Empty your mind of all thoughts.
Let heart be at peace.
Watch the turmoil of beings,
but contemplate their return.
Each separate being in the universe
Returns to the common source.
Returning to the source is serenity.
If you don’t realize the source,
You stumble in confusion and sorrow.When you realize where you came from,
You naturally become tolerant,
Disinterested, amused
Kindhearted as a grandmother,
Dignified as a king.
Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,
You can deal with whatever life brings you,
And when death comes, you are ready.
(Chapter 16)
A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
and keeps his mind open to what is.
Thus the Master is available to all people
and doesn’t reject anyone.
He is ready to use all situations
and doesn’t waste anything.
This is called embodying the light.
What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher?
What is a bad man but a good man’s job?
If you don’t understand this, you get get lost, however intelligent you are.
It is the great secret.
(Chapter 27)
He enters battle gravely, with sorrow and with great compassion, as if he were attending a funeral.
(Chapter 31)
Quite a different attitude regarding battle than that expressed in the Gita! Would bet on the soldiers that read the Gita.
Knowing others is intelligence;
Knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
Mastering yourself is true power.
(Chapter 33)
If you realize you have enough, you are truly rich. (Chapter 33)
The Master does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things, yet many more are left to be done.
[…]
The moral man does something, and when no one responds he rolls up his sleeves and uses force.
When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, the is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith, the beginning of chaos.
(Chapter 38)
Ordinary men hate solitude. (Chapter 42)
He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old. (Chapter 55)
Thus the Master is content to serve as an example and not to impose his will. (Chapter 58)
Governing a large country
is like frying a small fish.
You spoil it with too much poking.
(Chapter 60)
Confront the difficult while it is still easy. (Chapter 63)
When they know that they don’t know,
people can find their own way.
(Chapter 65)
The Master is above the people, and no one feels opppressed. He goes ahead of the people and one feels manipulated. The world is grateful to him. (Chapter 66)
I have just three things to teach:
Simplicity, patience, and compassion.
[…]
Compassionate towards yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.
(Chapter 67)
The best athlete wants his opponent at his best.
The best general enters the mind of his enemy.
The best businessman serves the communal good.
The best leader serves the will of the people.
All of them embody the virtue of non-competition.
Not that they don’t love to compete,
but they do it in the spirit of play.
(Chapter 68)
When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion.
When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend on authority.
Therefore the Master steps back so that people won’t be confused.
He teaches without a teaching, so that the people will have nothing to learn.
(Chapter 72)