called following your insight.
Thus the sage :
Removes the extremes,
Removes the extravagant and wasteful,
Removes the arrogance.
Thus the sage can achieve greatness
Because he does not act great.
Therefore he can achieve greatness.
Thus the sage :
Does not travel, yet knows.
Does not display himself, yet has a reputation.
Does not act, yet accomplishes.
The sage does not have a constant heart/mind,
Thus the 100 families’ heart/minds become his
heart/mind.
The sage lives in the world, taking it all in.
And so he serves the world, merging with their
heart/minds.
The 100 families all pay attention to their ears and eyes,
And the sage treats them all like his children.
Therefore : the sage says –
I use non-action, and the citizens naturally transform.
I cherish stillness, and the citizens naturally become
honest and just.
I use non-interference, and the citizens naturally become
wealthy.
I am without-desire, and the citizens naturally return to
the state of the uncarved block.
Thus the sage :
Is honest and does not divide,
Is honorable and does not injure,
Is straightforward and does not indulge in excess,
Is bright but does not dazzle.
The sage also does not injure people.
Thus the sage in the end does not act great,
Therefore he can achieve his greatness.
Thus the sage plans for things to be difficult,
Therefore in the end he is without difficulty!
Thus the sage :
Does not act, therefore he does not ruin.
Does not grasp, therefore he does not lose.
Thus the sage :
Desires to not desire,
Does not value rare goods,
Learns to not learn.
Thus the sage :
In desiring to be above the citizens,
He must by means of his speech be lower-than them.
In desiring to be before the citizens,
He must by means of his self be behind them.
Thus the sage :
Lives above them, but the citizens are not burdened.
Lives in front of them, but the citizens are not harmed.
Thus the world is pleased to promote him, and does not
tire of him.
Thus the sage wears coarse cloth, but carries jade in his
heart.
The sage is not sick
Because he is sick of sickness.
Thus he is not sick.
Thus the sage :
Knows himself but not display himself,
Loves himself but does not exalt himself.
Therefore he leaves that and chooses this.
Thus the sage :
Acts, but is not concerned with the results.
Accomplishes his tasks, but does not dwell on them.
He does not desire to display his virtue.
Thus the sage says :
Accepting upon oneself the disgrace of the nation
Is called being master of the shrines.
Accepting upon oneself the misfortune of the nation
Is called being king of the world.
Thus the sage :
Holds the left side of an agreement,
But does not demand payment of people.
The sage does not accumulate things –
Since through serving people, the more one has;
Since through giving to people, one has even more.
The Way of the sage acts yet does not strive.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). You are free to download this work and share it with others as long as I retain credit for the work. But you cannot change or build on this work in any way, or use it commercially (that is, for your profit), without my permission.