Passage Four

道沖而用之或不盈。

淵兮似萬物之宗。

挫其銳，解其紛，和其光，同其塵。

湛兮似或存。

吾不知誰之子，象帝之先。

Literal Translation(By D. W. Kreger)
The Way is empty like a bowl
And whether used, not full
So deep is it
Of all things, it is ancestor
Blunts our sharpness
Unties our knots
Softens our glare
And makes us one with the Earth
Hidden deep
It seems to exist within
I do not know
Of who or what it is the child
Our emperors, it preceded



Common Interpretations
Tao (The Way) can be infused into the nature and put to use without being exhausted.
It is so deep and subtle like an abyss that is the origin of all things.
It is complete and perfect as a wholeness that can
Round off sharp edges;
Resolve confusion;
Harmonize with the glory;
Act in unity with the lowliness.
Tao is so profound and yet in invisible, It exists in everywhere and anywhere.
I don not know whose Son It is, It existed before heaven and earth.


My Interpretations

The Great Dao is the energy & matter of all things;

it can’t be over-used or under-used

It is the start and end, the origin of all things.

It is the void, the supreme emptiness and all the things within it,

It’s can’t be known where the Great Dao came from or indeed exactly what it is.

It existed before all things and is beyond all things.

Passage Three

不尚賢，使民不爭；不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜；
不見可欲，使心不亂。

是以聖人之治，虛其心，實其腹，弱其志，強其骨。

常使民無知無欲。

使夫知者不敢為也。

為無為，則無不治。

Literal Translation(By D. W. Kreger)
Not praising accomplishments, causes people to not compete, 
Not valuing the collection of precious things, causes people to not steal.
Not seeing what can be desired, causes people’s hearts no confusion,
Therefore, shaman’s order, empty their mind, fill their belly, soften their ambition, harden their bones.
Eternal-nature motivating people, not being knowledge, not being desire,
Envoys of ministers do not dare act either.
Enact non-action, Then nothing is not in order.



Common Interpretations
By not adoring the worthy, people will not fall into dispute.
By not valuing the hard to get objects, people will not become robbers.
By not seeing the desires of lust, one’s heart will not be confused.
Therefore the governing of the saint is to empty one’s mind, substantiate one’s virtue, weaken one’s worldly ambition and strengthen one’s essence. He lets the people to be innocent of worldly knowledge and desire, and keeps the clever ones from making trouble with their wits.
Acts naturally without desire, then everything will be accomplished in its natural order.



My Interpretations
Don’t praise and make accomplishments more than what they are and people won’t feel the need to compete.
Don’t place value on competition and people won’t feel the need to be better than others.
Thievery is born of the jealousy. This jealousy is born of valuing objects.
To place value on objects (rather than people) is not the way.
When objects are valued and glorified (and people, knowledge or ideals aren’t),
They become something worth stealing.
Virtue is found in understanding what desire and lust are (Chemicals released in the brain as a result blind emotion),
This should be tempered with logic BEFORE decisions are made and actions taken.
A man of the Natural Dao does what is necessary and doesn’t act on selfish desires.
A master of action through in-action is logical and uncomplicated.
He doesn’t let lust, desire or emotion complicate things.

Passage Two

天下皆知美之為美，斯惡已。

皆知善之為善，斯不善已。

故有無相生，難易相成，長短相較，高下相傾，音聲相和，前後相隨。

是以聖人處無為之事，行不言之教；萬物作焉而不辭，生而不有。

為而不恃，功成而弗居。

夫唯弗居，是以不去。

Literal Translation(By D. W. Kreger)
Heaven below it is known that beauty acting beautiful reveals ugly side
It is known that good acting good reveals not good side
Thus, being and non-being mutually exist
Difficult and easy, mutually experience
Long and short, mutually contrast
Top and bottom, mutually position
Voice and Sound, mutually synchronize
Before and after, mutually sequence
Therefore, Shaman employs non-action to contend
Practice, not words, have they to teach
Ten thousand things come and go, yet not disrupt
Give-birth, yet not possess
Act, yet not expect
Work accomplished, yet no claim 
Workers only with no claim
Therefore are sustainable



Common Interpretations
As soon as beauty is known by the world as beautiful, it becomes ugly.
As soon as virtue is being known as something good, it becomes evil.
Therefore being and non-being give birth to each other.
Difficult and easy accomplish each other.
Long and short form each other.
High and low distinguish each other.
Sound and tone harmonize each other
Before and after follow each other as a sequence.
Realizing this, the saint performs effortlessly according to the natural Way without personal desire, and practices the wordless teaching thru one’s deeds.
The saint inspires the vitality of all lives, without holding back.
He nurtures all beings with no wish to take possession of.
He devotes all his energy but has no intention to hold on to the merit.
When success is achieved, he seeks no recognition.
Because he does not claim for the credit, hence shall not lose it.



My Interpretations
Once something has been determined, it’s opposite must also be true.
One trait will always reveal the existence of the other trait.
If something is determined as ‘good’ it can also be viewed as ‘bad’.
If something is determined as ‘beautiful’ it can also be viewed as ‘ugly’.
With all things being relative, determining anything is only a matter of realising the opposite.
Something is only ‘difficult’ when determined as ‘not easy’ (and vice-versa).
Something is only ‘long’ when determined as ‘not short’ (and vice-versa).
Something is only ‘high’ when determined as ‘not low’ (and vice-versa).
Something is only known as ‘before’ when ‘after’ has been determined.
Each of these are not the Great Dao,
They are human constructs, labels, for us to make sense of the Universe,
The Universe itself has no need for labels and designations.
With the realization of that which is only human construct,
One can come closer to understanding the Natural Dao.
Things like ‘desire’, ‘aspiration’ and the ‘need for supremacy’ are not the way.
The Master works with the Dao, not against it.
He puts no effort in and nothing is left undone.
The Master doesn’t try to control or manipulate.
He doesn’t hold back and is not lazy, but doesn’t want to claim credit.
When the task is done and the goal achieved, he want’s no recognition.
The task was about the task, not about him.

 

 

Passage One

道可道，非常道。
名可名，非常名。
無名天地之始；有名萬物之母。
故常無欲，以觀其妙；常有欲，以觀其徼。
此兩者，同出而異名，同謂之玄。
玄之又玄，衆妙之門。

Literal Translation(By D. W. Kreger)
Ways can be went, Not the eternal Way.
Names can be named, Not the eternal name.
Un-named, Heaven and Earth it begot; Being named, of ten thousand things, it is Mother.
Thus, eternal-nature not being desire, It’s seeing her wonders, Eternal-nature being desire.
It’s seeing her illusions, Compare these to each other, Together arise, but different names. Together call them Dark,
Dark are they, and Darker. To all wonders, it is doorway.


Common Interpretations
Tao (The Way) that can be spoken of is not the Constant Tao’
The name that can be named is not a Constant Name.
Nameless, is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The named is the Mother of all things.
Thus, the constant void enables one to observe the true essence.
The constant being enables one to see the outward manifestations.
These two come paired from the same origin.
But when the essence is manifested,
It has a different name.
This same origin is called “The Profound Mystery.”
As profound the mystery as It can be,
It is the Gate to the essence of all life.

My Interpretations
The Dao that forms our ways is not the Great Dao.
Words cannot be used to describe the Great Dao,
The Great Dao is everything, it is infinite.
If we try to label it and describe it then there must be something that it is not,This is not possible as The Great Dao includes all things.
That which does form our ways is the Natural Dao,That which can be named and described is the Natural Dao, but it is a mistake to think that names and labels help in any way to explain the Dao.
It’s the ways of Dao that influence our existence,
In both our daily life and on long-term larger scales.
The Natural Dao encompasses the most profound philosophical mysteries.
The Great Dao encompasses the most puzzling mysteries of the Universe,
Scientific and otherwise.