Many websites have tried to update the ‘meaning’ of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching over the centuries. My version came to me over a few weeks in May 2000 and was published in China six years later in 2006. The below entries are my own book on the Tao Te Ching “Thoughts on becoming a Sage” .  Additional entries that follow with additional excerpts from Wang Pi and other scholars and writers promoting the Tao hopefully will lead to better understanding of the Way of Virtue.

Dan’s Notes:  The narrative below in both English and Chinese is as published in China in 2006. The pictures have been added here to the website and were taken exclusively by the author during his travels over the years in China. They are primarily from historic locations that pertain to Taoist history, religion and culture. Qingyang Mountain and the nearby Dujian Waterworks, Qingyang Taoist Temple, and the Wuhan Temple in Qingdao. Additional pictures from around China may be interchanged to replace some of the pictures here to better tell the story.  

Thoughts on becoming a Sage –                                                      the Guidebook to leading a virtuous Life

 Preface

This book represents a personal commitment to gaining a further understanding as to how Lao Tzu and his Tao Te Ching fits into the modern sense of what it means to be seen or considered as a sage. The traditional meaning of the sage has had a special meaning and connotation reserved for one of great insight and learning throughout Chinese history.

Usually attributed to the great Taoists teachers Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Confucius, the term generally refers to one of great learning and insight who becomes a teacher of valuable lessons as to the way people should conduct their lives.

Thoughts on becoming a Sage represents the author’s interpretation of the Tao Te Ching in a personalized style that illustrates the way of virtue and steps one would take in seeking out those attributes most resembling a “sage like” lifestyle and ways to live in the secular world.

The paradox being that one cannot see oneself as a sage in the here and now… This would be seen as presumptuous. One simply aspires to see beyond himself and whatever his shortcomings may be and in doing so he can catch glimpses of his highest endeavor and destiny.

Just as there is an underlying or unity of philosophical religious teachings throughout the world, as shown by the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed of Medina, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Mencius, Confucius, and others, one who emulates or strives to live a life of virtue sees past self imposed religious differences and intolerance found in the world around him. They see the likeness in everyday activities where virtue, or man’s highest endeavors, are reflected and accepted as universal truths; i.e., that we are all God’s children. It is when one reflects on his or her place in the scheme of things reaching an understanding of where they fit into this unity found in nature that the journey begins for real.

In a previously published book about the I Ching, (An American Journey through the I Ching and Beyond), the author began this series about early Chinese history and philosophy in an effort to bridge seeming differences that are in reality non-existent.

In Chinese history there was an individual who lived in the sixth century during the Tang Dynasty that epitomized this universal sense of collective spirit and wisdom. Li Fang saw the need for Confucius teachings to be seen as compatible with Taoism, the teachings of Lao Tzu and Buddhism the teachings of  Loashan Buddhism that was prevalent at the time. He professed to an understanding that all religions followed a core belief of a singular God. All religions simply served as the mechanism to help people get to a similar place and that no one process was necessarily better than another. Each simply the process of finding and following one’s natural inclination to nurture a personal relationship with God.

To begin to understand Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, you must first begin by understanding what he meant by the Tao, or what is commonly referred to as the way or path one should follow throughout one’s life. The way defines one’s path to ultimate reality. Although Lao Tzu continually throughout the Tao Te Ching re-affirms he does not know it’s true name, without a name it simply becomes the way, or better known as the “way of virtue”. Albeit serving to find one’s ultimate path…

That ultimate reality is to reach a commonality or understanding of one’s place in the physical universe, known as heaven and earth, and relationship with all things in it or what is commonly referred to or known as the ten thousand things.

The author’s understanding of Taoism as reflected in today’s culture and society, is illustrative of a sense that the Tao does not simply give birth to all things. It continues to remain present in each individual thing as a power or energy. In a truly religious sense we refer to it as one’s eternal spirit or soul, or qi (chi). As the Tao manifests within an individual, it can remain static or awaken the person midstream to question his or her role, and what they are to be doing once they awaken to their true endeavor and destiny. Possibly even to grow in a certain way in tune with their true  nature. Finding this one can develop their religious identity identifying with the path most comfortable for each individual.

It is not the intent of the author to repeat another “interpretation” of Lao Tzu’s Te Tao Ching in the pages that follow. This has been done quite well and successfully by numerous other writers throughout the ages. This book focuses on the sage, and the art and process of becoming the sage. Especially furthering the sense of the virtuous or “perfected man” that has been common in the writings of Chinese literature and scholars throughout the ages. It has been through the Te Tao Ching or “way of virtue” that the window to one’s soul has been found enlightenment through an appreciation of Taoist beliefs for over two thousand years in China. It is this continuity or connection between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucius that brings one to understand where and how everything fits together. A true sense of heaven and earth and finding one’s place in the ten thousand things remains very real today in China.

In western philosophy and religion, there has always been more intolerance and the need to convert others to a particular belief, theirs…. This is illustrated best by the tendency of Christianity to feel the need to convert others as their way is the only path one could follow to God., hens the historic sense of need for missionaries. However, as Christianity in China today has grown to represent a more practical application where assimilation is more important to its ongoing current success, appreciation of and for other beliefs continues to grow.

That we are all God’s children and that we each have the opportunity to seek and find our “inner virtue” or true selves is extremely relevant today. There will also be more that connects us than that may separate us. It will be those who can assist in putting it all together that may be seen as the ultimate sage today.

Dan C DeCarlo   a/k/a Kongdan   October 8, 2005

序言

这本书代表一个个人的承诺。这个承诺反映在对老子和他的道德经的理解，也反映在对道德经和圣人在现代社会的涵义更深入的理解。在中国的历史进程中，圣人这个传统称号是为那些具有伟大洞察力和非凡学识的人而保留的，因此具有特别的含义。

圣人通常是指中国古代伟大的哲学大师老子，庄子和孔子，他们学识渊博，目光深邃，在处世为人等方面堪称人民的良师益友。

《成圣之思辩》代表了作者对道德经的诠释。此书阐述了大德之道，寻找酷似“圣人”属性的步骤和在物质世界生活的规范。荒谬的是今天在这里他不能把自己视为圣人…不然则被认为自大妄为。他渴望能够高瞻远瞩。不管他有什么缺点，他的追求使他瞥见自己的最高努力和命运。

世界上存在着各种以哲学宗教为基础的教义，例如拿撒勒的耶稣，麦地那的穆罕默德，菩萨，老子，孟子，孔子和其他哲贤的教义。那些仿效或力图以道德为生活准则的人，能够看到过去的自欺欺人的宗教差别和世界周围的不宽容。他们在日常生活中观察到一种趋向，即大德在世界上已经引起了共鸣并被接受为公理。换言之，我们都是神的后代。

正是当人们对他或她在万物中的地位进行反思时，才对他们如何适应大自然的合一得到理解。旅行真正开始了。

自早先出版了一本关于易经的书（一个美国人的易经之旅）之后，为了弥补实际上并不存在的哲学宗教表面上的差异，作者开始了一系列关于中国古代历史和哲学的创作。

在中国历史上，六世纪的唐朝是一个百家争鸣的时期。唐朝有一个名为李方的人看到了儒学与道学的相容，因此认为有必要推行儒学。那时崂山佛学也十分流行。他声称，所有的宗教都遵从于来自同一个神的核心信仰。所有的宗教都服务于同一个目的，即帮助人民到达同一个地方。没有一个宗教比另外一个宗教更好，每一个宗教仅仅是寻找和遵从个人的自然向性，建立人与神的关系的过程。

为了理解老子的道德经，你必须首先理解什么是道，或者什么是通常所讲的一个人一生必须遵从的方式或途径。道划定了一个人人生的真实途径。尽管老子在整本道德经里多次声称他不知道道的真名，无名即道，或众所周知的“大德之道”。虽然道是用来寻找人生道路的…

道的最终目的是寻找一个人在称为天地的现实世界里的地位和取得与通常所说的万物之间的关系的理解。作者对反映今天文化和社会的道学的理解说明了道不仅仅创造了万物，道还作为力量或能量之源继续存在于每一个事物之中。从真正的宗教角度上说，我们把道看成一个人永恒的精神或灵魂或气。当道在一个人体内表露时，它可以保持静态，或唤醒这个人的心灵，询问他或她的职责。当他们明白自己真正的理想和使命时，道则询问他们将要干什么。而且，道还可能以某种方式与他们的真性协调增长。发现这一点能够以最适合于每个人的途径来发展他们的宗教自身。

作者的目的不是在此书对老子的道德经再作一次“解析”。多年来已有不少作者对道德经作了成功的精辟的解读。此书侧重于圣人以及成为圣人的艺术和过程。特别是进一步发掘自古以来在中国文学和学术界人所共知的有品德的或“真人”的概念。两千多年来，在中国，对道的修炼可以帮助照亮人们的心灵之窗。正是佛教，道教和儒教的连续或连接，人们才得以对万物在何和如何组合有了了解。今天在中国，对天地的真正理解和在万物之中寻找个人的地位仍然具有现实意义。

在西方的哲学和宗教领域里，长期以来就存在著着对其它宗教的排斥，并且把自己的信仰强加于人。例如，基督教就有这样的倾向，认为该教是跟随神的唯一途径，并派遣传教士。然而，基督教在中国已经发展成为一种实用工具，同化比目前的成功更为重要。对其它宗教信仰的认同也在不断增加。

我们都是神的后代，每个人都有机会去寻找和发现自己的“内在大德”或真正的自我。这些观点与今天尤为密切相关。把我们凝聚在一起的力量将比分离我们的力量大。那些能够帮助整合世界的人可以被视为今天的最后圣人。

丹•德卡罗     a/k/a 孔丹    ２００５年１０月８日

Acknowledgements

While there are many to thank when a book such as this is published in two languages for multiple audiences, I must first give thanks to the ultimate source for my inspiration.

Many times I have referred to the founders of Taoism (Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and Lieh Tzu) as the source of what I see as my divine guidance.  I have always felt their assuming the role of the dragon in Chinese history and culture has equated them with the deity. Assisting and helping people to find their true path, then just as important continuing to help them along their own personal journey.

To follow the Tao, requires a strong independent belief in God. For me, this has equated into a universal sense unity where everyone everywhere has an opportunity to “find their place” in the scheme of things. This book in many ways illustrates one person’s attempts to emulate or mirror within himself these highest endeavors and destiny that may help to define an ultimate purpose. Acknowledging this higher presence in the universe, beyond any seeming religion, serves as the beginning point or benchmark necessary to finding this purpose.  Doing so has assisted in building bridges and has led to breaking down barriers that might otherwise get in the way.

Two ministers have been primarily responsible for my own growth both in Florida and the western Shandong Province in China. Reverend Nancy Norman, the minister at Unity of Delray Beach, in Delray Beach, Florida and Reverend Gao Ming from Jining City, China.

I owe both a deep sense of gratitude for their inspiration and guidance.  Both have helped me to see what the right thing should be in my personal journey and what my next step should be along the way. To both the members of the congregation at Unity of Delray Beach and the Christian Church Association in western Shandong Province I am grateful as well for their continuing inspiration.

My thanks to Mr.Gao Jian, a celebrated calligrapher in Jining in Shandong Province for his illustrations that appear throughout the text and a special thanks to Mr. Binhe Gu for his expert assistance in the translation of my English text to Chinese. His translation and editing of the text has assisted in making my story of the sage more understandable and readable to the Chinese audience.

To all of the above, I give my heartfelt thanks.

致谢

当这本用两种语言为不同读者而写的书得以出版时，我的感激之情油然而生。首先，我必须感谢我的灵感之源。我多次提及道教的创始人老子，庄子和列子是我神圣的指导源泉。我总感到他们假定龙在中国历史和文化中充当的角色，已使他们能够与神相提并论。他们帮助人们寻找自己的真正道路，然后同等重要的是在人生旅程中继续协助他们。

为了跟随道，要求对神的一种坚定和独立的信念。对于我，这等于在一个普遍意义上的合一，即世界上每个人都有机会在事物的配置中“找到他们的地位”。这本书在许多方面反映了一个人对实现自己最终目的的努力和把握自己命运的尝试。我们必须承认，道在宇宙中的至尊地位，已经超越了任何宗教，成为发现这个最终目的必要起点或水准，帮助架起了通向最终目的的桥梁，并且排除了道路上的障碍。

两位牧师对我在美国佛罗里达和中国山东省西部的发展帮助尤甚。他们是佛罗里达德尔莱滩的德尔莱滩统一教会的南希•诺曼牧师和中国济宁市的高明教士。我衷心感谢他们的鼓励和指导。他们两人帮助我看清人生旅行中的正确道路和未来的方向。我要感谢德尔莱滩统一教会和山东省西部的基督教教堂协会教友们的不断鼓励。

我还要感谢山东省济宁市的著名书法家高健先生为本书所提供的插图。我特别感谢古滨河先生把此书翻译成中文。他的翻译和对本书的编辑使我这个关于圣人的故事更容易被中国读者接受。

对于上述的所有人，我在这里表示衷心的感谢。

Table of Contents

I.    Irreverently Meandering Through Time  

II. Prelude

Chapter 1

1.     Verse 1 – Just one da ti da after another
2.     Verse 2 – Transforming Realities    
3.     Verse 3 – Preparing the Way     
4.     Verse 4 – Remaining as the Ancestor of all Things    
5.     Verse 5 – Remaining Empty Yet Inexhaustible    
6.     Verse 6 – Accepting My Fate and Ultimate Aspiration  
7.     Verse 7 – Keeping to Heaven’s Promise
8.     Verse 8 – Taking Shape while Remaining Shapeless    
9.     Verse 9 – Maintaining a Reservoir of Enthusiasm     
10.     Verse 10 – Exposing ever-present but forgotten trains of Virtue
11.     Verse 11 – Opening Doors while Staying Behind           
12.     Verse 12 – Insuring Final Outcomes    
13.     Verse 13 – Skirting Disgrace and Disaster
14.     Verse 14 – Staying behind to Impart Immortality’s Wisdom   
15.     Verse 15 – Staying on Course   
16.     Verse 16 – Previous Encounters
17.     Verse 17 – Governing Wisely   
18.     Verse 18 – When Innocence prevailed and Formlessness
19.     Verse 19 – Truly Reflecting the Tao
20.     Verse 20 – On becoming a Sage  
21.     Verse 21 – Forever replenishing our Virtue      
22.     Verse 22 – On Becoming Whole   
23.     Verse 22A– Addendum / Becoming a Beacon of Light for all to see
24.     Verse 23 – Defining True Objectively  
25.     Verse 24 – Staying with my own Gait   
26.     Verse 25 – Coming Home

27. Chapter 2

    

28.    Verse 26 – Preparing for Your Grand Performance
29.    Verse 27 – Paradox Revealed  
30.    Verse 28 – Maintaining Ancient Virtue   
31.    Verse 29 – Showing the Way while Remaining Behind  
32.    Verse 30 – Winning when you have no Choice  
33.    Verse 31 – Remaining Centered with the Tao   
34.    Verse 32 – The River of Tao runs through me 
35.    Verse 33 – Living Beyond Attachments
36.    Verse 34 – Knowing no Borders you learn to lead the Way      
37.    Verse 35 – Remaining Humble yet Inexhaustible   
38.    Verse 36 – Hoping Weakness Prevails    
39.    Verse 37 – Upholding the Tao   
40.    Verse 38 – Learning to see beyond Oneself 
41.    Verse 39 – Remaining Centered       
42.    Verse 40 – The Guardian Angel
43.    Verse 41 – Contending for the Middle  
44.    Verse 42 – Giving Birth to all around You      
45.    Verse 43 – Mirroring the Tao 
46.    Verse 44 – Staying Focused on Oneself 
47.    Verse 45 – Becoming Translucent   
48.    Verse 46 – Prevailing Contentment  
49.    Verse 47 – Becoming endowed by the Way  
50.    Verse 48 – Becoming the Master Weaver     
51.    Verse 49 –  Remaining True to Form    
52.    Verse 50 – Evolving with Ever-renewing Purpose
53.    Verse 51 – Honoring the Way   
54.    Verse 52 – When our virtue becomes us   
55.    Verse 53 – Gently guiding others
56.    Verse 54 – While Cultivating his garden the world comes Forward to find the Sage    
57.    Verse 55 – Gaining a firm grip on lasting Abundance

58.     Chapter 3    

    

60.     Verse 56 – You must be the Change you want to see in the World
61.     Verse 57 – Becoming one with the dust of the World 
62.     Verse 58 – Bringing the world along for the ride     
63.     Verse 59 – Remaining as an edge that does not cut
64.     Verse 60 – The way of long and lasting Life 
65.     Verse 61 – Harmony finding the way 
66.     Verse 62 – Cultivating Humanity
67.     Verse 63 – Becoming a sanctuary to all you meet
68.     Verse 64 – Finding everything to easy 
69.     Verse 65 – Learning to act before something exists   
70.     Verse 66 – Reaching Perfect Harmony
71.     Verse 67 – Thought on remaining a lower presence
72.     Verse 68 – Rising through the forefront through compassion 
73.     Verse 69 – Conveying the utmost virtue through non-aggression  
74.     Verse 70 – Putting things in order or being the guest at fine banquet    
75.     Verse 71 – Preceding with little or no Fanfare     
76.     Verse 72 – Rising above one’s own Affliction    
77.     Verse 73 – Staying out of the way of my own enlightenment
78.     Verse 74 – Acceding to the will of heaven  
79.     Verse 75 – Finding our own place under heaven
80.     Verse 76 – In death the Tao acknowledges the sage   
81.     Verse 77 – Letting your enthusiasm open every door   
82.     Verse 78 – Following the Way of Heaven
83.     Verse 79 – Being present at destiny’s table    
84.     Verse 80 – Staying in step with the Tao 
85.     Verse 81 – Remaining in High Style  

Epilogue – Preparing to return to utter spontaneity   

目录
放荡不羁的漫游		1
序		2
	第１章
第1节	接踵而来	3
第2节	改变真实	4
第3节	备道	5
第4节	做万物之宗	6
第5节	恪守虚空，取之不尽	7
第6节	接受命运，施展抱负	8
第7节	遵守诺言	9
第8节	无形之中要有形	10
第9节	保持一腔热忱	11
第10节	展示大德	12
第11节	敞开大门，置身在后	13
第12节	坚持到底	14
第13节	在耻辱和灾难的边缘漫游	15
第14节	回家传授永恒的智慧	16
第15节	循道而行	17
第16节	往事	18
第17节	无为而治	19
第18节	天真烂漫，无拘无束的时候	20
第19节	真实地反映道	21
第20节	关于成为圣人	22
第21节	修练大德，永无止境	23
第22节	论合一	24
第22节 (补遗)	作众人的指路明灯	25
第23节	制定真正的目标	26
第24节	与女神同在	27
第25节	与道同归	28
	第２章
第26节	准备你的盛大表演	29
第27节	悖论的揭示	30
第28节	保持古朴的美德	31
第29节	为众人引路，但不抛头露面	32
第30节	依靠诚实取胜	33
第31节	在道的中央	34
第32节	道之河在我身上流过	35
第33节	超越情感	36
第34节	道无边	37
第35节	保持谦恭，取之不尽	38
第36节	祈求柔弱	39
第37节	支持道	40
第38节	学习超越自我	41
第39节	从寻道到与大德生活在一起	42
第40节	守护神	43
第41节	提倡中庸	44
第42节	赋予生命	45
第43节	反映真道	46
第44节	聚精会神	47
第45节	清晰明朗	48
第46节	知足	49
第47节	道的认可	50
第48节	编织大师	51
第49节	真实于形	52
第50节	不断更新	53
第51节	以道为荣	54
第52节	德即是我们	55
第53节	循循引导	56
第54节	圣人耕园，世人寻觅	57
第55节	把握恒久的丰裕	58
	第3章	59
	你必须是世界的变化	60
第56节	混同于尘世	61
第57节	与世人一同前行	62
第68节	甘做钝器	63
第59节	养生长寿之道	64
第60节	和谐寻道	65
第61节	培养和谐	66
第62节	做众人的庇护处	67
第63节	万事皆易	68
第64节	预防不测	69
第65节	达到完美的和谐	70
第66节	对保持低调的思考	71
第67节	出于同情，挺身而出	72
第68节	和平以播德	73
第69节	宴会的客人	74
第70节	悄然而行	75
第71节	理解个人疾苦	76
第72节	不要自我干扰	77
第73节	接受上苍的意愿	78
第74节	寻找我们在天堂的位置	79
第75节	死后道向圣人致谢	80
第76节	让你的热情打开所有的门	81
第77节	遵循天道	82
第78节	主宰命运	83
第79节	紧跟道的步伐	84
第80节	保持高风格	85

I.  Irreverently Meandering through Time

Traveling on the wind once again the sage proceeds as if at home. Remaining above the clouds he looks down, unconcerned.

Waiting to see if anything of importance lies beneath him.

Following dragons again and clouds beyond the horizon you reflect on mirror images of yourself and seeing that your destiny lies below.  As always when traveling with dragons, you remain irrelevant to time.

Comforted in knowing that your journey and today’s path continues to find peace and harmony and a clearer understanding of your place in the universe, as your destiny remains assured. Events

only occurring to move you ever-forward as you meander as if unknowingly through as time.

Your destiny tied to endeavors forever remaining a paradox. As you remain an enigma that others come to depend on for and wisdom taking them to places they otherwise would never go. As you remain a magnet for others simply showing the way.

Returning briefly home again, as if only irreverently meandering through time.

放荡不羁的漫游

圣人再度乘风出游，宛如闲庭信步。他在云里不经意地俯视，静观人间的变化。

随着群龙漫游，云在地平线外飘荡。你看见自己的身影，看见自己的命运就系在下面。象通常与神龙同游那样，时间与你毫不相干。

你对寻找安宁和谐的旅行和今天的途径都感到安慰。因为命运已定，你对自己在宇宙的位置就有了更清晰的认识。你不知时日地漫游，一路上的遭遇只能够促使你继续前行。

你维系努力的命运始终是一个悖缪。你是一个神秘人物，人们纷纷前来请你指点迷津和赐予智慧，你把人们带进了一个从未涉及的世界。你所展示的道象磁铁般吸引着人们。

若只是在云中傲散，你不妨回家休息片刻。

II.    Prelude

Begin approaching the Te Tao Ching and your mentor Lao Tzu by seeing beyond life’s transparencies as if sorting through the clutter clouding your mind and your way.

Coming to understand that your final destination lies with the angels, or dragons, you have come to know over eons of time and space as you begin to contemplate returning home once again.

Not in the physical sense as if in the here and now, but taking steps to become the sage that belies your destiny. Knowing that true destiny can only be revealed by endeavoring to get it right this time.

It is in this spirit that I come forth to pursue my final unveiling.

序

走近《道德经》和大师老子，就如同清理了思想和人生道路上的杂物，生命一下子变得如此清澈透明，一目了然。

终于明白你的命运取决于天使或神龙。到返家的时候，你已经领悟到时空的无边无际。

此时此刻，你彷佛置身梦中。然而，只能通过努力，才能成为主宰自己命运的主人。

现在才知道真正的命运只能够通过奋斗才能揭示。

正是本着这种精神，我前来追求我的最后归宿。

Verse 1 – Just one big la ti da after another

Encountering constant renewal.

Understanding the paradox living brings each day. That once we find comfort in the way or direction we pursue today, we become aware that this is not the true way we are here to travel.

That when we are free of desire we can see where things begin and when we are subject of desire we can see where things end.

第１章    

第１节           接踵而来       

我们面临的是一个日新月异的世界。

要理解每天充满悖缪的生活。一旦找到了我们认为舒坦的道，然而，今天刚刚上道，我们就发现这个并不是真道。

当我们没有欲求，就可以看到事情的来由。当我们拥有欲求，就可以看到事情的终结。

Verse 2 – Transforming Realities

The sage transforms his feelings and returns to his true nature thus becoming one with the universe once again.

What displays beauty cannot be beautiful. What is hard must become soft.

He focuses on ending distinction, getting rid of name and form and making of himself a home for virtue.

第2节          改变真实

圣人改变主意，返璞归真，再度成为凡夫俗子。

美可以不是美，刚硬的也会变成柔软。

圣人在消除差别，摆脱名和形，为自己营造大德的家园。

Verse 3 – Preparing the Way

The sage must begin again by daily ritual and purification. You must prepare an area for optimum meditation and reflection.

You must set aside all other activities and thoughts so as to be quiet, still, able to listen and be prepared to learn.

You must instill determination, release all desires, and come to find discipline. When you are ready all will flow unimpeded through you.

You are to become the vessel when and if you remain worthy of the mantle placed upon you.  All is within you – everything you need is already here. We have been waiting for you to be fully prepared for the journey.

Clear your mind, cleanse your heart and open your mind and be prepared for the great and auspicious journey to come.

Use every moment to seek clarity. Paying attention to detail brings focus necessary for true learning. Come forward to know thyself and all will become clear.

Now go. But remain vigilant and dedicated to who you are to become. Your endeavors will bring forth your ultimate destiny…

第３节     备道

圣人必须每天举行祭奠仪式，进行自我净化。你必须腾出一个地方，在那里认真沉思反省。你必须放弃繁事，摈除杂念，心平气和，这样才能够听和学。

你必须下定决心，清心寡欲，严于律己。当你能够做到这几点，一切就会迎刃而解。

你是否是一件精美的容器，就看你是否配得起放在你上面的盖子。一切都在你的掌握之中－万事俱备。我们一直在等待着你做好行前准备。

要头脑清醒，排除杂念，开放思想，准备参加这个伟大光明的旅行。

必须抓紧时间，清心明目。关心细节可以帮助集中注意力，有利学习。来吧，了解你自己，一切都将会明朗。

现在出发吧。但是，你仍然要头脑清醒，努力奋斗，成为你想做的那种人。你的努力终将会有回报…

Verse 4 – Remaining as the Ancestor of all Things

Reminded constantly to remain empty. To go with the flow letting events carry you onward with no sense of predetermined outcome. Yet shaping everything along the way.

Adjust your light to the crowd and merge with the dust of the world.  All the while lifting those around you to otherwise unattainable heights.

Appear to have no ambition, dulling edges and not insisting on anything.  Have no fear and display utmost courage thereby untying every knot and avoiding nothing. Remaining as the ancestor of all things. Clear and yielding yet ever-present.

As if close by, but not making any appearances just the same.

第4节          做万物之宗

时刻牢记，恪守虚空。让事件带你顺流而行，而不要考虑预先设计的结局。一路上，见山开路，遇河架桥。

调和你的光辉，混同于尘世。帮助你周围的人攀登那不可到达的高度。

不可野心勃勃，避免锋芒毕露，切忌贪婪，不要畏惧。要有排除万难的勇气，解开每一个结。不可逃避，要做万物之宗。做到明智，谦恭，隐蔽。

仿佛目标就在眼前，但你不要因陈守旧，不断创新。

Verse 5 – Remaining Empty Yet Inexhaustible

Again reminded to remain empty.  Quiet and still, as if a bellows only responding to what fits.

Dujiangyan Waterworks

Not tied to the present or attached to the past, as if heaven and man were the same lineage. As you continue to guard your inner virtue, or voice from that which would drain you.

To know without needing to know, talk without needing to talk, hear all things without needing to hear. You are simply the essence of the one true spirit contained in all things yet remaining hidden from view.

Too many choices lead to lost chances. Divert not from the path the Tao would have you to follow.  Remain in cheerful countenance to all you encounter. Empty yet inexhaustible thereby becoming the voice of eternity.

第5节      恪守虚空 取之不尽

再次提醒自己要恪守虚空，温雅宁静，如同风箱，适之而应。不要受制于过去或现在，好像天和

人同出一源。要守德慎言。

不知而知，不言而言，不闻而闻。你是一个包容万物却面目深藏的精灵。

太多的选择会导致机会殆尽。不要偏离道，遇事要乐观面对。保持虚空，取之不尽，如此才能做永恒之声。

Verse 6 – Accepting My Fate and Ultimate Aspiration

Reflect on the words of the ancients when they remind you of the age-old axiom – you are not here to create… you are here to relate.

The ten thousand things all must have their beginning, middle and end.  Yet as they continually evolve, they remain never-ending. The cycle remaining true to form and the Tao. Remain as the valley always nourishing that which comes forth to be made new again. What remains empty continues to have form.  What has form takes shape and what take shape becomes the ten thousand things.

Everything you need is here waiting to be revealed the moment you are ready to accept your role in filling in the details.

Simply embody the Tao and grow.

第6节        接受命运，施展抱负

古人云，你到此不是要创造…而是比较。

万物皆有始有终。但万物在不断演化之中，周而复始。对形和道来说也是如此。要像山谷一样，养育万物，赋予来者以新的生命。凡空必有形，有形则有态，有态则有万物。

万事具备，就等待你来揭示。你必须承担责任，做好周密安排和准备。

与道合一，迅速成长。

Verse 7 – Keeping to Heaven’s Promise

Keeping to Heaven’s promise through finding the immortality found on earth.  Giving consent without expecting reward. Remaining humble – the only thing the sage seeking is virtue.

Forever creating an environment emulating and promoting the journey you must take to selflessness.  As you have been given an opportunity to remain immortal simply by living for today.  Truly living through grace.

Becoming adept at remaining in the background while setting the table for all who will come to eat their fill. Constantly reminded of your never-ending destiny as endeavors continue the process of your letting go.

As you remain content with who and where you find yourself. Living, dying and subject to change each moment.  As you travel with no sense of age or time.

Reminded again and again that you can only move ahead by staying behind with a cheerful countenance with virtue to be shared by all. The utmost paradox living brings forth to greet you each day.

第7节            遵守诺言

寻找人间的永恒，恪守对苍天之诺言。给予承诺，不求回报。保持谦逊－圣人所期望的是大德。

努力锤炼，以达到无私的境界。上苍给你一个机会，使你只是活在今生今世，仍然可以达到永恒。要真正做到活得优雅。

要善于作幕后工作。比如摆好桌子让客人就餐。经常提醒自己的永无终结的使命，永不放弃努力。

你对自己和目前的处境感到满意，生死无常。漫游中，你不会觉得时光流逝。

你要反复提醒自己，保持乐观，与众人共享大德。你只能够置身殿后，才能向前。你每天面对的是悖缪的生活。

Verse 8 – Taking Shape while Remaining Shapeless

Travel as if you were water taking on every shape that comes your way as you give life to everything and everyone you touch and meet. Conveying the eternal spring that comes forth from you each day as if you were just passing by.

Being content to remain at the bottom of all things – free from blame.  Avoiding competition while maligning no one.

Choosing humility and that which no one else chooses to do.

Travel like water as if approaching the unattainable Tao.  Remaining clear and deep. Yet constantly emptying to give life to others. Reflecting but remaining pure as you cleanse all that you touch. Having no purpose of you own, assisting truth and helping others to find their natural way as if you were all encompassing, but not really here.

第8节        无形之中要有形

你象流水般到处漫游，遇河成河，入溪化溪，给遇到的万物和众人以生命。

仿佛你刚刚路过，每天传递永恒的春天。甘做万物之底，就不会遭人指责。不要诽谤别人，避免竞争。

保持仁爱，为他人之不为。

象流水那样漫游，走向那似乎不可接近的道，清如镜，深如渊。保持持久的虚空，赋予众人以生命，出泥而不染。不要别有用心，维护真理，帮助别人寻找自然之路，你似乎就在附近，但实际上不在这里。

Verse 9 – Maintaining a Reservoir of Enthusiasm

Be careful of what you cultivate and prepared to let go of what fills you. Know your obstacles before you enter the room or gate to further knowledge and understanding. As if you were a waterfall, only releasing that which does not define your true motives and destination.

Since fullness leads to emptiness – remain empty prepared to become full again and again. Since sharpness leads to becoming dull, avoid zeal and maintain a reservoir of enthusiasm. Since riches lead to worry and excess avoid calling attention to yourself and maintain value within so that it cannot be taken away. When your task is done treat it as though it were nothing and move on to be reminded of the knowledge of ten thousand things.

As you let your enthusiasm carry the day.

第９节 保持一腔热忱

当心你所修炼的，准备放弃你所拥有的。在迈进寻找知识和理解的房间或门槛之前，当知道你的障碍是什么。

如同瀑布，抛弃那些不代表你真正动机和目的的东西。月盈则亏－保持虚空才能够不断充实。因为锋利会变钝，所以要避免狂热，保持热忱。因为财富会引起忧虑和奢华，所以不要抛头露面，保持自身价值永不失去。事成之后，视之为无，继续漫游，成为万物的真知。

让热忱主宰你的每一天。

Verse 10 – Exposing Ever-present but Forgotten Traits of Virtue

Remember what you have always known. That it is our virtue that lights the universe.

That it is your memory of who you once were and are yet to become that resides in your mind and intellect.  As you open your mind to see and know what comes forth, you are simply reminded of what you have forgotten.

That your energies are here to be replenished as you are transformed  into the sage whose mind remains still. As you become still once again, you reflect and mirror heaven and earth and the ten thousand things.

You scoff as you know the best way to govern is without governing and using the efforts of others.  If you don’t obstruct what the Tao begets at their source and suppress their true nature, things mature by themselves.

Virtue remaining ever-present, its owner unknown until you appear along the way.

第１０节 展示大德

牢记你已知的东西，这是我们普照宇宙的大德，这是留在你脑海有关你的过去和未来的记忆。当

你打开思维，看看什么将要来临时，你就会回想起你所忘却的东西。

当你变成头脑冷静的圣人时，到这里来补充能量。当你变得平静如水时，你就成为了天地万物的化身。

面对世俗，你冷然嘲笑。你知道无为而治和善于用人是最好的治国之道。如果你不妨碍道的传播，不抑止他们的天性，万物自己会成熟起来。

大德永存。直到你出现之前，不会有人知道谁是有大德的人。

 

Verse 11 – Opening Doors while Staying Behind

Remaining empty to become full.  Knowing your place is to put all the cards on the table so that the proper path becomes obvious for all to see. Becoming simply the vessel from which all that represents virtue is known, endured and followed as the way by all.

Reminded as our breath ebbs and flows we become full by remaining empty as our mind and thoughts remain the catalyst for change and enlightenment. Our usefulness only determined by the emptiness that fills us. Employing nothing to gain advantage that would allow ego to stand in the way.

As you seek only virtue and leave only vestiges of yourself behind. Your role is to open doors for others as you nurture and prepare them to walk through.

Giving birth to virtue and letting it grow.  Nourishing what comes forth without claiming to own them. Remaining as the hub of a wheel… constant, reliable and still, yet ever-present and nonexistent.

第１１节　敞开大门 置身在后

恪守虚空，才能充实。要知道你的职责是把所有的牌放在桌子上，让众人一览无遗。你要成为示范大德的榜样，坚忍不拔，为众人所追随。

当我们的气息减弱和流淌时，我们因为保持空虚而变得充实，我们的大脑和思想是变化和启迪的催化剂。我们的价值由使我们充实的空虚来决定。不要被自私自利挡了你的路。

因为你追求的是大德，留下的只是轨迹。你的任务是为别人打开大门，然后帮助他们通过。

培育大德，让其成长。培育所有来者，但不要声称拥有他们。甘做轮子的轴心…..恒久，可信，平和，但不露声色。

Verse 12 – Insuring Final Outcomes

Staying within the realm of what our natural abilities provide as if Chuang Tzu. Drinking from the river of life only that which fills our stomach.

Maintaining an even temperament. Letting events happen for their own sake and remaining unaffected by space and time.

Letting the natural course or order of events simply occur. Knowing the final outcome will be just as it should be. While sitting back as the knowing sage, seemingly unaffected but in control.

Choose internal reality over external illusion.

As your eyes cannot truly see, your ears cannot truly hear, your mouth cannot truly taste, your mind cannot help feeling and your body cannot stop moving.

Let these attributes simply stay in the background and observe as you listen to the still small voice within as you have been taught and nothing can harm you. Do not lose your way because of what has caught your attention.

第12节      坚持到底

象庄子那样，量力而行，渴饮生命之河。保持心平气和，顺其自然，不为时空所扰。

自然而然，须知最终的结局不为人的意志而转移。作为一个聪明的圣人，悠悠自在，表面上不动声色，实际上却操纵一切。

选择内在的真实，而不是外表的华丽。因为你目不能视，耳不能听，口不能尝，脑不能想，身体却不能不动。

让这些属性退居幕后。在倾听自己微小的心声时观察，因为你曾受教于老子，再也没有什么可以伤害你，不要因为分心而迷路。

Verse 13 – Skirting Disgrace and Disaster

Be careful not to curry favor with others, as disgrace is soon to follow. Favor and honor remain external from the true path of the sage.

He prefers to cater to neither, as both remain outside and away from the path he has chosen to follow. Possessing them can only lead to disgrace and disaster.

Seek only that which lies within yourself cultivating your own innate abilities. Remain within and all will follow.

第13节     在耻辱和灾难的边缘漫游

不要曲意奉承，因为这样做耻辱很快就要降临。名利是圣人的身外之物。

圣人对名利不感兴趣，两者均与道格格不入。拥有它们只能够招来耻辱和灾难。

只寻找内在的东西，培养内在的能力，保持心灵纯净，一切都将随之而来。

Verse 14 – Staying behind to Impart Immortality’s Wisdom

Coming home to visit with old friends, I am made whole again.  Everything there is to see I have seen and everything there is to do I have done.  I am home again to rest among old friends.

Revisiting the thread that reveals my true identity, I rejoice in the oneness of the universe.  I am at peace as one who has found the grace to see what I must do next in His name.  Shedding my worn baggage, my friends are reminded of the light cast by my eternal coat as I sit beside them to honor our being together once again.

While most are happy to remain within the confines of enlightenment, others are a little jealous of my desire to return to the world.  Where attachments hold one down and keep their owner from attaining their true identity. Just as you are reminded that your path leads back to a place where you can help others to perhaps come forth to seek their own ultimate destiny. As you leave, you catch glimpses that convey warmth and gratitude and knowledge of the ultimate paradox…

Upon my return I begin by weaving together the fabric of shreds of a vision that has yet to become reality.  Knowing that neither my light nor my shadow will leave a lasting impression. While what is left behind for immortality’s wisdom will only be known once I have returned home once again.

第14节       回家传授永恒的智慧

回家拜访老朋友，顿感精神焕发。该看的都看了，该做的都做了，我回到老朋友中间。

重访生我育我的故乡，我为宇宙的和谐合一感到欣慰。我心境宁静，因为圣人知道我下一步以他的名义将要做什么。当我卸下陈旧的行装，坐在老朋友身旁庆祝我们的重逢时，我提醒朋友们注意我永恒的外衣上发出的光芒。

许多朋友为我们的重逢而高兴，但也有人对我重返人世间有点妒忌。情感可以使人消沉，丧失真实的自我。你漫游天下之后又回到故乡，在这里你曾经帮助别人前去寻找他们的命运。当你离开时，你瞥见充满热烈，感激和理解的目光。

回家后，我开始设计我的前景。须知道我的光芒和影子都不能够留下永久的印象。等我下次回来，就会知道我给世界留下的永恒智慧是什么。

Verse 15 – Staying on Course

Taking stock, you stop to reflect why you are here in this place and time just now.

You have succeeded in getting the attention of  many as your reflection has cast a long shadow.  You have shown an uncanny ability to uncover the indiscernible and penetrated contradictions previously covered by darkness.

As you become concerned your ego is bringing you to the forefront, while your nature tells you it is better to stay behind.

You are reminded to remain empty and still.  That you are not here to make a show of yourself and that you are to leave no tracks. To be so conscience of the correct action that needs to be taken that you simply flow with events. That the essence of the Tao consists of nothing more than taking care, as you know that inner truth cannot be perceived, only the outward form of your actions. That it is by intuitive understanding that the darkness becomes clear and by means of movement the still becomes alive.

That it will be by letting each thought remain detached and each action well considered that your ultimate success is determined with your virtue the only measure taken home.

第15节      循道而行

漫游中，你停下来沉思冥想，为什么此时此刻你会在这里。你的成功已经举世瞩目，因为你在空

中的影像已经给大地投下了一个长长的影子。你已经证明你自己具有解决重大疑难的非凡能力。

你担心自我会把你推向前沿，但你的悟性告诉你不要抛头露面。

圣人提醒你，要保持虚空和宁静。你来这里并不是炫耀自己，不要留下任何痕迹。为了小心行事，你必须随波逐流。道的本质仅仅是对你略施关心而已，因为你知道内心的真实是不可感知的，只有外表行为才能够通过直觉感受。直觉可以化黑暗为光明，运动能够使僵硬变灵活。

让每一个思想都能够自由发挥，每一个行动都得以深思熟虑。你用带回家的大德来衡量你的最后成功。

Verse 16 – Previous Encounters

Remaining on course, I return to the place of my youth to reflect on previously self-

imposed limits as to who I am ultimately to become, as if a final cleansing of those things that made me full of myself.

Given an opportunity to further release those things that have held me back from identifying and knowing my final destiny.  To free myself of endeavors that keeps me full of ego and self-interest.

Once recognized, I can let go and let the dragons, or angels, lead the way without intrusion.  Declaring my freedom and turning aside all those things that betray my true path as I declare “free at last, free at last, thank God and the Tao I’m free at last”. Finally letting go of all that has gone before me, I can see the way leads to stillness as the knowing sage.

As I let go, my true path is unveiled and my enthusiasm, my greatest attribute that opens the door for all others, becomes totally and completely apparent.

In returning to my roots, I have unconsciously re-discovered the stillness I knew at the beginning. Thereby allowing me to become shapeless once again. Knowing that the path now followed and the endeavors now cultivated can now prevail; I am reminded of my travels with Lieh Tzu.

I feel a great swoosh… As if a great gust of wind has picked me up and carried me closer to my ultimate destiny.

(Written in June 2000 during a trip home to Joplin, Missouri where I grew up. I lived there from the seventh grade through two years of college. 1964-1973).

第16节      往事

漫游中，我回到我的成长之地。回想起从前对自己的希冀，仿佛对自己过去的所作所为进行一次最后的清理。

又获得一次机会来摒除障碍，明辨方向，把自己从充满自我之中解脱出来。

一旦认清了方向，就可以出发。让神龙或天使引路而不受干扰。我说，“我终于自由了，我终于自由了，感谢神，感谢道，我终于自由了！”我宣布自由，所有的挡道之物都得以排除，过去的终于成为过去。作为一个聪颖的圣人，我能够看见通向宁静的道路。当我踏上旅途时，我的热情和我扶助众人的高尚品格变得如此显而易见。

回到故里，我不知不觉地重新发现曾经拥有过的宁静，再次变得无形无状。我知道我现在所循的道和所作的努力切实可行。我与列子同游。

我仿佛听见风声飕飕，一阵大风将我卷起，带着我走近我的最终归宿。

（2000年6月作于重访密苏里祖泊林期间。1964年－1973年我在那里度过了小学7年级至大学2年级这段时光）

Verse 17 – Governing Wisely

Let your virtue lead the way with others convinced it is their own works that prevail.

Lasting success can only occur when those who have looked to you for guidance conclude they have championed their own cause.

What the sage does to cultivate himself is what he does to govern the world.  Your greatest virtue is to initiate no action that leave traces of your presence.  So that when all goes well people can feel they are responsible.

As long as people think they have achieved greatness by themselves, they have no reason to love, praise or despise anyone.

Simply unveiling the truth and contradictions to virtue will allow others to come forward and for you to remain still.  Instilling peace and harmony along the way you can prepare to take them to places they would otherwise forego.

第17节      无为而治

让你的大德为众人引路，告诉他们，依靠自己的努力才能成功。只有众人的最后成功，你自己才

能成功。

圣人的修身之道如同治国。你的最大德行是无为而治。因此，当丰调雨顺，五谷丰登时，人民觉得他们才是国家的主人。

只要人民安家乐业，他们就没有理由去崇拜，去歌颂或者轻视任何人。

只要展示真理和大德，众人自然前来与你同行，你就可以保持宁静。一路上，你给众人传授宁静与和谐的理念，带领他们去寻找自己的归宿

Verse 18 – When Innocence prevailed and Formlessness endured

As you contemplate returning tomorrow to the place where it all began to attend a gathering of now distant relatives, you recall time spent on the farm.

Returning to the place you originally called home. Returning to the place where you first caught the attention of dragons as a small boy on the farm in Lamar.  Back to the beginning, where innocence prevailed and formlessness endured.  Before details could enter to cloud your way.  You begin to wonder what drew you to the Tao and dragons that were searching for you even then.

You are reminded of the paradox that surrounded you.  The beauty and comfort found in nature – found in an old farmhouse at the end of a long circle drive.  Everything in nature finding its place.  You were affected greatly by opposites that tore at your inner most being.  Tearing away the self identity as a small child that would reveal the formlessness of the sage.  A difficult transition revealing inequities living seemingly always bring to the forefront.  Living in a home with argument and distrust carrying the day, you were encouraged to find security and serenity deep within yourself.

Soon discovering an innate understanding that when names arise from discontent, we find distinctions like kindness, peace and harmony. Attributes formlessness can now find to spring forth and flourish. As such you have now become the conciliator, the mediator who can see through conflict brought forth by envy, ego, lack and mistrust. To those who are unsure of your identity a mystic, to those few who know, perhaps a prophet telling of things yet to come.

Opposites described above affecting you as if you were a blunt piece of metal being hammered into intricate form by blows coming from all sides.

Learning then to look away from good and bad and recognizing that both were the same.  So that one day when the dragons would finally get your attention – to carry you to heights previously thought unattainable you would recognize their presence and acknowledge that they had been guiding you all along. Only waiting for the opportune time to show you the path you were to follow. Reminding you of your true identity and responsibility to the Tao.

Now that I have come full circle and returned, cognizant of the road I have traveled and the one before me that  I am still to follow, I am assured and thankful that virtue will lead the way.

(Written in June 2000 during a trip back to Joplin and the farm in Lamar where I was a small child. I lived there from 1952 through the fourth grade, the summer of 1962.)

第18节       天真烂漫，无拘无束的时候

当你明天打算参加在一个远亲家里举行的聚会时，你回想起你在那个农庄曾经度过的时光。回到你从前的家，回到在拉马尔的农庄，在那里，作为孩童的你，第一次接触神龙。回想从前，你是如此的天真烂漫，无拘无束。那时，纷纷世事还没有象云彩那样遮住你的视线。你扪心自问，是什么把你引向正在寻找你的神龙？

你想起那些围绕你身边的迷惘，那些似是而非的事情。大自然的美丽和舒适也可以在坐落于长长的环形路尽头的农庄房子里找到。世间万物在自然界都有自己的一席之地。你为真正的友情而感动，但孩提时的天真烂漫和无拘无束已经荡然无存。人生的转折总是艰难复杂的。在家里互不信任地争吵了一天后，你鼓起勇气出来寻找藏在你心灵深处的安宁和真诚。

你很快就发现一个天生的道理，这就是当人情绪不愉快时，总爱数落他人。由此我们发现了友善，宁静与和谐之间的区别。无拘无束的天性现在可以萌芽抽枝，旺盛生长了。确切而言，你现在变成了一个安慰者，一个调停者，能够看穿一切妒忌，自私，缺陷和不信赖。对那些对你神秘身份有怀疑的人和少数知道你的身份的人来说，也许你是一个能够预测未来的先知先觉。

上述的反面事例影响了你，你就如同一件经过千锤百炼的钝器，形状已经变得十分复杂。

学会不要从善和恶的角度看问题，两者的性质其实是一样的。当有一天神龙引起你的注意，把你带到以前从未到达的高度时，你就会承认他们的存在，并感谢他们对你的引导。他们只是等待一个适合的时机指明你的路，提醒你的真实身份和对道的义务。

现在，我已经环游世界一周回到家里。我认得曾经走过的路，并打算沿着这条路继续走下去。我自信，我欣喜，大德将指引我的路。

(2000年6月作于回祖泊林和拉马尔农庄度假期间。1952－1962年夏天我在那里度过了我的童年）

Verse 19 – Truly Reflecting the Tao

As I look around to see reflections of the Tao, I am drawn to rediscover what is simple and pure and discard what is considered alien to my original nature.

That if wisdom and reason are only used for self-interest then they should be abandoned. Instead collective wisdom and reason should be used to take all to previously unknown heights.

That if kindness and justice are only shells to pursue selfish motives, then putting an end to arrogant kindness and treacherous justice will enable people to unite on their own.

That if our behavior with others is governed by cleverness and profits our innermost nature would be fulfilled more assuredly if we remain focused on that which remains undyed and uncarved as if driftwood washed up from the sea. Understanding the Tao leads us to understand what is real and unreal, what is artificial and inappropriate and remaining wholly within ourselves.

第19节         真实地反映道

当我四面环顾，寻找道的身影时，我再次发现什么最简朴和纯洁，并且摒除不属于我本性的外来 物。

如果智慧只用在自私上，这些智慧就必须抛弃。而且，集体智慧应该用在把众人引向从前无人知晓的高度。

如果友善和公正只是自私的幌子，终结傲慢的友善和虚伪的公正将使人民团结起来。

如果我们与他人的行为是明智的，我们就可以从中获益。当在海上漂泊的木头被海浪冲上岸时，如果我们能够着眼于未被油漆和雕刻的那部分，我们最内在的天性就能够被发掘出来。对道的理解使我们得以明辨是非真假，自成一体。

Verse 20 – On Becoming a Sage

When yes and no becomes the same answer, perhaps you are ready to discontinue this seemingly natural inclination to retreat into a shell like a turtle…

With virtue intact and your destiny assured perhaps it’s time to live out your true destiny as the sage you have become. Living up to the virtue you know. If inequities are but reflections of your desires – cleanse away those things no longer relevant and spring forth with dynamic hope and optimism. Assured that your next step is pre-ordained by dragons who have been waiting patiently for you to join them.

Fulfill your destiny and live the life of virtue that is so obvious to all you encounter. What others love the sage loves, what others fear the sage fears, but while others may not see anything beyond or outside their own minds – the mind of the sage wanders the Tao.

If you want to inspire others you must remain above what living brings each day. While they choose things, you alone must remain unmoved.  Acknowledging all as the same, that there is nothing to be lost or gained. Coming forth you simply live within the Tao and accept becoming the sage.

第20节         关于成为圣人

当是和否成为同一回答时，你也许应该抛弃这个表面上的天性。实际上，这是一种与海龟把脑袋缩进龟壳以躲避敌人那样的愚蠢做法。

大德依旧，命运已定，已经成为圣人的你，也许到了寻找你真正归宿，实行你熟知的大德的时候了。如果不平等不是你的观点－清除不再相关的东西，满怀信心地前行。下一步是由神龙所决定的，他们盼望你的加入已经很久很久。

实现你的使命，以大德为生活准则－这对你来说是显而易见的。圣人爱众人之所爱，惧众人之所惧，但众人想不到的是圣人对道的看法。

如果你想激发他人，你必须高于生活。不为他人的选择所动，承认一切相同，就不会患得患失。活在道里，成为圣人。

Verse 21 – Forever Replenishing our Virtue

What is this thing called virtue and value placed on emptiness and how can they be so inter-related?

That virtue cannot be found unless we are willing to remain empty, that the Tao remains hidden from view except as virtue found through emptiness. Following the Tao, we are continually subject to change and are redefined as our virtue waxes and wanes.

As if guided by the phases of the moon I find structure through tending my garden just as Shen-ming, the divine husbandman, who discovered agriculture along with the healing properties of plants and a calendar to be followed by the sages of long ago. Could it be that virtue is the manifestation of the Tao, or Way, that should guide us? That the Way is what virtue contains and without it could have no meaning or power. That without virtue, the Way would have no appearance or ability to come forward.

Taking no form, the Tao takes expression only when it changes into virtue.  It is when the sage truly mirrors the Tao that virtue can be given an opportunity to manifest and grow and the natural course, or scheme of things, becomes apparent for all to see.

The Tao by itself neither existing or not existing. As if coming and going as the essence of one’s heart and soul – simply by maintaining its presence as… virtue. Everything in the universe held accountable to the Tao. Continually changing – with our identity the first to go.  What was once true becomes false and what was once false slips into becoming true.  It is only our essence expressed as virtue that is kept and continually replenished by the Tao.

第21节          修练大德，永无止境

大德是什么？虚空是什么？他们之间的关系又如何？如果我们不愿意保持虚空，大德就无从谈起。来自虚空的大德是可见的，除此之外所有的大德都不可见。大德时多时少，我们必须不断修练和完善。

仿佛受到月的盈亏的指点，我象神农那样，通过耕耘我的花园发现了万物的结构。神农是一个伟大的农夫，他很久以前就发现了农业耕作，植物的治病作用和圣人们用来记事的日历。它是道通过大德的显示吗？可以用来指导我们吗？道为大德所拥有。没有大德，道就毫无意义和力量，没有大德，道就无法表现或缺乏动力。道无形，道惟有隐于德时才会显示出来，自然规律或万物法则才变得清晰明了。

道亦有亦无，随着心灵意念来来去去。有德则有道，万物皆有道。我们要不断变革，从改变自身开始。原来的真实现在变成了虚假，原来的虚假现在变成了真实。保留的只有充满道的大德。

Verse 22 – On Becoming Whole

When all has passed through you – everything becoming the same with no opposites pulling at your attention, then you are free to follow the way of virtue.

When you can think and act as if innately following the Tao, you can become whole.

Knowing virtue and honesty are one, you make a list of those things not in keeping with the path you have chosen to follow and begin removing them, as they have become stumbling blocks to completing your endeavors as the sage.  Once encountered and accounted for, they disappear and cannot be traced back to their maker.

Continually redefining the role of the traditional sage. Mirroring the Tao, you become adept at sharing your vision instead of simply trusting the word of others. Instead of relying on the strength of others, you take all to otherwise unattainable heights through reluctantly displaying your own strength.

Your enthusiasm and vision carrying the day. Living in paradox, as in reality you prefer to remain hidden from view. You stand apart, not competing hens no one finding a foothold to compete with you.

Remaining steadfast you become whole.

第22节          论合一

当经历了一切之后，世间万物变得如此和谐协调，再也没有什么令你分心的了。你因此可以自由地踏上通向大德之路。当你能够象天生就信仰和追随道那样去想去做，你就合一了。

要明白大德和诚实是一致的。你把可能有违道德之事一一列出，当这些事情变为你成为圣人道路上的绊脚石时，就把它们搬走。一旦遇上，分辨清楚，它们就会永远消失，无影无踪。

继续完善作为一个普通圣人的职责，你代表道与大众分享你的憧憬，而不仅仅是相信别人。不要依赖别人的力量，你不情愿地显示你的力量，但必须把众人带向不可达到的高度。

的生活充满了热忱和希望。生活在一个矛盾百出，似是而非的世界里，你不愿意抛头露面。

你依然支离破碎，因此没有人可以找到与你竞争的立足之地。继续努力，终成合一。

Verse 22 Addendum – Becoming a Beacon of Light for All to See

Could it be that your ultimate role is to report back to the dragons the role of the sage in the here and now?

To take the thoughts of Lao, Lieh and Chuang and all the others to places they have not been before and to perhaps try them on for size in a different environment.

That it is not you becoming whole, as much as transitioning this ancient way into current thought and action. As your task remains internally to mirror the Tao, perhaps your role in the here and now is to rediscover for the ages how externally one can remain pure and whole in such a material world.  Keeping to eternity’s promise, but making limited appearances just the same.

Challenging the order of the day, you have become the ultimate agent of change and virtue.

Coming forth to claim your place in the universe, you accept the mantle placed upon you with an ever present humble demeanor. As you prepare to move on to accept your greater destiny.

第22节 (补遗)          作众人的指路明灯

此时此刻，你可以回到群龙那里充当圣人的角色了吗？把老子，列子，庄子和其他古代圣贤的思

想提升到一个新的高度，并且在不同的环境尺度下运用。

把古代的方式方法变成现代思想和行动不能与成为合一相提并论。因为心中有道，也许此时此刻你的职是重新发现在物欲横流的世界上如何长久地保持纯洁和合一。恪守永恒的诺言，但减少露面。

发起向传统势力的挑战，因为你已经成为变革和大德的全权代表。

前来拥有你在宇宙应有的地位，接受永远代表谦恭的斗篷。继续漫游，接受更大的挑战。

Verse 23 – Defining True Objectivity

Finding your self in the scheme of things so that there is nothing coming from you except the natural extension of the Tao.

Remaining quiet and speaking in whispered tones so that someone must strain to comprehend what is being said thereby confirming they are paying attention and listening.  Letting the natural order of events simply occur with events just waiting in the wings to change what has become comfortable.

Remaining natural, or neutral in effect, your endeavors simply an extension of the Tao. The way means knowing both success and failure and using them to become one. Becoming one by leaving yourself behind to rediscover your true nature ultimately simply a seamless extension of the natural order or scheme of things, as you remain one with the universe with your objectivity leading the way.

If you have looked beyond what success and failure may bring, you can begin to know the proper way!

第2３节        制定真正的目标

把自己置于万物之中，一心在道。

保持宁静，说话时要阴声细气，对方就必须专心倾听，以便理解。让事件按自然次序排列，伺机待发，改变懒散安逸。

保持自然或中立，你的努力只是道的延续。懂得道就意味着明白成功与失败的真谛，两者就可以化为一体。你继续发掘你真性，最终你将自成一体。作为宇宙的一员，你让目标引路。最后，自然次序或万物的安排都成为道天衣无缝的延续。

如果你能够领悟成功和失败的背后是什么，你就开始领悟道。

Verse 24 – Staying within my own Gait

Learning to shun those things not in keeping with the proper way.  Oh, the challenges and paradox life comes forth to greet me each day.  As if life’s indulgences and excesses are extremely happy to continually get in my way and obscure my true path and identity.

Staying within the confines of who I am yet to become.  Not standing on tiptoes to see over others or walking faster than my own natural gait.  To act as if life’s reflections are translucent and bringing attention to your actions is alien from what motivates you.

“He who watches himself does not appear, he who displays himself does not flourish, he who flatters himself achieves nothing and he who parades himself does not lead”.

As you recall that the mind of the sage remains free of desire and selfless, you are reminded that those who cultivate the Tao yet think about themselves are like people who over eat or over work.

Food is to satisfy hunger, work should suit the task. Ultimately the way of heaven does not depend on offerings or prayers.  It is simply who follows the Tao will live long Remember it is as Lao Tzu says and those who lose their way do not.

第2４节　与女神同在

学会回避那些违背道的事。呵，每天的生活充满挑战和矛盾。生活的耽溺和奢华不断挡我的路，

堵塞我的真道和蒙蔽我的真实自身。

坚守在我既定的目标范围内，不可踮着脚来看人，不可走在我的自然女神前面。你的言行仿如生命的影像那样清澈透明，招人注目的行为举止与道的精神是格格不入的。

老子说， “不自见，故明；不自是，故彰；不自伐，故有功；不自矜，故长”。

正如你所知道的，圣人没有欲望和私利。要牢记，修道的人如果光想着自己的话，就如同吃的太饱或劳累过度的人。

食物是用来充饥的，工作为了完成任务。天道最终不依赖它的子孙和祈祷者。信道的人会长寿，迷失了道的人则不然。

Verse 25 – Coming Home with the Tao

Returning to where you began you find nothing, yet remain complete and indivisible.

You are simply one with the Tao.

No true beginning or end, pure and impure seem unimportant, past and future become one, good and bad the same.  One with the Tao, you are unsure you exist yet are comforted by the knowledge you will live forever.

As the sage you have learned to stand-alone unwavering, travel everywhere without leaving home as you have seen and done it all before. You have become as if you were everyone and everything’s mother. As you return to the root of where it all began, you have come home to the Tao.

第2５节        与道同归

你回家时两手空空，但保持完整和不可分割。你只与道在一起。

不是真正的开始和结束，纯与不纯看来不重要。过去和将来终成合一。善与恶其实相同。与道在一起，你不敢肯定长生不老之说是否使你的生活更加舒畅。

作为圣人，你学会了怎样才能与众不同。正如你已经看过做过，你可以不出门而畅游天下。你仿佛成为人和万物之母。当你叶落归根时，你也就回到了道的家。

Chapter 2

26.    Verse 26 – Preparing for Your Grand Performance

Remaining heavy and still always controlling yourself and learning to keep your place.

In stillness you control those who are busy and are undeterred by what is small that cannot hold down something large.  In keeping with the path you now travel, keep your words weighty and what you have learned close to your vest.

Travel as if you are the son of heaven with ten thousand chariots at your command.

Remembering all the while that what remains external from your body; success and failure,  wealth and honor will be forever fleeting. That it is in stillness that tranquility endures allowing you to remain simply within yourself and your true nature.

Remaining still, the universe comes forth at your command

• 准备你的盛大表演

保持严肃宁静，控制自己和学会如何站稳脚跟。

你以宁静的心态，解脱那些被小事困扰，而又不能应付大事的人。为了继续你的漫游，应当牢牢地恪守诺言，把你所学过的记在心中。

仿佛你是天之娇子，统领千军万马，奋勇前行。

牢记切，不光是表面的东西。成功和失败，财富与荣耀都将会消失。只有宁静才能持久，使你坚守内在和真性。

保持宁静，宇宙将在你的召唤下前来。

Verse 27 – Paradox Revealed

As things take shape, you seemingly remain shapeless.  Out of the way, in a corner out of view.  This appears to be the greatest paradox living comes forth to greet me each day.

For in emulating the life of the true sage, good appears to flow directly from my every movement. The more I try to push it away, the easier it is to find me.  When I promote my vision, or image, of how things should unfold I become further enmeshed in life’s action.

Is this perhaps the underlying reason for your presence here at this moment in time?  To come out of the well-worn shell you have insulated yourself into to become the image, or mirror to be held up for all to follow.  Becoming a sage precludes the fact that few can follow in the same footsteps. That once you have acceded to the obvious you can truly lead the way. And is that not why you are here?

As you have seen and done it all before, can it matter if attention and attributes you bring forward bring accolades from those around you?  Is not the attention you have garnered a prod to assist you to re-define your purpose to insure it is the Tao leading the way?  With you simply putting the pieces into place. If good walking leaves no tracks, then perhaps the way should be shown that lessens ego and individual and strengthens community.

If good talking reveals no flaws then perhaps you should let only positive re-enforcement guide your way.  If good counting counts no beads, then show how material advantage does not portend the future.

If you have closed the door properly behind you it cannot be re-opened as if there were no need for locks and if what has been put in place is secured by your light then there can be no knots to be undone and everything finds its rightful end by relying on their nature not their form.

In staying focused the true path of the sage becomes revealed and his motives defined.  He becomes good at saving the day while leaving no one behind.  By showing no favorites everyone is allowed to find their natural place.

By remaining in the background as others come forth to claim their good they ultimately become as a cloak or outer garment to cover an inner garment thus you continue to remain unseen.  As the path becomes clear, the way remains hidden. Your light remains shining, but stays as if above the clouds.

It is in this way you are comfortable in knowing that you are as stated before like water, that you can come forth free from impurity and seemingly without effort.  By showing your true likeness, or virtue, others become ready to find their own.  Blinded by the light of your reflection in others, you are prepared to gaze off into the distance to places seldom seen or traveled. Forgetting the world, your success only determined if those who have met you have forgotten your name.

• 悖论的揭示

万物皆有形，你却无形，不在道中，而在一个隐蔽的角落里。这似乎是我每天过着的悖缪生活。在仿效圣人的道路上，我每走一步都带来福利，我越回避，它来的越多。当我向世人表达我对万物的认识时，我更加深深地卷入生活的漩涡之中。

这也许此时此刻你在这里出现的真正原因吧？你走出赖以藏身的旧壳，成为众人追随的偶像。但是，成为圣人的人寥廖无几。你一旦承认这个显而易见的事实，你就可以真正地带领众人。这不正是你在这里的缘故吗？

正如你以前所见所做的那样，你在乎你的品格得到众人的赞赏吗？不正是众人的关心和帮助，你得以重新制定目标，确保道的指引吗？有了你，世间万物显得整整有条。如果懂得走路就可以不留痕迹，那么应该教导众人，少点自我，多些关心社会。

如果周密的演说可以不留破绽，你应该严格循道而行。如果你善于算于不算之中，那你应该向众人言明，物质的优越并不预示未来。如果你把门关牢，那就没有上锁的必要。如果你是光辉，能够给财物带来安全，那就没有必要解开扣子。万物各适其所，是因为它们的自然属性，不是它们的形状。

如果做到全神贯注，圣人的真道就展示眼前，他的动机就明朗。他变得善于助人，不遗弃任何人。他一视同仁，每个人的聪明才智都可以得到充分发挥。当众人前来领奖时，你静静地坐在后面。众人最终成为你的遮掩物，你的内外衣，使你不会暴露于大庭广众之下。路已明，道隐去，你的光辉继续照耀在云层之上。

你自由轻松地前来，就象一泓清水，晶莹纯洁。展示你的真爱或大德，别人就能够找到自己的爱和德。众人的光辉反射在你的身上，令你头晕眼花。你遥望那鲜为人知的远方，忘却这个世界，当与你相识的人忘记你的名字时，那就是你成功的时候。

Verse 28 – Maintaining Ancient Virtue

Showing the way can be likened to being the world’s maid.  A job on the surface seeming too menial too even consider that success may follow.

Once you’ve recognized your task, the way becomes even more difficult.  But it is only by experiencing the tediousness can you begin to advance and rule the day.

Advance as if you have the heart of a child without fear, without knowledge that the task is too big. Thereby always keeping your ancient virtue intact.  Simply recognizing that which lies without you while holding onto the oneness within you.  Acknowledging what is at its beginning always becomes something else at its end.

That once was hard must become soft. That if we are constantly referring to what appears to be black or white, we are in reality seeing them as dark or light and if we see things as pure verses defiled we are acknowledging it as either noble or humble.

Recognizing the above, the task of the sage becomes easy. By adhering to what is soft, humble and dark the essence of the Tao is always close at hand.

Advance as if you were an uncarved piece of wood waiting to be molded into what is needed with no pre-conceived outcome of what may occur. Always guided by what comes forth without limits, with the Tao always in charge.

While acting as a master tailor, sewing without seams, the job of the maid suddenly comes forth with ease and grace. The job becoming second nature as you have mastered it fully with your virtue leading the way.

• 保持古朴的美德

为众人引路如同做世界公仆。这工作低微繁琐，但未必能够做好。一旦明白你的职责，道路就越加显得崎岖曲折。但是，只有经历了沉闷乏味之后，你才能够取得进步，把握住每一天。

前进吧，就装做有一颗无所畏惧的童心，不晓得任务之艰巨，永远保持古朴的美德。保持内在合一的同时，认识与你无关的事物。事物总是不断变化，坚硬终成柔软。我们经常议论黑白，实际上我们看到的是深浅。如果我们把事物分成纯洁与肮脏，就等于承认高贵和低微。

一旦承认以上事实，圣人的职责就变得容易。只要能够坚守柔弱，谦逊和无光，那么你就掌握了道的精华。

前进吧，你是一块未被雕刻的木头等待塑造，预先没有计划，自然也不知道结局如何。在道的负责下，接受万物的指导。

充当主裁缝，制作无缝天衣，公仆的工作一下子变得轻松优雅。在大德的指导下，工作就会变得轻驾就熟，得心应手。

Verse 29 – Showing the way while remaining Behind

It is in stillness that the sage comes forth to govern the world. He has learned that it cannot be controlled consciously and that we must learn to trust what comes naturally.

That human strength and/or knowledge cannot lead us and that it is our spirit must govern us.

That nothing can be governed by force, that it is in stillness that spiritual things respond and that which is considered spiritual does not act on its own, but is guided by the Tao. When force comes into play, what is real leaves the field.

Remain transitory with your surroundings only as temporary lodging. Having no stake in the outcome you are able to determine what is not yours, lose your way, or forget why you are here.

Staying at the highest point of mediation letting all things come forth to find their place, the sage is at his best when he does not oppose things. Simply by letting the spirit of oneness penetrate the nature of others, he responds to them without force and follows them without effort.

He eliminates what confuses them, hens their minds become clear and each person finds their place in the scheme of things to come. By remaining calm and still letting the spirit guide your way you focus on simplicity, remaining content and eliminate extremes. It is with kindness and humility you succeed and it is with all three every situation bows to your command.

• 为众人引路，但不抛头露面

宁静中，圣人前来统治这个大千世界。他知道，这个世界不能够用感知来治理，只能够顺其自然。人类的力量和智慧不足以指导我们，我们必须依靠精神的力量。

天下没有什么事情可以用武力来解决，宁静时才会有心灵响应。没有道，精神就不能单独行动。穷兵黩武之时，就是真实离去之日。

你来去匆匆，食宿无定。因为不与众人分享结果，你知道什么不属于你的，为何迷路，或忘记为何你在这里。

守着斡旋的最高点，让万物纷纷前来寻找自己的地位。圣人对事情不横加干涉时，就显得格外伟大。让合一的精神深入人心。圣人回应万物，不用武力。圣人跟踪万物，不费吹灰之力。

圣人替众人排除疑难，他们的头脑变得清晰起来，每个人都找到自己在万物丛中的地位。

保持平静和安宁，让感觉引路，你的仁慈是胜利之本。只要做到简朴，满足和不偏激, 你就能够无往而不胜。

Verse 30 – Winning when you have no Choice

The Tao teaches us to win with our integrity intact.  To let our spiritual fortunes guide the way.

To be so caught up in the final outcome that it is only natural that events and success will follow. That the foremost law of the universe is that we reap what we sow and that what we cultivate comes back to rule the day.

In keeping with your role as remaining at the foremost point of mediation you have come to a few basic tenants. First is an understanding of what it takes to win without using force.  That it is better to win, then stop – letting common sense prevail.  Next to win with your humility intact letting everyone take credit for the outcome. Third, to win without being cruel to another, giving them the victory as well. And finally, to win when you have no choice.

Ultimate victory occurring when you appear to prosper, but remain poor. Become full yet seem empty. Keep virility at arms length thus remaining forever young and allowing death to make no appearances.

The knowing sage ages without growing old.

• 依靠诚实取胜

道教导我们如何赢得诚实，让我们的精神之运引路。因为你坚持不懈的努力，成功自然就会跟随

而来。宇宙最重要的规律是，种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆；善有善报，恶有恶报。

站在斡旋的顶峰，你应该牢记如下几点。第一，知道怎样不使用武力去赢。最好赢了以后就停下来，让常识获胜。第二，赢得仁慈公平，为每个人都记上一份功劳。第三，双赢，不要残酷斗争，无情打击。最后，在别无选择的情况下才赢。

最后的胜利出现在当你万事顺利，但仍然贫穷之时，感到充实但仍然空虚之时。充满活力，永葆青春，不让死神降临。

聪颖的圣人长生不老。

Verse 31 – Remaining Centered with the Tao

Learn not to expand your energies or passion on things of little or no consequence.

Remaining still and reserved as if you are pre-occupied with your own enthusiasm. To those around you, simply smile at what living brings to greet you each day and to trouble say ah so!

Not as one considered as self-centered, but as Tao centered spreading your joy and laughter to all you meet. Letting joy for knowing your place in the universe become your foremost point of engagement.

Learn not to let situations control you. Instead, remain in control by not allowing events to cloud your vision as you lead others with dispassion, humility and self-control.

When you can respond as if events were gnats, too small to even notice, then you may begin to see over the next horizon as your destiny becomes clear…

• 在道的中央

不要在区区小事上花费精力和情感。保持宁静和体力，尽管你充满了热忱。对你周围的人和对每

天的生活报予微笑，对麻烦也是如此。

不要以我为中心，但当道成为中心时，你把快乐和笑声带给众人，为找到你在宇宙的地位而高兴，这应该成为你人生最大的事情。

不要被事态控制你。相反，你要控制大局。不要被发生的事件遮住你的视线，你才能够以冷静，谦恭和自控的心态率领众人。

当你有能力对琐碎事情作出反应的时候，你就开始看见下一个地平线，你的命运更加明朗。

Verse 32 – The River of Tao runs through Me

Going through each chapter of the Tao Te Ching is as if a river is running through me. Cleansing my heart, clearing my head and satisfying my soul. As if I have become nameless and my body non-existent as I become one with the Tao. Living the life as the true sage as the Tao becomes me.

I am forever transformed.

The Way becoming simple and clear as the natural extension of your every action. Focusing on what remains small and beyond command by others except for appearance sake.  When you expand, however, it is as if you are everywhere. You become both heaven and earth combining as one.

Embracing the simple and working without effort, my true nature remains unburdened as material things and desires run through me and dissolve as if they were never really there.  Showing the way, but leaving others to discover the Tao for themselves.

You appear as if dew leaving no trace. Given a name you become distinct. Showing restraint and finding no trouble your true purpose has run its course.

• 道之河在我身上流过

阅读道德经的每一个章节，仿佛一条大河在我心中流淌，洗涤我的心，澄清我的头脑，抚慰我的灵魂。与道在一起，我似乎变得无名无姓，身体再也不复存在。道变成了我时，我如同过着真正

圣人的生活。我已经彻底地改变了我自己。

道变得如此简单和清晰，已成为你每一个行动的自然延续。把注意力集中在细节和众人力所不及方面，但不要把心思放在外表上。然而，当你扩展时，你好像无处不在，你成为天和地的合一。

拥抱简朴，劳而不费力。当物欲横流时，我的本性不为所扰，好像它们从来就没有出现过。我替众人引路，但让他们自己去发现道。

你象露水一样不留痕迹。给你一个与众不同的名字，展示你的忍耐力，道路平坦通畅，你的理想已经实现。

Verse 33 – Living Beyond Attachments

Proceeding unconsciously, as if you are only following the whims of the Tao and playing the role that you are here to play.

Knowing your place is secure and you destiny to one day return to live with dragons is assured.

What then can occur in the here and now but to live fully enmeshed in the Tao and to be sure you complete the role you are here to play. As if to live beyond attachments while continuing to pursue your final destiny.

The sage becomes wise by knowing himself and remaining perceptive of others by only being concerned about conquering himself and not others.

By striving to succeed at his endeavors and knowing contentment as his definition of being wealthy.  Not losing his place thereby living forever.

• 超越情感

在不知不觉中前行，好像跟随着道的奇想，履行你来这里的职责。明白你的所在地已经安全无 碍，你与群龙的一日神游已经安排就绪。

此时此地，你完全沉浸在道之中，确信你能够完成你的使命，追求你的最后命运，就像要超越你的情感。

圣人聪明之处是他通过征服自己而不是征服别人，从而了解自己，了解别人。

努力实现他的理想，满足于自己所定义的富裕水平。不要丢失自己的地位，从而活到永恒。

Verse 34 – Knowing no borders you learn to lead the Way

Living each moment in virtue through grace, while remaining unrestrained in every thought, action and deed.

Coming across to others as neither weak nor strong or right or wrong, so that you may respond to all things and move them in any direction.

Knowing no borders and remaining neutral.  In control, but letting everything find its own course just the same.  Simply doing what you do best as if you are drifting through time. With no predetermined destination you go everywhere, see everything using the Tao as your compass and oar. Continuing by grace so that you go without bringing attention to yourself, never speaking of your power or mentioning your achievements as you endeavor to remain small.

Never acting great, but doing great things. Everything eventually coming before you as you let each go by seemingly out of your control.  Recalling Chuang Tzu and his refrain that the Tao has no borders. As you sit back watching as the world comes to your doorstep.

• 大道无边

蒙道之恩典，得以时时刻刻与大德相随。但我每个思维和行动都不受任何约束。如果做到不把人

按强弱是非来区分，你就能够回应万物，驾驭万物。

明白宇宙的无边无际，要谨守中立。把握全局，但同时让事物自寻出路。仿佛随时间而漂荡，只做你善做之事。因为你行踪飘忽，所以用道作为你的指南针和桨，游八方，观万物。你以道的名义，继续漫游，这样不会引人注目。你才略有成就，切忌自吹自擂。

永不充大头，但要做大事。给万物以来去的自由，这样做看起来容易失去控制，其实最终万物都回到你的面前。记得庄子曾经说过，大道无边。当你坐下时，就看见世人向你走过来。

Verse 35 – Remaining Humble Yet Inexhaustible

Holding onto the true image of myself with humility, comity and grace I remain humbled by what the Tao places before me.

As I recommit my entire essence to only promoting that which comes forth as the greater image or vision that I am here to complete all the while knowing that my highest aspiration can succeed only with the success of all around me.

As the world comes forth to greet me each day, I remain protected, as I have no form thereby beyond whatever harm may come my way. I remain safe, serene and as one with the Tao.  Eventually everything coming before me as an equal, I walk guided by selflessness as all things come to me. As I remain one with all things.  While forgetting myself in others, others forget themselves in me. Therefore everyone finds his or her place and no one is not at one with me.

Keep only to the plain and simple drawing people closer as you entertain with images of the Tao.

Remaining at the point of inquiry, with no one quite sure how to love or hate, with no shape, taste or sound with which to please others. Remaining enmeshed in the Tao your role can never be exhausted.

• 保持谦恭，取之不尽

带着谦恭，尊重和慈爱，我捧着自己的真实影像。我以谦恭的态度对待对道给我的一切。我再次

承诺为完成崇高的理想贡献我的一切。我明白，只有在我周围的人成功以后，我的最高理想才能够实现。

世人每天前来向我致意。因为我无形无状，无论遇到任何危险，我都丝毫无损。与道一起，我感到安全和宁静。来到我面前的每事每物都将是平等的。当万物走向我时，我走的每一步都以无私为指导。我是一个包容万物的人，众人忘了我，我忘了众人。每个人在宇宙都找到自己的地位，没人不与我同在。

当你修道时，保持淡泊简朴的生活，以团结人民。甘为众人解答疑问，因为没有人确切知道如何去爱或恨，用无形，无味或无声去博取众人之心。沉浸在道之中，你的作用将永不枯竭。

Verse 36 – Hoping Weakness Prevails

What you would shorten you should lengthen instead.  What you would weaken you should spend your time strengthening.

What you would topple, you should raise and what you would take you should spend your time giving.

Most importantly do not abandon your weaknesses as it will be through your weaknesses that your strengths will prevail and endure.

The sage hides his light so it can be kept safe and secure.  While cultivating the Tao he speaks softly and with care. Just as a fish cannot survive out of water, the sage’s greatest asset is not meant to be seen but should remain in humble and non-intimidating surroundings.  Keeping still as in a deep pool he remains unknown to the world.

• 祈求柔弱

你欲截短，实应加长。你欲减弱，实应增强。你欲下去，实应上来；你欲攫取，实应给予。

最重要的是，不要抛弃柔弱，唯有柔弱，才有力量。

圣人为了安全和无虑起见，收藏了他的光辉。当进行道的修炼时，圣人说话柔和谨慎。正如鱼离不开水，圣人的最大财富不是用来给人看的，但是应该留在谦恭平和的环境之中。保持宁静，就象藏在一个深池，圣人不为世人所知。

Verse 37 – Upholding the Tao

Practicing the art of nameless simplicity I go forth with no desires and nothing on my agenda.

With the Tao as my anchor I am guided by the virtue of heaven.

The Tao itself doing nothing yet finding that there is nothing it does not do.  Yet while following the Tao, I do everything that I should do. Through effortlessness and following the natural course of events, change begins to occur.  By upholding the Tao, others begin to emulate your actions and begin to see through their own desire and they too can begin to become still.  In stillness, simplicity becomes nameless and seeing beyond oneself becomes self-apparent.

Stilled by nameless simplicity their desires become non-existent.  Once gone the world begins to fix itself.

• 支持道

修炼那无名的朴实，我没有欲求，没有日程。

以道为锚，以天德引路。

道无为，但无所不为。然而，作为道的从者，我做我应该做的所有事情。不用花费气力，跟随事物的自然发展，变化就随之而来。大家都支持道，他人自然就要仿效你，开始淡泊名利，与你一样，也变得宁静。宁静中，简朴变得无名，超越自己就显而易见了。

充满了无名朴实的宁静，他们的欲求随之荡然无存。一旦欲求消失，世界就开始自我修复。

Verse 38 – Learning to see beyond oneself

Instilling virtue within oneself requires neither thought nor effort or action if you are truly in sync with the way of virtue.

The Tao but a natural extension of who you have been, are now, and yet to become. Virtue simply the embodiment of an essence that embraces the way.  Your role is to remain empty with your every action an effortless dialog leading others along the Way.  As you look inward to insure you are ready to proceed with kindness and compassion to all you meet.  Yet the kindness of the sage cannot go beyond fulfilling his own nature.  Since his every action remains effortless he does not think about it.

Seeing beyond what his senses tell him, he simply does what is the natural extension of himself.

His endeavors focusing on embodying the highest images of who he is yet to become and seeing beyond himself.  Seeing beyond himself, he embodies the way and comes full face with his destiny.

Seeing his future, his vision matches things and names with reality.  He remains humble and reveres harmony. Seeming beyond himself he becomes the connecting between all that should be between heaven and earth. As the sage he embodies the way.

• 学习超越自我

如果你真的与大德有缘，学习大德不需要思想或行动。

道是你过去和未来的自然延续。大德只是道的化身。你须在每一个行动中保持虚空和不费气力的对话，为众人引路。看看自己，确保你是否具备了足够的慈爱和激情。但是，圣人的慈爱只够开发他的天性。这是因为他的每个行动都是毫不费力，所以他没有考虑那么多。

透过他的感觉，他所做的只是他的自然延续。他把注意力集中在未来的最高影像和超越自我上。他变成了道的化身，前来面对他的命运。

展望将来，他的憧憬与万物和真名相符。他保持谦恭，崇敬和谐。超越自我，他成为了众人在天地之间的联络点。作为圣人，他就是道。

Verse 39 – Moving from finding the way to living in virtue

The sage takes no action, but leaves nothing undone or behind as the Tao remains forever nameless.

Left alone to themselves, the ten thousand things find their own way and become transformed on their own.

Once awakened, the sage moves them with nameless simplicity. Remaining true to themselves they become quiet and tranquil. As if a single oneness, or purpose, has found each one with everything finding its place.

Finding himself alone to his liking, the sage becomes as one with heaven and earth as everyone finds him on the path to virtue.

Knowing he has now found the way, the sage clings only to his virtue ultimately showing the way for everything he has left behind.

第39节   从寻道到与大德生活在一起

圣人无为，但没有未做完之事或留下事情不管，道永远恪守无名。万物自寻己道，自我改变。

一旦醒过来，圣人用无名的简朴携同万物一同前行。万物保持真诚，恪守宁静平和。如同一个个的合一已经找到每一个个体，万物找到自己的所在。

当人们发现圣人正在走向大德的途中，他独自寻找自己喜爱的东西，成为一个与天地共存的人。

圣人知道道已找到，他坚守大德，最终向后来的万物展示道。

Verse 40 – The Guardian Angel

If an angel came down from heaven to relay that what you thought were your weaknesses were actually your strengths and your strengths your weaknesses, would you have the courage to reach out and change the way you live each day.

If an angel came down from heaven to relay that your only limitations were self-imposed and you could accomplish whatever you wanted as long as the beneficiary was not yourself, what would you do first?

If an angel came down from heaven and stood right here – and said that people only know the work of working and that the greatest work of all is the work of not working Caught up thinking that everything comes from something.  If they knew that something comes from nothing, they would not work so hard and enslave themselves to things.  They would instead turn to God and the Tao and concentrate on cultivating spirit.

Finally it is when knowing that everything has its limit.  That when their something gets way out here…. It has no choice but to come back the other way.  Ultimately when we do become balanced we become centered.

When we become centered we can see beyond ourselves and we can discover why we are here.  God’s grace and his hand come forth to guide our way.

Those who cultivate the Tao act with humility and harmony. Those who cultivate virtue look to themselves for the truth, not to the words of others. For those who understand that what moves them is also the source of their life, they can begin to understand the gift of heaven and live forever.

第40节   守护神

如果有一个天使从天上下来告诉你，你的缺点恰是你的优点，而你的优点恰是你的缺点。你是否有勇气去面对，去改变你每天的生活方式？

如果有一个天使从天上下来告诉你，你唯一的局限是你自己造成的。假如你不谋私利的话，你就能够完成你想做的每一件事情。如果这样，你想先做什么呢？

如果一个天使从天上下来就站在你的面前，对你说，众人光知道为工作而工作，而不知道最好的工作是不工作。人们常认为，事情皆出有因。如果他们知道有些事出于无因，他们就不会那么劳累，做工作的奴隶。他们就会信仰神和道，专心修炼。

最终明白万事皆有限度。当出了问题时，他们别无选择，只好从另外一条路回来。最后，当我们达到平衡时，我们就成为中心了。当我们成为中心时，我们就能够超越自我，明白我们为何在此。神用他的恩典和他的手为我们指路。

修道的人行为举止充满慈祥和谐。修德的人从自己身上，而不是从别人的言辞中找到真理。

那些懂得生命之源的人也开始理解上苍的礼物和长生不老。

 Verse 41 – Contending for the Middle

How is it that some can hear of the correct way and follow it with devotion, while others when hearing of it are content to argue whether it is real or not?

And still others cannot seem to keep from laughing at such folly. However, if the latter did not laugh it wouldn’t be the way.

For contentment to find its middle both extremes must be shown.  The brightest path to some seems dark, the quickest path seems slow.

The smoothest path remains rough. The highest virtue low.  The whitest white seems pitch black.  The greatest virtue wanting while the staunchest virtue timid.  The truest truth remains uncertain.  The perfect square will seem to lack corners as the perfect tool remains idle and does nothing.  The perfect sound is hushed and quiet, as the perfect form remains shapeless.

It is through these opposites that the two sides of everything become clear.

Once clear, the Tao remains hidden from view, except to those who can truly see. Remaining hidden from view himself, the sage can easily find beginnings and endings and know when to start and how to finish as he already knows having seen both sides many times before.

• 提倡中庸

为何有些人能够领悟道，并虔诚地遵循道，有些人却怀疑道的真假，而有些人只是在那里傻笑？但是，如果后者不笑，那就不是道了。

为了找到道的中间，首先必须找到两个极端。最光明的道是最黑暗的道。最快捷的道是最缓慢的道。

最平坦的道是最崎岖的道。最崇高的德是最低贱的德。最纯洁的白色是沥青的黑色。最大的德是失去的德。最忠诚的德是最胆怯的德。最真实的真理是最不确定的真理。最完美的方形看起来没有边角。最有效的工具废弃不用。最优美的声音是安宁寂静。最理想的形状是无形。

正是通过这些对立比较，事物的两个方面都变得清楚明白。

一旦让大众明白这个道理，道即隐身而去。但有些人依然能够看见道。不愿意暴露在大庭广众之下，圣人能够轻易地看到事情的始末。知道何时开始和如何结束。圣人对对立两面已经习以为常。

Verse 42 – Emulating the Tao as you give birth to all around you

The Tao gives birth to one. One gives birth to two. Two gives birth to three and three give birth to ten thousand things. When I as one embrace the Tao and open my heart and mind to the universe I become complete as my focus remains on the horizon.

When I show another person the way, we walk in unison guided by what we have been taught. When we two brighten the path of the third all things become possible and in unison we give birth to a thousand things. As we too become the world’s teachers.

With yin at our backs and yang in our embrace we look for harmony. What the world hates we love. Just by what some gain in losing others will lose by gaining keeping the world forever in balance. Remaining fully enmeshed in the Tao, the sage simply follows his mentor, Lao Tzu, the ultimate teacher of the way.  As such, we are reminded to reduce our desires, remain humble and practice the virtue of harmony.

Letting these three be our guide we quietly give birth to all around us.

• 仿效道，赋予生命

道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。当我拥抱着道，向宇宙打开我的心灵时，我把注意力集中

在地平线上，终于成为一个完整的人。

当我给一人引路，我们以道为准则，和谐地前行。当我们两人为第三人照亮道路，万物随之而行。在和谐中，我们催生万物，从而成为世界级大师。

负阴抱阳，我们寻找和谐，爱人间之所恨。有得必有失，有失必有得，这样才能保持自然界的平衡。沉浸在道中，圣人跟随大师老子，道的祖师。我们必须告诫自己，减少欲求，恪守谦恭，修炼和谐大德。

我们以此三点作指导，静静地哺育芸芸众生。

Verse 43 – Mirroring the Tao

Go forth this day without form or substance and teach without words that otherwise may cloud the way.

Remaining free to come and go even to places where appearances show no room as you lift the spirit of those around you and help all to find their way.

Appearing to do nothing. Remaining behind the scene as the ten thousand things are transformed and completed.  Imitating the Tao. Mirroring the Tao my spirit soars with the dragons and prospers, you become speechless, following the Tao you take no action. Just as energy from the sun brings life to all it finds – it cannot penetrate a closed door or a covered window.

The light of our spirit reaches everywhere and nourishes everything once we have opened the doors and windows of our soul to the ultimate that calls us.  Allowing the weakest to overtake the strongest and the strongest to find their true place in the universe. Succeeding without effort everything under heaven becomes one.

• 反映真道

今日前行，没有形和物。我们施教于无言之中，用语言施教，反而使道不清不楚。你振奋众人的精神，帮助他们寻道。即使没有了空间，你依然能够来往自如。

当万象更新时，你却置身隐处，不动声色。仿效道，反映道，与神龙在一起，我的精神高昂，万事顺利。你变得无言无语，跟随着道，你不需行动。太阳普照大地，生命欣欣向荣。但是，太阳不能够穿越紧闭的大门和遮蔽的窗口。

一旦我们响应道的召唤，打开心灵的大门和窗口，我们的精神之光就无处不有，滋生万物。让柔弱取代刚强，让刚强在宇宙自里寻找自己的归宿。我们不费力气，就大功告成。上天之下，万物合一。

Verse 44 – Staying focused within oneself

By knowing what is vital can one hold onto fame or health?  If he has to choose would it be his health or riches, and in the end would he know which is more harmful, loss or gain.

If something is loved, the more it costs, the bigger the treasure the greater the loss when it is gone.

The sage stays clear of that which lies outside him and focuses on enhancing his inner voice and virtue. Keeping clear of what lies outside his true nature.

Staying in tune with his own natural rhythm. While those who would shame him find nothing to shame.  He remains aware of his limits and constantly in tune with the Tao. In keeping in sync with the Tao, all flows through him and finds its proper place.

Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to start. Knowing restraint contentment soon follows. Finding happiness and wealth within himself his spirit soars and cannot be exhausted.

• 聚精会神

明白什么至关重要，就能够得到荣誉和健康吗? 如果非要二中择一，那么究竟是选择健康抑或是财富

呢？他到头来会知道那一个选择更为有害，是失还是得。如果你喜欢上某一样东西，那东西对你来说就显得更为珍贵。财富越多，当失去时，损失就越大。

圣人熟知他的周围环境，聚精会神于修炼他的心声和大德。圣人对除了他的真性以外的一切也都了如指掌。

圣人与他的自然韵律十分合拍。那些企图羞辱他的人永远不会得逞。他明白自己的局限，始终与道保持一致。为了与道并驾齐驱，他让众人从身上越过，去寻找他们的归宿。

知道何时停止与知道何时开始同等重要。懂得忍耐，成功就会随之而来。从自己的内心寻找幸福和财富，圣人的精神昂扬，用之不竭。

Verse 45 – Becoming Translucent

By not treating things as they are but as they can be everything has an opportunity to complete its cycle and return empty.

To treat what seems incomplete as  great, what seems empty as full, what seems crooked as straight, what seems clumsy as clever is transcendent.

To do all while seeming translucent, or still, is in keeping with your highest purpose and in keeping with your place in the ten thousand things.

The sage is content if the greatest thing is incomplete or the fullest thing is empty for the greatest thing never wears out and the fullest thing never runs dry. He understands that the greatest thing cannot be seen in its entirety hence it seems incomplete.  That the fullest thing cannot be seen in its totality hence it seems empty.

That the straightest thing cannot be seen in its completeness; hence it seems crooked. That the cleverest thing cannot be seen in its perfection, hence it seems clumsy.

It is when opposites complement each other that the highest order is maintained. When order is found and balance maintained we become perfectly still. When we become perfectly still the order of the universe becomes known and all becomes translucent, or clear.

• 清晰明朗

不固守于今天而放眼于未来，万物就都有机会完成自己的使命，回归虚空。视缺陷为完美，虚空为充实，扭曲为笔直，笨拙为聪慧，此谓超凡。在半透彻或宁静状态下，这样做与你的最高目标一致，与你在万物中的地位相符。

圣人满足于伟大的缺陷和充实的虚空，因为伟大从不消亡，充实从不枯竭。他知道，伟大从不显示全部，因此看起来不完整；充实从不显示一切，因此看起来虚空；笔直从不显示所有，因此看起来扭曲；聪慧从不显示完美，因此看起来笨拙。

当对立互相补充，修炼就达到了最高层次。当万物的秩序被揭示，自然达到平衡时，我们就处于绝对的宁静之中。当我们处于绝对的宁静时，我们就能够揭示宇宙的秩序，万物变得半透明或清晰明朗。

Verse 46 – Prevailing Contentment

How can we live within what the Tao teaches us, if we are never content with what the world brings to our doorstep and why should it matter? If we are busy cultivating things instead of ourselves, how can we find our true place in the ten thousand things? What can the seeds of contentment bring unless controlling our desires comes to the forefront and contentment decides to stay?  If we do not remain still, how will we know when the way comes to find us?

Cultivating the Tao through meditation, thought, appearance, action and deed is the key to the sage’s security. By not seeking things outside himself, he becomes an extension of the Tao. He is internally guided by the knowledge that no crime is worse than yielding to our desire, no wrong is greater than discontent and no curse greater than getting what you want when you are unprepared for the consequences.

Before showing the way, the sage must truly know contentment and remain confident with what the Tao teaches and exude that confidence by showing the contentment of being content.  When he can do this, others can see the folly of what external desires bring and can begin to find contentment for themselves.

Finding that the Tao has come full circle and begun to prevail in the world, the sage can be on his way.

第46节 知足

如果我们不满足大自然的恩赐，我们如何能够按道的教导那样生活呢？为什么这个问题如此重要？如果我们注重物质生活而不注重自身修养，我们又如何在万物之中找到自己的真正地位呢？除非我们能够节制欲求，心满意足，知足的种子又能够给我们带来什么呢？如果我们不恪守宁

静，我们又如何知道大道何时前来寻觅我们呢？

通过沉思，冥想，参与和行动来修炼道是圣人取得安宁的关键所在。恒守内在，不受外界干扰，圣人成为道的延续。对欲求的让步就是最大的犯罪；不知足就是最大的过错；不顾后果的索取就是最大的祸因。他以这些真知灼见作为心灵的指导。

在向众人展示道的真谛之前，圣人必须明白知足的含义，坚信道的教诲和树立知足的信念。当能够做到这一点时，众人就可以看见欲求的愚蠢，并且开始为自己寻找满足。

圣人发现道已经在宇宙漫游了一周，开始闻名于世，他就可以上路了。

Verse 47 – Becoming endowed by the Way

When you are ready to come forth with a vision fully endowed by the way, you become the way.

When you are ready to accept the mantle conferred by dragons by accepting Heaven as your ancestor, when virtue becomes your home and the Tao your door, only then can you begin to see beyond the limitations life brings each day as Chuang Tzu has taught you.

When you can remain above change, becoming a sage becomes clear.

When you can understand others by knowing yourself and understand other families by knowing your own, nothing more in the world is needed to be known. The sage does not need to ascend to the sky or descend into the depths to understand the way of heaven and earth.

When you can know the world without leaving your doorstep and are able to succeed without trying by relying only on your true nature, your vision moves beyond the distant horizon. Seeing what is coming allows you to stay behind. Staying behind allows you to remain as one with the ten thousand things. Remaining as one with the ten thousand things you become empty once again. Becoming empty, the sage remains unmoved by the events that may swirl around him.

• 道的认同

当你的憧憬得到道所认同时，你就得道了。当你接受神龙授予的斗篷，你就接受了上苍为你的祖

先。当大德成为你的家，道成为你的门，你就能够象庄子教导的那样，超越生命的约束。

当你能够驾驭风云变幻，你成为圣人的日子就不远了。

当你做到知己知彼，这世界就没有更多需要知道的事情了。圣人不必上天入地去寻找天地的奥秘。

当你能够足不出门而通晓天下大事，能够依靠自己的真知而不是摸索取得成功时，你就能够高瞻远瞩。洞察未来使你能够隐身殿后。隐身殿后使你再次继续成为万物的一员。继续成为万物一员，你可以继续保持虚空。保持虚空，圣人在世事纷扰时就能够归然不动。

Verse 48 – Becoming the Master Weaver

In weaving the fabric of your surroundings together, seek only the Tao without the use of ears or eyes.

It will only be by looking within yourself and following your inner nature that the answer (which incidentally you have always known), comes forth to greet you.

Be guided by the answer given by the sage when he is asked  “do you think I learn in order to increase my knowledge”. The sage simply replies “no, I seek only that which brings everything together”. As you liken yourself as the master weaver, you find yourself remaining as a clean slate with neither right nor wrong guiding your actions.

As you have become the natural extension of the universe – all things become possible.  Opportunities otherwise overlooked or unknown come forth that have been waiting on cue to make their appearance. External knowledge becomes less important as the sage weaves all the pieces presented him into what becomes the natural extension of his own spirit.

Cultivating his body and spirit in the proper way the sage appears to have nothing to do.  Having nothing to do leads to nothing not getting done. Having nothing better to do, the world simply finds itself coming along for the ride.

• 编织大师

为把你的周围环境织成一片，你寻找道的帮助，不用眼睛或耳朵，而用内在的本能寻找（你已知

的）答案。

当有人问圣人，“你认为学习只是为了增长知识吗？”圣人回答说，“不是，我只寻求整合万物的知识。”因为你喜欢做编织大师，所以你一身清白，不用是非作你行为的指导。

当你成为宇宙的自然延续时，你就无所不能。从前忽视了的或未知的机遇纷纷前来等待你的召唤。当圣人把碎片编织成你精神上的自然延续时，外部的知识就没那么重要了。

以适当的途径修身养性，圣人似乎无事可做。但无事可做不是一事无成。再也没有什么重要的事情可做了，世人前来周游一番。

Verse 49 – Remaining True to Form

Retreat into the emptiness brought forth by the ten thousand things as if you have no mind of your own.

Taking on the mind of all those around you and treating them as the same you become immersed in nothing.

Mindless, you convey the hopes, dreams and fears of all around you and embrace neither side of any argument.

To the good the sage is good and to the bad as well.  He supports the bad like he is good until they see the bad for what it has brought them and become good.  He illuminates like the sun and transforms the spirit.  To what is true he is true and to what is false he is true until they too become true to the Tao.

It is by seeing the real in the false and the false in the real the sage’s wisdom is different from others. By remaining empty, the sage’s mind can merge with the mind of others. Because his mind is still, he can respond accordingly. While he may appear withdrawn from the world, he moves all in the direction they should take.

Always humble, he remains transparent while letting others seemingly find their own way.

第49节          真实于形

在万物带来的虚空之中静养，你好像没有自己的思想。但你接纳众人的思想，视之为己，你进入了虚无状态。

你为众人传递希望，梦想和不安，但不支持任何一方。

在善的面前，圣人是善。在恶的面前，圣人也是善。容忍恶，直到恶化为泥土。圣人如天，覆盖万物。他发出光辉如同太阳，能够改变精神。在真实面前，他是真实。在虚假面前，他也是真实。直到虚假成为真实。

正是假中有真，真中有假，圣人的智慧显得与众不同。恪守虚空，圣人和众人的思想得以融会交流。因为圣人头脑宁静，他可以应对自如。当他似乎从世界消失时，却率领众人，前往既定目标。

远保持谦恭，让众人寻找他们的道时，圣人显得透彻明了。

Verse 50 – Evolving with Ever-renewing Purpose

To the sage death is nothing more than an opportunity to return home once again. To assess his standing in the ten thousand things and be reassured that he remains no better or worse for the wear, that in the end only his eternal presence, or essence, in keeping with the Tao is insured.

The Reckoning Wuhan Temple

Success or failure only determined by the number of lives he has touched and rather he helped others find their true way.  In coming home he transcends all boundaries and exudes the virtue and grace of one who has been everywhere there is to be, seen all there is to see and transcended the Tao to and fro, up and down and is utterly complete.

Cultivating his true nature his body is cast aside.  As an innate knowing reminds him that once our body has been cast aside we are free to travel once again on the wind with dragons, as you are reminded of your eternal role in the universe and secret to your own longevity.  Just as in life you guarded your real purpose, you now are ready to be renewed before returning to be born again.

第５０节            不断更新

对圣人而言，死亡不过是一次回家的机会。在评价他在万物中的地位和确定他在岁月的侵蚀中无

损时，他与道的永恒存在和本质最后得到证实。

回家时，圣人的成功和失败由他接触生命的多少而定，而不是由他帮助发现真道的人的多少来定。圣人超越时空，把那些走遍世界，看遍世界的人的大德和仁慈到处传布。圣人已经全面地超越道，成为完人。

当圣人修炼真性时，把自己的身体抛开。正如一个先知告诉他，当身体被抛弃，我们就能够自由地与龙乘风漫游。你须牢记你在宇宙的永恒地位和你的长寿秘密。如同你活着时保护你的真实目的一样，重生之前，你要做好更新自己的准备。

Verse 51 – Honoring the Way

Honoring the way means staying true to the way.  Staying true to the way means remaining humble with your virtue guiding every thought, action and deed. You have taken form in this place as the essence of the way of virtue.

While challenges and stubbing your toe may occur, they are simply to remind you of your own personas that you are here to complete.  Your affinity to nature and the natural order of things are simply ways to express and sort through those things you are here to do. Created as an image or extension of the way virtue guides and instructs while being shaped by events as the Tao completes them.

Thus all things come forward to honor the way. Remaining transparent, your role cultivates and trains, steadies and adjusts, nurtures and protects without possessing or presuming. Without the need to control events everything reaches its fullest potential.

.以道为荣

以道为荣意味著对道忠诚。对道忠诚意味著保持谦恭，用大德指导你的思想和行动。你已经在此

成形，成为道德之精髓。

严峻的挑战和小麻烦的出现只是提醒你来这里的目的是为了完善自己。你与自然的密切关系和事物的自然秩序是表达和理清你来这里做事的方式。作为道的影像或延续，大德宣讲道和指导万物，并得到磨炼，道完善万物。

因此，万物以道为荣。保持清明，没有丝毫的占有或僭越。你的职责是修炼，培训，稳定，调整，抚育和保护。没有必要控制万物生长，万物的潜力能够得到充分的发挥。

Verse 52 – When our Virtue becomes Us

When the ten thousand things came forth in the world, they did so as offspring of a great mother.

When you know this mother, you can begin to understand her offspring understand the child and its mother becomes secure and. lives without trouble.  Begin to focus on the Tao with the path you must take becoming clear and this mother will nurture you forever.

When we block the opening from that outside ourselves and close the gate to those who would bring us misfortune, we can live without toil or struggle. When we leave the opening unprotected and meddle in affairs outside of what the way teaches us, we live without hope.

When we follow the words of Confucius when he reminds us that just as things have their roots and branches, those that know what comes first and last may approach the Tao.

When we understand what motivates those around us and events when they are small, we can be quick to change our behavior and magnify our vision.

When we learn to trust our vision, we can see beyond ourselves and live beyond our death. When we live beyond our death, we can become free to travel the universe with the dragons as our virtue becomes us.

• 德即是我们

万物都是一个伟大母亲的后代。理解这位母亲，你就理解她的后代。理解母和子会使你生活平

安，免于灾难。你就可以专心于道，前程变得更加光明。这位母亲将会永远养育你。

当我们堵塞缺口，关上大门，不允许那些给我们带来灾难的人进入，我们就能够免于陷入困境。如果我们留下缺口，

不加以保护，并且掺和那些与道无关之事，我们的生活就没有希望。

我们要遵循孔子的教导，他告诫我们，事物皆有根枝，那些知道先后的人才能够接近道。

当我们知道什么能够激励众人和事情的起始，我们就能够迅速改变自己的行为，开阔我们的视野。

当我们学会相信自己的眼光，我们就能够看得更远，超越死亡。当我们能够超越死亡，我们就可以与神龙自由地漫游，大德就成为我们。

Verse 53 – Gently Guiding Others

Slow down and let your virtue lead the way. Stay fixed to the great way not letting distractions lead you astray. Stay focused on doing nothing and do everything simply with that you have learned by following the Tao.

Just as others look to you for direction, you must first gather them up like laundry, put them in the same basket, wash and dry them, then sort them in an orderly fashion.  Folded and put away they await their turn to come to the forefront for all to see.

Instead of pushing certain things to happen, sit back and let your nature gently guide those around you. Instead of being in such a hurry, taking shortcuts and finding nothing but trouble, let events play themselves out. While the sage remains ahead by staying behind, his only concern is leading people down such a path.

However, as events play themselves out, he remains always ready to show the next step along the way.

• 循循引导

慢慢来，让大德引路。遵循道，不要因分心而误入歧途。要专心无为，只按道行事。

当别人请你指点方向时，你必须像洗涤那样，把衣服收集起来，放在一个篓子里，洗净烘干，然后分类折妥放好，等候众人来观看。

不要人为地制造事端，而是坐下来，让你的自然天性柔和地指导周围的人。不要仓促，抄近路，自寻烦恼，让事物自然发展。当圣人置身殿后而率先前行时，他的唯一担心是，这样做会令人失望。

然而，随着事物的发展， 一路上，圣人总是高瞻远瞩，指点前程。

Verse 54 – While cultivating his garden the world  comes forward to find the Sage

What is this thing called virtue and this personal quest we each must come to know?

Where does virtue begin and how does it grow and manifest to guide us once we see ourselves in the Tao?  Once found, how do we let our virtue transcend our everyday desires so that we may see beyond ourselves to discover our rightful place in the universe?

To the sage the world reaches no further than his garden. He remains guided by planting things right so they cannot be uprooted and knowing what is nurtured cannot be ripped away.  He cultivates his garden as if tending his virtue.  He then cultivates others by reaching out to bequeath what is noble, pure and found only in the Tao.

Cultivating ourselves our virtue becomes real, cultivated in our family it multiplies, in the place we live virtue only increases and we prosper.  In the world virtue thus expanding everywhere.

In both perceived beginnings and endings, the sage looks no further than within himself. Staying completely still, within his true self the world comes forth to emulate him.

• 圣人耕园，世人寻觅

大德这东西是什么？我们的个人追求是什么？ 大德从哪里开始？如何积德？当我们在道时，大德又如何指导我们？如何让大德超越我们的每天欲望，使我们看到更远，找到我们在宇宙的地位？

对圣人而言，这个世界并不比他的花园大。他擅长种花植草，懂得种什么不容易被拔起。他耕耘花园，如同呵护自己的大德。然后，圣人用道的高贵和纯洁培育众人。

自我修炼，得到真德。与家人一同修炼，全家积德。在我们生活的地方修炼，大德徒增，万事如意。大德蔓延到世界的每一个地方。

从始到终，圣人只注重内在，恪守心灵深处的绝对宁静，世人纷纷前来仿效他。

Verse 55 – Gaining a firm Grip on lasting Abundance

What does it mean to have lasting abundance when we leave our virtue behind?

How can we be full of breath, yet not know how to make our breath endure? If our essence remains within us, why does our virility stand in the way? When you become simply an extension of the Tao, you go as if mindless through your endeavors.

Without a mind, you have no thoughts or desires. You proceed fearless unaware of what may harm you or that you could possibly harm another.

Once you become aware that you are a part of something bigger than yourself and have a firm grip on the direction you must take, only then can you begin to focus your mind and cultivate the Tao. When your mind does not stray and a certain serenity surrounds you, then your breath can become balanced.

The sage focuses on his breath because when it becomes balanced his essence is stable, his spirit serene and his true nature is restored.

Controlling his breath he endures and finds his true nature. Understanding his true nature he is able to impart wisdom to others. He becomes unconcerned and extending his life as his spirit is uncluttered and has already rediscovered its place in what has been what may occur now and where he will spend eternity.  The sage has no fear of death because he knows his essence, or spirit, remains eternal.

• 把握恒久的丰裕

如果失去了大德，拥有恒久的丰裕又如何？如果不懂得忍耐，我们又如何做到恒久？如果我们的本质仍在，为什么自尊自大挡住我们的道？

当你成为道的传人，努力前行，好像无知无觉一样。没有了头脑，你就没有了思想或欲望，你就可以勇往直前，无所畏惧。不知道什么可以伤害你，也不知道你可能伤害别人。

一旦知道自己的重要性，你就要紧紧地把握方向，只有这样，你才能够专心修道。当你心无旁骛，宁静弥漫四周时，你才能够心平气静，达到平衡。

圣人凝神聚气，这因为气息达到平衡时，他的内心平稳，精神宁静，真性就可以得到恢复。

控制情绪，坚忍，圣人就可以发现自己的真性，只有领悟他的真性，圣人才能够把智慧传授给别人。圣人对世事毫无牵挂，神志清晰，生命延长，并且重新发现他的过去，现在和未来在宇宙的永恒地位。圣人不惧死亡，因为他的精神永存。

(Note: Chinese page numbers need to be confirmed from this point forward)

Chapter 3

Verse 56  – You must be the Change you want to see in the World.

Should the path of the sage be drawn to only finding his own place in the scheme of the

universe once he becomes the embodiment of the Tao, or should he depart from his first inclination and devote himself to bringing others along the way to find it for themselves.

Following his instincts, he knows he must first find comfort in where he has been, where his path leads and where his final destination will take him.

Once he is self assured that he speaks with one voice and his actions speak for themselves, he can begin preparing for the greatest challenge the Tao and the universe can offer.

For thousands of years the sage has taken the back seat in the development of the world. Preferring to follow the traditional path to enlightenment concerned only with his own path, his own voice and his own actions.

His virtue alone carries his spirit from past encounters along destiny’s doorstep. How much greater his role could be if he could use his place in the Tao to lead the way.

Giving others his light, they too can perhaps begin to shine their own and find their own path as well. To be the door others can use to open their own spirit to find their way. This could be the ultimate role of the sage, his highest endeavor. To lead without harming others and to live as Gandhi said…

“To be the change you want to see in the world,” by doing nothing more than by simply showing the way.

• 你必须是世界的变化

如果有朝一日圣人得道，他应该寻找自己在宇宙的地位，或者改变初衷，率领众人寻道？

圣人的直觉告诉他首先必须在道带他去过的地方和他的最后归宿寻找安逸。

一旦坚信他能够用一个声音说话，以行动代替语言，他就能够开始准备面临道和宇宙的挑战。

几千年来，圣人在世界发展过程中总是置身殿后，他宁愿采取传统的启导方式，关心他自己的道，思想和行动。

只有他的大德把他的精神从过去带到命运的门阶。如果他能够利用他在道的地位率领众人，他的作用就更大了。

如果他把光辉留给众人，众人或许利用这些光辉照耀自己，寻找他们的路。圣人变成众人打开精神和寻找大道之门，这可能是圣人最大的作用和努力。

率领众人，但不伤害任何人，象甘地所说的那样活着。

Verse 57 – Becoming one with the dust of the World

The words of the sage cannot be heard It is through his actions that he leads the way.

Leading with simple virtue.he remains quiet and unassuming.

When he talks he does so in almost a whisper so that others have to listen carefully so that nothing is missed. By controlling his breath, he focuses on self-control and stays away from extremes. To bring forth the virtue in the world he begins by transcending his human frailties and accepting his destiny and where it takes him.

In mirroring those around him, he begins by knowing when to enter and when to exit. As if he were sealing an opening or staying behind to close the gate. He focuses on dulling the edges and untying tangles to still the spirits.

He softens the light and joins the dust to adapt all things to what is the proper way. He unties all things but leaves no trace as if he was never there.

Transcending himself the sage cannot be embraced, cannot be abandoned, cannot be helped and cannot be harmed.

He cannot be exalted or debased. While uniting with nothing, there is nothing that does not unite with him. Yet there is nothing he does not do or has not done.

• 混同于尘世

圣人的话是听不见的，他通过行动率领众人。怀着简朴的大德，

圣人保持沉静和谦逊。

圣人说话阴声细气，别人必须小心倾听，以防漏掉了什么。通过调整气息，圣人专心于自我控制，不走端。为了把大德传授于世人，圣人超越人类的脆弱，接受命运的安排。

为了反映他身边的人，圣人知道进退，好像他在堵塞缺口或留在后面关门。圣人不露锋芒，解开缠结，让精神得以安静。他减弱光辉，混同于尘世，使万物适应于道。他打开万物之结，但不露痕迹，如同他从来没有到过这里。

越自己，圣人不能拥抱，不能抛弃，不需要帮助，不能伤害。

圣人不接受赞扬，不能低估。当用无为来解结，没有结不为圣人所解。这世界上最也没有什么事情圣人不做或不能做。

Verse 58 – Bringing the World along for the Ride

The sage understands that most things under the sun are temporal, things coming and going with no lasting impact or purpose.

That once a certain direction becomes popular, indirection is what succeeds and that those who can remain still and inactive ultimately come forth to have the final say.

The sage knows that it is when we attempt to conquer the world we lose it. That the greater the prohibitions, the poorer the people become. The sharper the weapons, the greater the chances we will live in darkness.

The more we scheme, the more complicated the outcome becomes. The greater the treasure, the more people strive for things outside themselves. Therefore, the sage changes nothing and the people transform themselves. He stays still and the people come to their senses. He does nothing, neither talking nor teaching and the people correct themselves thereby enriching themselves.

Wanting nothing, everyone around him simplifies himself or herself. By accepting the will of heaven the sage brings others  to enlightenment. By knowing the final outcome his virtue remains intact. With his virtue intact the sage simply continues along on his way.

• 与世人一同前行

圣人明白，普天之下，绝大多数事物都是暂时的。世事来去匆匆，没有恒久的影响或目的。

一旦某个方向变得流行，无方向却能成功。保持宁静和无为的人才能够笑到最后。

圣人知道，正是当我们企图征服世界时，我们却失去了世界。禁令越严厉，人民就越穷困。武器越锋利，我们生活在黑暗的机会就越大。计划越周全，结局就越复杂。拥有财富越多，贪心就越大。因此，圣人不改变什么，人民就能够改变自己。圣人保持宁静，人民自然醒悟。圣人不必做事，不必说话或上课，人民纠正自己，丰富自己。

圣人没有欲求，周围的人自然保持简朴。圣人接受上苍的意愿启蒙他人。圣人已经知道最终的结局，他的大德丝毫无损，继续前行。

Verse 59 – Remaining as an edge that does not Cut

Traveling back in time when I was one with my contemporaries; Lao, Lieh, Chuang, and yes even Kong (Confucius), I am reminded of times spent debating the great thoughts of the day, serving the emperor only a way to expand the path that should be taken.

Facilitating order, eschewing the truth only found in cause and effect continually reminded that there is no right or wrong. That one’s destiny is only vaguely tied to our endeavors we become attached to in the here and now. Keeping happiness at arms length knowing it can only be followed by sadness. Both alternatives as if seasons.

Repeating through the ages the axiom that when either government or that governed stand aloof, the people remain relaxed and unconcerned as the sage remains in the background. Letting things take care of themselves, he is content to be free of direction as if blown along by the wind. Transcending uncertainty, he can see where everything begins and ends.

While the world withers and the Tao ebbs and flows, the sage remains content to remain as the edge that does not cut, as a point that does not pierce, as a line that does not extend and a light that does not blind.  By entering the world of seeming confusion he extends the Tao to the world and shows the way. Living in paradox and knowing where things end he begins to transform all those around him.

• 甘做钝器

在对当今的重大思想问题进行了辩论之后，我与老子，列子，庄子还有孔子及时回来，为皇帝出谋划策只是为了开辟道路。

使秩序便利，回避只见于因果中的真实。不断提醒众人，世上并没有对和错之分。一个人的命运只是模糊地维系于我们此时此刻的努力中。要与快乐保持一定的距离，乐极则生悲。如同季节，

快乐和悲伤交替而至。

有一句古话说，当政府和被管理者保持距离时，人民就得以安居乐业。如果圣人隐退，人民就可以无忧无愁。让事情顺其自然。圣人满足于无方向，随风而去。驾驭风云变幻，圣人能够看见事物的始终。

当世间万物凋谢，大道衰落，随流而去时，圣人依然乐于做不能切的刀，不能戳的刺，不能延伸的线，不能熄灭的灯。圣人向这个混乱的世界展示道。尽管生活充满悖缪，圣人知道事物在何处结束，并着手改变世界。

Verse 60 – The Way of long and lasting Life

Calmness and economy, two traits the sage follows instinctively. In becoming still, the sage turns to his breath and then his thoughts.

When his thoughts are calm, his virtue remains within. When his breathing is clear, he is reminded of his center and being at one with the Tao and all things. By embracing economy, the sage can possess what he needs without using more than his spirit requires thereby keeping his virtue intact.

Planning ahead the sage accumulates virtue, accumulating virtue means that he overcomes all. Overcoming all he knows no limit. Knowing no limit he can return to the Tao as if guarding what is real. Knowing this, he takes care of his body and breath. Caring for his body he remains unharmed.

He stays behind as if one thousand years old. His roots nourished by the breath of ten thousand things. Maintaining deep roots and a solid trunk the sage prospers adhering to the way of virtue letting his branches and leaves breathe through eternity.

第节 养生长寿之道

宁静与节俭是圣人的两个特征。为了达到宁静，圣人养气凝思。当他的头脑冷静下来时，他的大

德得以保持在内。当他的呼吸通畅时，他知道中心之所在，成为万物的合一。通过节俭，圣人拥有他的所需，而不超出他精神上的要求，大德因此保持完整无损。

圣人计划积德，积德必须克服重重困难。通过克服困难，圣人通晓一切。通晓一切，圣人就可以返回道中，好像保护真实一样。明白这点，圣人修身养性。通过修身，圣人炼就不败之身。

圣人隐退，好像他是千岁老人。他的根由万物滋养。他拥有深深的根系和巨大的树身，他的枝叶在永恒中呼吸。圣人固守道德，万事如意。

Verse 61 – Harmony finding the Way

Bringing harmony to all around him, the sage is reminded of cooking a small fish.

Too much attention and the fish turns to mush, too little and it soon burns. Harmony can only flourish when each is allowed to find its own way. Some fish will become mush and others will burn. But in the end, if it is to be eaten a consensus or middle ground will be found.

In governing the world by following the Tao, the sage displays no powers. Just as the world learns to eat fish, he remains inactive or seemingly behind the scenes. He governs but does not act his virtue remaining intact with harmony always finding its way.

As the sage is the essence of virtue disharmony can never enter the picture. Neither can the people do him harm, nor him harm others, as he too finds the world’s middle and a place for everyone at the table.

• 和谐寻道

圣人把和谐带给他周围的人，如同烹调小鱼。由于小心过度，鱼煮成了糊状，分量太少，很快就

煮焦了。当允许众人寻找自己的道时，和谐才能够实现。有些鱼将变成糊状，但是，如果最终将鱼吃了，我们就可以找到共识或妥协。

用道来治理世界，圣人不显示权力，正如世人学习吃鱼。圣人保持无为，或隐身幕后，无为而治。他的大德完整无损，总是让和谐寻找道。

因为圣人是大德的精髓，不和谐永远不会出现。众人不会伤害圣人，而圣人也不会伤害众人，因为圣人也要寻找世上的中庸，并为每人安排适当的位置。

Verse 62 – Cultivating Humanity

Remaining at the lowest point of mediation where everything else comes to meet.  As if the confluence, or gathering point, of great rivers that all come together to create a united front or way.

Acting as if this great river of life sustaining water irrigates your life and your garden. Remaining humble, as if the needs of others are shared and understood by all as each becomes nourished through your enlightenment.

Standing alone each is like a turnip found in the garden of the sage. Picked while still small they are tender and sharp, if allowed to get to large, the turnip becomes tough and bitter. Like the gardener, the sage cultivates humanity as if picking the turnips while they are small, thereby saving him much misunderstanding in the end.

The sage becoming simply a watershed making people content with the way they are. Showing the way he attains the highest by remaining the lowest. By uniting and leading others he succeeds by joining and serving others.

In the truest sense he is cultivating humanity simply by tending his garden as he tends to all around him.

• 培养和                                                       

  

  The Sage  Yenti Family Museum

立足于万物前来汇合斡旋之最低处，此处如同大河合流成为一体的地方…

就像生命之河灌溉你的生活和花园一样劳作，保持谦恭，如同众人分担和理解他人之需。你的启迪教育着每一个人。

孤身独立，每个人就像圣人花园里的一根萝卜。在萝卜仍然幼小，柔嫩和辛辣之时就应该收获。如果等到萝卜长得太大，就会变硬和苦涩。圣人培养和谐如同园丁收获小萝卜，最后避免了很多的误解。

圣人成了集雨区，使人民得到该得到的满足。圣人展示道，保持低调，从而获得最高的成就。通过团结和引导众人，圣人与众人打成一片，提供服务，从而取得成功。

用最真实的语言来表达的话，那就是圣人培养和谐，就像他爱护他的花园和身边的人一样。

Verse 63 – Becoming a Sanctuary to all you meet

The sage acknowledges and understands that there is nothing that is not in keeping with the Tao.

Especially true is that the Tao resides in each of us. Thus in showing the way the sage is good at saving and directing those around him, while abandoning no one. Since the sage in essence is simply the embodiment of the Tao, abandoning or leaving behind another person could or would never enter his mind.

The sage’s surroundings are illustrative of how he sees his place in the ten thousand things. As though he is seen creating a sanctuary that reflects his innermost sense of who he is yet to become. Kind and reflective, still yet expansive, he competes with no one and no one competes with him. His strengths and weaknesses have become razor sharp as he uses them to cut through what is perceived to be truth and falsehood. While he remains on the edge pushing others to places they would not otherwise go, he leaves no foothold for those who would follow except by accepting and following the Tao.

When he himself becomes the sanctuary for others to take refuge and follow, finding the comfort only found in the expression of the Tao, he is reminded that he who searches will find it and those who don’t only escape to wait until another day.

• 做众人的庇护处

圣人承认并且明白，世间万物无不与道保持一致，特别是道与我们每一个人同在。因此，圣人讲

道，善于拯救和指导他身边的人，而不会抛弃任何一个人。因为圣人是道的化身，他从来就没有想过抛弃或丢下一个人。

圣人所处的环境反映了他如何看待他在万物中的地位。圣人营造了一个反映他未知的内心世界的庇护处。他友善，多思和豪爽，与世无争，也无人与他竞争。他的优缺点已变成一把锋利的刀，可以用来识别真假。他急于把人们推向他们从来没有去过的地方。除了接受和跟随道之外，众人别无选择。

当圣人成为别人躲避和追随的庇护处时，人们在这里找到只有从道中才能找到的安慰。寻道的人将会得道，不寻道的人只好逃出去等候另一天的到来。

Verse 64 – Finding everything too Easy

The sage knows that doing what comes naturally is not work. Therefore he works without really working.

He acts without really acting, thereby not exhausting himself and tastes without really tasting the true meaning of the Tao through meditation. He goes forth knowing that rather we are great or small, many or few it is important to repay any slight or wrong with virtue.

What the world considers hard the sage considers easy. Just as what the world considers easy the sage considers hard. How can that be so?

If one can plan for the hard when it is easy and work on the great when it is small, the hardest task in the world becomes easy. The greatest goal in the world begins, or becomes small.

Because the sage never acts he achieves great things. He responds to others knowing instinctively that he who quickly agrees is seldom trusted and those who make it all look easy finds the way hard. Therefore the sage travels in virtue making everything appear hard, while he himself finds nothing hard.

• 万事皆易

圣人知道，捡大自然的便宜不是工作。因此，他做事并非真的做事，他行动不是真的行动，这样

他不至于精疲力尽。他通过斡旋，品尝到没有真正品尝到道的真义。他明白不管我们是伟大还是渺小，多抑或是少，重要的是要补偿对大德所犯下的大小过失。

世人认为难的事情，圣人却认为容易。世人认为容易的事情，圣人却认为难。为什么会如此？如果一个人把易事当难事，小事当大事，这样世界上就无难事，伟大出于平凡。

圣人从来就不装作他干了什么伟大的事情。他心里明白，那些不假思索就附和他的人，很少是可以信赖的。那些把事情看得太简单的人，会明白道之艰难。因此，圣人载德而行，世上万事看来艰难之事，圣人却认为容易。

Verse 65 – Learning to act before something Exists

As one who is recognized by his peers for his vision and all things ethereal having found where all things meet and reflecting on the common purpose or rhythm of the universe, what can be more important than knowing when to act before something exists?

Knowing when to proceed and when to wait letting patience be your guide. It’s easy to rule when it’s peaceful. `It’s easy to plan before something arrives. It’s easy to break when its fragile and as we have learned, easy to disperse when its small. Be the one who prepares the master plan.

But know to act is to fail and to control is to lose. The sage therefore doesn’t act he thus does not lose. Living in the paradox that life brings forth to challenge him each day ultimately simply the reminder of why he is here.

Does not the sage seek what no one else looks for turning to what others pass by? To remind others that everything must simply run its course. That when the time is right it arrives and that the truth of all things is in doing what comes natural. The sage therefore knows to simply act naturally before something exists.

第 节          预防不测

作为一个因他的远见和对世间万物的认知而被同行认可的人，他已经发现了万物在何处汇合，揭

示了宇宙的共同目标和节律。又有什么比在事情发生前知道如何应对更为重要的？

让耐心作指导，知道何时行动和何时等候。确定何时平安容易，事情到来前预先作准备容易，当东西脆弱时打破它也容易，正如我们所知，细微之物容易传播。但是，作重大决策不是一件容易的事情。

须知道，行动即失败，控制即失去。因此，圣人无动无为，也没有损失。悖缪的生活充满了挑战，这就提醒我们为什么圣人在这里。

圣人不是寻找没有人寻找的东西吗？圣人不是专心于他人忽视的东西吗？要提醒大家，万物都必须从始至终。时候到了，它自然会来。万物之真理就是遵循自然规律办事。因此，圣人知道在事情发生之前如何应对。

Verse 66 – Reaching Perfect Harmony

In the middle of all lies perfect harmony. When you go to extremes you lose the natural balance found in all things.

It is for this reason that knowledge is frowned upon for those who have not found their way. Knowledge in the hands of a person not grounded in the way of virtue is lost to the vagaries of the moment.

Knowledge leads to deception and deception to definitions of right and wrong that are self-serving and can become secretive and divisive.

Those who remain unconcerned about knowledge look to heaven and harmony with the world around them. Once in harmony with heaven, they learn to only do that which requires no effort. Once you see that everything you need to know already lies, or exists, within yourself you can begin to understand that the lack of knowledge spreads virtue. It is by governing himself, cultivating the virtue he shares with heaven, that the sage’s place in the scheme of things becomes clear.

The sage becomes so deep that he cannot be reached and is always found to be doing the opposite of others. He goes so far as to reach perfect harmony, an image mirroring the Tao.

• 达到完美的和谐

完美的和谐存在于万物之中。当你走向极端时，你就失去了万物之中的自然平衡。基于这个原

因，知识不喜欢那些还没有找到道的人。一个人手中的知识如果不为道德服务，这个人的知识就会在异想天开的片刻之中失去。

知识可以导致欺骗，欺骗可以导致不明是非，自欺欺人。

那些知识贫乏的人依赖上天与和谐。一旦与上天达成和谐，他们就学习无为而行。当万事具备时，你就开始明白，即使没有知识也可以传播大德。正是通过约束自己，修炼与上天共享的大德，圣人在万物之中的地位就清楚明了。

圣人变得高深莫测，总是爱做与众不同之事。他已经进入了完美和谐的境界，成为了道的形象代表。

Verse 67 – Thoughts on remaining a lower Presence

The sage’s challenge is to be present, but act as if he is not really here. Possessing the way he sees himself as an orphan widowed and impoverished staying below those around him.

He is as if the banks of a great river allowing everything to run through and past him, while he guides the way.  He is like the receptacle of everything as it meets its end, as if the ocean remaining lower and capturing the water of a hundred rivers. While they pour into him, he barely notices except to be raised up by their presence.

For those who would benefit by the sage he must maintain a position lower than everyone around him.

If thrust to the forefront he must act as if he were behind. If seen as above others he must see that others remain unburdened by him.

While those around him continually push him forward he simply flows with events taking care not to struggle. Because he does not struggle no one can struggle against him. As no one can struggle against him he takes everything to new heights and places they would not otherwise go.

• 对保持低调的思考

圣人面临的挑战是，既要抛头露面，又要不为人知。圣人有道，把自己看作低人一等的贫穷孤

儿。他如同一道河堤，让河水顺堤而下，超越自己。他如同万物之器皿，包容一切。他如同大海，纳百川之水，仍然难观其变化。

圣人的地位必须比众人低，才能让众人得益。

如果圣人挺身而出，他却必须装作落后。如果圣人居于众人之上，他必须看到众人不会因他而背上负担。

当身边的人不断推他向前，圣人只是随波逐流，与世无争。因为他与世无争，世人也不与他竞争。因为无人与他竞争，圣人得以把万物带到新的高度和从未到过的地方。

Verse 68 – Rising to the forefront through Compassion

Refraining from greatness is an obstacle the sage finds himself continually up against.

As he goes forth in compassion others are drawn to his light. While he prefers to remain in the background, others are quick to recognize his virtue and vision. While he prefers not to distinguish or differentiate himself, he goes out of his way not to demean or glorify himself. Once the sage becomes useful to others, so does the means to be great. He therefore prefers to remain in the background and stay small.

The sage counters this rush to judgment by upholding his sense of integrity by treasuring inner patience, frugality and humility. He does this by living a simple life based on compassion, a sense of austerity and a reluctance to excel as if life were drifting through the world without opposing others.

Just as the sage is reminded of when at the age of eighteen he wrote something that has remained the underpinning of who he was yet to become… “That sorrowful feelings mean nothing if there is no compassion felt”.

He has now come full circle in gaining an understanding of where and how all things in the universe fit together. That all things serve a purpose and that if we renounce compassion for valor without recognizing that being soft allows us to overcome what is most difficult, anything seen as success would be shallow or non-existent.

That the sage can be austere by learning when to stop and content with just what he has this moment, thereby living in both hardship and extravagance. By standing back, or aside, as if we are reluctant to excel no one excels us.

Since the sage does not compete, what he brings to the table allows him to understand the root of all problems, or underlying contradiction and do only that which must be done. The sage is moved by compassion as the ultimate expression of the Tao.

Compassion defined as protecting the ten thousand things under heaven and remaining prepared for and knowing any outcome that may follow.

• 出于同情，挺身而出

避免出人头地是圣人经常面临的问题。当他充满深情的发表演说时，众人被他的光辉所吸引。他

更愿意隐身殿后，但是众人很快就通过他的德行和远见将他认出。他不喜欢与众不同，因此他离开道，不作炫耀。但是一旦圣人帮助别人，他就显其伟大。因此圣人宁愿退居幕后，甘于平凡。

圣人反对作草率的判断，他通过耐心，俭朴和谦恭来维护他的完整性。圣人过着出于同情的简朴和无争的生活，淡泊名利，好像生命在与众无争的世间漂浮。

圣人在十八岁时写过一句话。这话至今依然反映他将来的为人。这话是，“没有同情心的伤感是毫无意义的”。

圣人已经对万物在宇宙何处如何适应这个问题作了一番研究。万物均为了一个共同目的。如果我们因为勇猛而失去了同情心，没有认识到柔弱也可以使我们克服困难，我们的成功就显得极其肤浅或根本不存在。圣人能够俭朴，因为他知道事情何时终止，并满足现状，因此他可以过着艰苦和富裕的生活。退一步来说，如果我们不愿意战胜别人，别人也不可能战胜我们。

因为圣人与世无争，能够洞察问题的关键和矛盾之所在。他只做那些必须做的事情。圣人常常为道的最终表达－同情心而感动。

同情心是为保护天下万物而产生的。有同情心的人永远准备着，并知道任何伴随而来的结局。

Verse 69 – Conveying the utmost virtue through non-aggression

The sage is careful not to proceed in anger or acrimony. As everything under the sun comes to pass is not it our responsibility to look for the perfect solution. He sets the example for others to follow.

He knows full well that as quickly that anger can turn to joy, that joy can respond in anger and to what end. As he follows his mentors, he is reminded that throughout the ages those who think means can justify the ends have accomplished nothing. This is why the age-old analogy that nothing can be right if it can be right for one and wrong for another. How can the Tao support one and not the other? This is why the sage leads by example with the foremost desire to remain empty and still. That “doing nothing” is simply emptying your mind and body of anything foreign to the Tao, as no one can fight against nothing.

In ancient times, long before Lao, Chuang, Lieh and even Confucius, everything remained perfect. The perfect army was not armed, the perfect warrior was not angry, the perfect victor was not hostile and the perfect commander acted humble.

It is the sage’s highest aspiration to remind others of from where they came and to convey the utmost virtue of non-aggression by using strength and weakness of others to show the way. To be reminded of from where he came, as if from above. While his heart remains below uniting all things under heaven and the Tao. Is not this his ultimate purpose?

Maintaining ties with his old friends to move all those around him towards their proper end.

• 和平以播德

圣人小心翼翼，行事时不生气或刻薄。阳光下万物来来往往，我们没有责任去寻找完美的解决方案。圣人树立榜样让众人跟随。

圣人完全明白，生气变成快乐之迅速，就跟快乐变成生气一样。当圣人跟随他的宗师时，他常常被告诫，从古到今，卑鄙的人到头来一无所获。这就是为什么古语说，如果对一个人来说是对的，对另一个人是错的，那就不可能是对的。道怎能支持一个人，不支持另一个人呢？这就是为什么圣人用虚空和宁静为榜样率领众人。“无为”就是澄清与头脑和身体无关的东西，因为没有人可与虚无作对。

古时候，在老子，庄子，列子和孔子时代之前，万物皆完美。完美的军队没有武器；完美的武士没有愤怒；完美的胜利者不具敌意；完美的指挥官非常仁慈。

圣人的最高愿望是提醒众人他们来自何方和通过利用别人的优缺点来宣讲道德。

圣人到底从何而来？他似乎是从天而来。在上天和大道之下，圣人虚心地联合万物。

这不正是圣人的最终目标吗？

与老朋友保持联系，把他身边的人推向适当的终点

Verse 70 – Putting Things in Order or Being The Guest at a Fine Banquet

In greeting those who would oppose him, the sage proceeds as if at a fine banquet.

He responds only after his host sets the table and blessings have been received from heaven.

He advances innately ready to retreat with the slightest provocation. While the host may resist, the guest remains free to compromise. While the host toils to improve his position, the guest relaxes. While the host appears busy with much activity, he retreats in quiet. The sage remains prepared to meet resistance with agreement, toil with relaxation, pride with humility and action with quiet. Knowing in reality he has no opposition or enemy as he remains fully enmeshed in whatever outcome that may arrive.

While the sage works to bring all together under the sun, as if an umbrella out of harms way, he is often evenly matched by those who are happy with leaving things just the way they are.  While they may be content to only expand their treasure, he is concerned with illustrating the traits of compassion and the Tao.

While remorseful about where he may find himself, the sage knows no fate is worse than having no enemy. As opposites are required for either him or the Tao to proceed he quickly thanks his host for the sumptuous meal and then quickly and quietly recedes.

• 70 宴会的客人

在应对那些反对他的人时，圣人装作出席一个盛大宴会。只有在他的客人就坐完毕并接受了来自上苍的祝福后，他才回答客人提出的问题。

他凭天性前行，不动声色地撤退。主人可能反对，客人可以妥协。主人辛苦，客人可以放松。主人非常忙碌，他却悄然离去。圣人用妥协来面对抵抗，辛劳而又惬意，谦恭而又自豪，行动时无声无息。实际上，因为圣人作好了面临任何结局的准备，因此他没有遭遇对手的抵抗。

圣人把众人带到阳光之下，他就如同一把安全之伞。他常常像那些乐于顺其自然的人。

众人满足于获得更多的财富，他却专心于传授同情和道。

圣人对于从何处寻找自己感到懊悔。他知道，没有比缺乏对手更为糟糕的命运，因为圣人或道需要对手。他简短地感谢主人的丰盛晚餐，然后迅速地悄悄离去。

Verse 71 – Proceeding with little or no Fanfare

The sage’s motives are seldom understood and no one is usually very quick to employ them. Even though his words are easy to understand and put into practice.

He is reminded of the old proverb. “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand”.. Confucius adds that one should study what is below and understand what is above. Besides, who can know the motives of the sage, except heaven? Understanding something that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, tasted or heard seems beyond comprehension.

However, all things have ancestors and nothing can begin unless something else moves out of the way and ends. The sage remains an enigma to those around him as he is somehow different than others. He does not simply see himself only in terms of the here and now. But acknowledges his presence in what has come. Up to now since antiquity and that he has seen it all before as he is assured that his destiny is to one day return to be one with the dragons.

While it is the Tao and one universally referred to as God that is to be exalted, the sage is often considered in high esteem because he can be seen. Knowing this he strives to wear plain clothes and attempt, however difficult, to remain unseen and let others lead the way. He remains difficult to know because he seldom reveals his true self, as once revealed his opposition would request equal billing. But then again, who could oppose the sage for long.

第71节　悄然而行

我们很难理解圣人的动机，通常没有人能够很快就掌握它们。尽管圣人的话容易明白和付诸实践。

有句格言说，“告诉我，我会忘记；给我看，我可能记得；让我参与，我会明白”。孔子也说过，“下学而上达”。另外，除了上天之外，又有谁能够知道圣人的动机呢？我们没有能力理解看不见，摸不着，闻不到，尝不了和听不见的东西。

然而，万物皆有宗，除非某些事情离去或结束，不然无事可以开始。圣人仍然是他身边的人的一个秘。因为他有点与众不同，他不仅仅从此时此刻的角度看待自己。但是，他承认自古到今自己的存在和所经历了一切。他确信，命中注定总有一天他与群龙一起归来。

只有道和上帝最为高贵。圣人常常被人尊重，因为他可以被人看见。了悟这一点，圣人尽量穿便服，让其他人来指引众人，但仍然难免被人发现。因为圣人极少披露他的真实自我，不易被人理解。一旦他的真相被揭露，他的对手将要付出同样的代价。又有谁能够长期与圣人抗衡呢？

Verse 72 – Understanding one’s own affliction

What can it possibly mean to say we understand something when there can be no understanding as our attachments and afflictions keep coming forward for all to see?

As we spend all our time thinking we don’t understand, when what we need has been before us trying to get our attention that brings us to understanding.

How can we understand when understanding depends on things independent of each other coming together for their own sake? What can there be to understanding when the answers seem to lie beyond us?

Can we understand our true place in the universe once we know we are only here to come to know our spirit’s true affliction? Treating our affliction, or hardship, as a result our of lack of ability to see ourselves as who we ultimately are to become?

If we cannot see beyond our transitory ego and self, how can we come to know why we are here?

Or if as we say someone can awaken midstream to understand his or her place in the universe, as if suddenly seeing the light, can that understanding be understood?

Just as trying to understand the Tao through reasoning when there is no door or entrance that defines what remains indefinable.  When often tried, the sage is seen as having an affliction. When in reality the sage is not afflicted, he simply remains above understanding so that hardship or difficulty cannot find him.

第72节　理解个人疾苦

如果我们对接二连三的悲伤和痛苦都不理解，又有什么可能说我们理解什么呢？

当我们需要的东西展示在我们面前，企图吸引我们的注意力，以达到相互理解，我们却整天想着不理解。

当目的各异，互不相关的事物同时出现时，

我们又如何理解呢？当我们无法寻找答案时，我们又能够理解什么呢？

一旦我们知道此行的目的是理解我们精神上的真正痛苦时，我们能够理解我们在宇宙的真正地位吗？对因为没有能力知道我们最终将变成什么样的人而带来的痛苦进行治疗？如果我们不能抛弃小小的自尊和自私，我们又如何明白我们为何在此呢？

或者，如果我们说，有人能够唤醒大众，了解他或她在宇宙的地位，这就如同突然间看见阳光，这样悟性能够被理解吗？

当门槛或进口不可划定时，试图通过推理来领悟道是徒劳的。屡次尝试之后圣人显得很痛苦。但实际上圣人没有痛苦。他只是不可知之，所以苦难或困难不能找到他。

Verse 73 – Staying out of the way of our own Enlightenment

For the sage that is fully engaged, keeping ego at arm’s length is his reminder of how far he has yet to travel.

As he steps back for a moment to review the road map that illustrates the starting point of his journey, the road he has traveled thus far and what he hopes to learn about himself in the days ahead. Letting go and letting his friends, the dragons, lead the way.

His journey through the Tao Te Ching is now almost complete. He’s come far enough to know that keeping his virtue in tact requires his simply knowing himself and remaining hidden from view as he leads the way.

Scoffing at the paradox that authority always brings to the table. That those who fear authority are usually better off than those who have authority to fear. Knowing that if there are no restrictions where people live and we don’t repress how they want to live, people won’t protest. If they don’t protest there is nothing to fear. Thus the sage is mindful of his role. Careful to keep his ego in check as he knows his ultimate success will only be measured by what is left behind as he remains unattached to things outside himself.

He focuses only on his own journey letting events propel him forward to destinations as yet unknown.

His only challenge to stay out of the way of his own enlightenment.

第73节　不要自我干扰

全身投入的圣人提醒自己，与自我保持一定的距离，他要走的路还很长。

圣人退下片刻，审阅标记着他的起点和迄今为止的行走路线的旅行图，还考虑了未来几天他所希望了解自己什么。他让朋友和神龙引路。

他的道德经之旅现在快要结束了。他足以知道，保持他的大德无损需要了解自己。在指导众人的同时要隐身其后。

他笑对权威的荒谬，尽管害怕权威的人通常比让权威害怕的人活的好。要明白如果对人民的居住地不加约束，我们就不用限制人民的生活，人民就不会抗议。如果人民不抗议，就没有恐惧。因此圣人深知他的责任，小心反省自己，因为他知道自己的最高目标。

成功将由被抛弃的事物来衡量。圣人不与自己以外的人和事打交道。

圣人专心他自己的旅行，让万物把他推向未知的终点。

他唯一的挑战是不要干扰自己。

Verse 74 – Acceding to the will of Heaven

Everything under the sun must take its turn. Impatience and ego the only deterrent from our recognizing our good when heaven comes forth to greet us.

It is in daring to act without virtue that we fail when keeping still defines who will benefit and who will be harmed.

Who can know the will of heaven? Can only those who accept the path to enlightenment who live under the auspices of the Tao come closer than any other? It is as if two people are confronted with the same choice.

One will follow the instincts of heaven and the other the instincts of self-interest. Why does one see the way beginning within himself ultimately leads to virtue and the will of heaven through detachment from the world.

While the other cannot see beyond himself and the material world he covets. The sage knows that all things under heaven eventually come to pass to find each one of us. It is what we grab onto that determines our way.

That is why cause and effect and yin and yang of everything imaginable must occur. Light must become dark, just as the four season’s change. All things have their time that leads to their ultimate unfolding. This underlying truth is the path to reason. The way of heaven wins easily without a fight because it already knows the outcome and will see things through to their end.

It answers with a word as the natural progression of cause and effect, comes quickly without a summons protecting those who, with grace, follow the way and plans ingeniously without a thought as the natural extension of the Tao.

It’s net is all embracing and nothing escapes it.

Each beginning must follow with its rightful end just as every end is simply the beginning of something else. Death following life and life following death as we continually leave our spirit to find its own ultimate endeavor and destiny.

第74节　接受上苍的意愿

天下万物必须轮流替换。当上苍前来向我们致意时，缺乏耐心和自尊会妨碍我们认识自己的优点。当我们保持宁静，确定谁将受益和受害时，没有大德而贸然行动必将失败。

谁能知道上苍的意愿？那些接受道的指导和生活在道的意愿之下的人，能够比其他人更接近道

吗？这似乎是两个人面临同样的选择。

一人将跟随上苍的意愿；另一人却跟随自己的意愿。为何有人能够从自己看到道的起点，并最终修成大德？同时能够通过有别于世俗的眼光看见上苍的意愿。然而，别人却不能看透自己和他所羡慕的物质世界。

圣人知道天下万物最终会前来发现我们每一个人。这正是我们所掌握的用以确定我们的道的东西。

这正是为什么万物的因果和阴阳发生的原因。光明变成黑暗，如同四季变化。万物均有最终表达的时候。这个真理是基本常识。天道不战而胜，因为它已经知道结局并将看到事情的结束。

答案只有一句话，因为因果的自然发展很快，来不及号召保护寻道的大众。而且，因果的自然发展计划巧妙，甚至没有考虑它是道的延续。它是一张包罗万象的网，任何东西都不能逃脱。

每一个开始必须跟随着合理的结束，就像每一个结束都是某一件事物的开始。我们的灵魂不断地寻找自己最终的目标和命运，生生死死，死死生生，周而复始。

Verse 75 – Finding our Place in Heaven

For those who have not taken up their personal journey; for those who have not awakened midstream to find themselves embracing something beyond themselves that cannot be explained but makes perfect sense; for those who fail to pass judgment on themselves and all around them, yet see clearly, does not the final answer come forward with how they perceive their own death and innate fear of losing what life they have until they figure it out.

Throughout the ages and passed along from each generation and centuries too numerous to mention has not this overriding question of immortality and the efforts to embrace it been the endeavor of even the most devout sage with thoughts of death and destiny and questioning who are we to judge the will of heaven.

The sage is guided by the knowledge that as long as people fear death, forces close by will always be near to do them in. If we in turn substitute the will of heaven for our own, are we ourselves likely to meet our own untimely end?

If as stated earlier, the net of heaven is all-embracing its mesh remaining wide so that nothing escapes it, then does not everything eventually find its rightful place under heaven?

第75节　寻找我们在天堂的地位

对那些还没有完成旅行的人，对那些没有唤醒内心去发现自己，接受某些超越自我，难以解释但

颇有意义的东西的人，对那些不能通过自己和众人评审的人，他们可以清楚地看到，如何对待死亡和失去生命天生的恐惧，最后的答案必须有他们自己找到。

自古以来，世世代代，永恒生命这个问题和寻找这个问题的努力多不胜数。纵然是最具好奇心，对死亡和命运富有见解的圣人，都对我们是谁这个问题产生过疑问。

圣人知道，只要人们恐惧死亡，自然的力量总是几乎致他们于死地。假如我们轮流用上苍的意愿代替我们的意愿，我们可能会过早地结束我们的生命吗？

如同上述，假如天网打开，任意逃脱，是否万物最终发现它们在天底之下的地位？

Verse 76 – In death the Tao acknowledges the Sage

Before there was considered to be a force in the universe that would be known as God there was the Tao.

Before there existed the myriad of shamans, saints, priests and holy men considered to be here to lead the way, there was the Tao.

As the ten thousand things came forth from antiquity to manifest and begin the cycle of being born, dying and being born again continually as the natural extension of the way, the sage ultimately came forth as one protected by dragons.  The dragons, but those who have been chosen to impart simple virtue as those who follow the correct path or way of heaven.

The sage coming forward to find that the reason there is suffering or hunger for life is that others impose too many restrictions on how we should live, therefore people remain unfulfilled.  That the reason people are hard to get along with is that those who would lead the way have forgotten the path in which all should follow.  However, when death follows as the natural course of events after everything has passed through him and acknowledges his ultimate place in the universe, the loving life becomes secondary as eternal life comes forth to greet the great sage.

Loving God and what She and the Tao teaches, he simply lets his enthusiasm come naturally as the centuries have shown him the proper way.

第76节　死后道向圣人致谢

 从前，宇宙中有一种称为上帝的力量，有道。从前，出现过无数个被认为能够带领众人的术士，

圣人和传教士，有道。

作为道的延续的万物从远古而来，开始出生，死亡和再出生的不断循环。圣人最终在神龙保护下出现。作为遵循正确途经或天道的神龙被挑选来传授大德。

圣人发现，苦难和饥饿的原因是有些人对我们如何生活设置了太多的限制。因此，人民的聪明才智没有得到充分的发挥。人民不团结的原因是引路的人忘记了众人应走的路。然而，在万物穿过圣人，承认他在宇宙的最高地位后，死亡作为自然规律随之而来，情欲生活成为次要，因为永恒的生命前来欢迎伟大的圣人。

热爱神，热爱神的和道的教导，圣人的热情油然而来，几百年来圣人已经找到了正确道路。

Verse 77 – Letting your Enthusiasm open every door

Fortunate again to be born into weakness, we are soon caught up in what may be perceived as making us strong.

Confused into thinking that our strength is needed to help us find our way when just the opposite, our weakness, will bring us victory.

Lieh Tzu, my friend and mentor, tells the world that the path to victory is weakness.  As the hard and strong lead people away from the Tao, they do so with great effort.

They refuse to remain still letting events come to them.  Convinced that controlling what occurs they will find their direction.  Remaining oblivious to what remains effortless may just appear as weakness.

Observing the simple, letting everything play out to its own conclusion, the sage appears soft and seemingly weak.  When things become hard and stiff they can only be close to their end.  Remaining supple and bending with the wind the soft and weak can stay in tune with life.

Staying within the confines of his own virtue, the sage easily converses with his mentors bringing nothing hard and fast to the table.  He confines himself to his humble beginnings letting the Tao lead the way.  Letting his enthusiasm remain his signature that softens every encounter he is not bound by things seemingly apparent in the world as he opens every door that finds him.

第77节　让你的热情打开所有的门

幸运的是，我们生下来时非常孱弱，但我们很快就强壮起来。我们错误地认为，我们需要力量来帮助我们发现道。其实恰恰相反，柔弱将给我们带来胜利。

我的朋友和导师列子告诉世人，柔弱是通向胜利之道。因为坚硬和刚强使我们偏离道。

他们拒绝宁静，爱惹事生非。他们深信控制事物的发生能够帮助他们找到方向。他们经常忘记，恪守无为即是柔弱。

认识简朴，让万物自己走向终结。圣人看上去非常柔软和孱弱。万物坚硬之时，正是万物死亡之日。在风中，应保持易弯易曲。柔软和孱弱可与生命共鸣和。

圣人与他的导师轻松地探讨大德，谈话在友善和缓慢中进行。圣人以谦恭为开始，让道在前面开路，让他的热情软化每一个人。圣人不被世间之表象所约束，他打开所有的能够找到他的大门。

Verse 78 – Following the way of Heaven

The sage endeavors to follow the way of heaven while only revealing everything for its true and natural place.

Pulling down the high while lifting the low he stays on an even keel finding the natural balance of all around him.

Continually moving forward unsure or unconcerned if what he does is ultimately good or bad as long as the natural order of things are followed and are allowed to take their places.  Moving without presumption or staking claim to what may be perceived as personal achievement.  Choosing to remain in the background and not displaying his skills, nothing can deter or get in his way.  His burden to keep his virtue to himself and not revealed to those who continually come running to his doorstep.

Modeling his actions after the way of heaven, the sage takes from the long and gives to the short so that the ten thousand things naturally find their places.  For all things under heaven to find their place, it is best for heaven to sit back and do nothing allowing the nature of all things to come forward unimpeded fulfilling its ultimate endeavor and finding its true identity and destiny.

第78节　遵循天道

圣人努力去遵循天道，并为天道的真实和自然揭示一切。圣人削峰填壑，悄悄地寻找他身边万物

之自然平衡。

圣人继续前行。只要万物的自然秩序安排井然和遵循，圣人并不在意他的作为最终是好是坏。只管前行，不要猜测和怀有私心。圣人选择置身隐处，不露锋芒，没有什么能够阻止他的前进或堵塞他的道路。他的负担是恪守大德，不把大德展示给那些不断地来到他的门阶的人。

圣人依天道行动，取长补短，以帮助万物自然地找到他们的地位。为了使万物找到他们的地位，圣人最好是坐下来，停止行动，让万物的自然力畅通无阻地前来完成他们的最高奋斗目标，找到他们的真实身份和归宿。

Verse 79 – Being Present at Destiny’s Table

The sage is reminded of the words of an old friend who once told him that the true nature of one who follows the Tao is like water.

It is the nature of water to stay low, not to struggle and to take on the shape of its container thus appearing to be weak.

Is this not the way of the sage?  Appearing weak, but in reality able to cut through any obstacle as he ultimately finds his true path.

What is perceived as weakness often wins through persistence while what appears to be hard easily becomes brittle unable to withstand the pressure of determination.

Should not we follow the ways of Chuang Tzu who decried that everyone wants to be first, while he alone waits, wanting to be last enduring to the end so that he may be present at destiny’s table.

Emulating Chuang Tzu’s perfected man cannot the sage by following the Tao and the way of heaven ultimately turn everything upside down thereby betraying conventional wisdom at every turn.

In looking beyond the present and reminding himself of what’s to come, does not the sage simply prepare to return to find this place confident that the stage has been set and his place at the table assured.

第79节　主宰命运

圣人记起一个老朋友曾经说过的一句话，循道的人的真性如水。水的特性是卑下，无争，与容器同形，因此貌似柔弱。

这不是圣人之道吗？看起来柔弱，实际上能够排除任何障碍，最终找到真道。

看起来柔弱的东西常常以坚韧不拔取胜。而看起来坚硬的东西却容易破碎，不能承受压力。

应该学习庄子的处世之道。庄子看见每一个人都争先恐后，而他却孤独地忍耐，最后出现在命运之桌的前面。

圣人仿效庄子真人，跟随天道。但

圣人终究不能颠倒万物和背叛传统智慧。

展望未来，圣人提醒自己注意将要发生什么，准备回来寻找这个地方，他深信，一切已经安排就绪。

Verse 80 – Staying in Step with the Tao

Cultivating ourselves while holding a marker as if attached and only concerned with the way of heaven.

Making no claims on others while making demands only on ourselves as disputes come and go as if they are riding the wind. Here now only to test our direction and how far along we’ve come on our journey.

The world is looking for the sage to come forward full of enthusiasm and direction to lead in the spirit of dragons and to show others their highest endeavor and destiny.  The world is looking to the sage once he has accepted the mantle as one enmeshed with the Tao.

Once he has accepted his place in the scheme of things to come, nothing can stand in his way. As he simply embodies the Tao in his every thought, action and deed his every step continues to become second nature…

第80节　紧跟道的步伐

修炼自己，手持标尺，稳如磐石，专心天道。

纷争随风而来，随风而去。你宽以待人，严于律己。此时此刻，你检查我们的前进方向以及我们在旅行中走了多远。

众人期望圣人带着满腔热情和详细计划，用龙的精神率领大家。并且向其他人显示我们的最高抱负和使命。一旦圣人作为道中之人接受斗篷，众人无不寄予圣人以厚望。

一旦圣人接受万物的安排，他就无可阻挡。他的每个思想和行动都为道所支配。他的每一步都继续成为他的第二天性

Verse 81 – Remaining in High Style

Remaining satisfied with just what you have as you are content to live as the extension of the Tao which has become the reflection of who and where you are.

Living within the Tao, the sage soon becomes aware that he is nothing more than an extension of what occurs in nature.  Enabling all to come forward to find their true place, not as the substitute for their action, but as one who empowers others to see beyond themselves as the sage stays in the background doing nothing.

Envisioning a place where there are tools that remain unused, where people have no need to move far afield, are easy with death and where it takes them, with places to go but no reason to travel, and defenses in place but no reason to defend them.  Satisfied with the fruits of their labor and content with where they find themselves as they go restfully to sleep each night.  Content with their homes and happy with their customs as they know the taste of the Tao and remain adorned with virtue. Even though others may live close by they have no reason to visit as all they need they already have.

第81节　保持高风格

满足现状，满足于做道的传人，道已经成为了你的影像。

活在道中，圣人很快就知道，他只不过是自然的延续。圣人使众人能够前来寻找他们真正的地位，众人不是行动的替身，而是能够赋予他人力量以超越自我的人。圣人身居幕后，不动声色。

想象一下，有那么一个世外桃园，在那里有未使用过的器具，人民不用长途跋涉，对死亡泰然处之。那里的人有地方可去，但没有必要去旅行。他们有防御设施，但没有防御的必要。他们安居乐业，夜夜高枕无忧。他们满意自己的风俗习惯。他们熟知道，尊崇高德。尽管他们有近邻，因为他们能够自给自足，所以互不往来。

 Epilogue  82 – Preparing to return to utter Spontaneity

Simplicity, detachment, and virtue, the three anchors that through the ages have separated the sage from the rest of the world.  Emulating the Tao he recalls what came first, what remains empty and forever still.

Preparing to return to the utter spontaneity found as one in complete harmony with the universe, the Tao Te Ching now completed.

The journey with Lao Tzu simply the process of coming forward to know the way of the sage is to act without struggle.  Everything coming forward to greet him to convey what was before him from the beginning.  That in the end he accumulates nothing assured that the more he does for others the greater his own abundance and that the way of heaven is to help without harming. Knowing this the sage finds his journeys complete.

As he prepares to depart up the familiar path to meditate in his garden pavilion seeking refuge to contemplate how far he has come, the sage is reminiscent about times spent with Lao, Chuang, and Lieh even Confucius, Mencius and all the others, he is confident that another step has now been completed.

His thoughts on becoming a sage now complete, he now thrives on virtue secure at his passing.

<<<<<<THE END>>>>>>

尾声：回归大自然

简朴，超然和大德是从古到今区别圣人和世人的三个铁锚。仿效道的圣人先知先觉，知道什么仍然虚空，什么是永恒的宁静。回归自然，圣人与宇宙达到完全和谐，道德经至此完成。

与老子之旅，是参悟圣人之道是无争而动的过程。万物前来请求圣人从头开始传授在他以前之事。最后，圣人一无所有，但他深信，他为众人做的越多，他就越丰富。天道助人不害人。明白这一点，圣人认为他的旅行已经结束。

圣人离开他熟悉的道，在他花园的亭子里找一个清静的地方，反思他的所作所为。圣人回想起他与老子，庄子，列子，孔子，孟子和其他人在一起的时光。他深信，另一步现在结束了。

他对如何成为一个圣人的思考现在结束。圣人靠大德而成功，对他的过去感到宽慰和安心。

-完-

 

 

___ Taoism, Daoism (Chinese: 道教; pinyin: Daojiao) Chinese philosophy to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world: simplicity and selflessness in conformity with the Tao, leading a life of non- purposeful action, a life expressing the essence of spontaneity.

Taoism, also known as Daoism, roots began in shamanism and the I Ching.  My own version of the I Ching is also found on this website. It became definable about the same time as Confucianism during what would be known as the “One Hundred Flowers” period. Lao Tzu is considered to have written a book of 81 chapters, named Tao Te Ching, also Daodejing, a classical Chinese text, mainly concerning tao/ dào “way,” and te/dé “virtue”, life, strength. My own book that was published in China in 2006 follows below. Taoist thought focuses on genuineness, longevity, health, immortality, vitality, wu wei (non-action, a natural action, a perfect equilibrium with tao), detachment, refinement (emptiness), spontaneity, transformation and omni-potentiality.This religious and philosophical tradition of Taoism had its roots in the nature worship and divination of the earliest Chinese people. The word ‘Tao’ 道 (or Dao) translates into “path”, ”method”, “principle” or “way”, the character 教 translates into ‘”teach” or “class” and Taoist belief is based on the idea that there is central or organizing principle of the universe, a natural order or a “way of heaven”, Tao, that one can come to know by living in harmony with nature and hence with the cosmos and the universe. The philosophy of Tao signifies the fundamental or true nature of the world, it is the essential, unnameable process of the universe. Tao both precedes and encompasses the universe.Nothing in the universe is fixed, static or non moving; per se everything is transforming all the time. The flow of ‘chi’ energy, as the essential energy of action, existence and active principle forming part of any living things, is compared and believed to be the influence that keeps the universal order of Tao balanced. Analogies exist between all levels of existence: the universe, the cosmos, Earth and mankind are structured analogically and are equal in detail, forming an interconnected whole. Through an understanding of natural laws, an individual can be one with the Tao by living in accordance with nature (cosmos/ Universe) and all its transformations and changes, adopting and assimilating to these, and hence can gain eternal life. With and due to the transformations and changes of the phenomena everything and every being spontaneously, by intuition and in impulse establishs its own ‘way’. All things with their transformations and changes are considered to be self regulating, self expressing in their natural form.