1.
No words
for Tao—
words are for things.
To know Tao
no desire—
desires are for things.
Both are sourced
in darkness—
doorway to no-thing.
2.
Knowing good
creates bad—
as ordinary opposites
relying on each other.
So the sage does
without doing—
claims nothing as
deeds are never lost.
3.
Don’t praise persons and things—
people will distort.
Lead by clarifying desire—
fulfilling essentials.
If nothing is doing—
all is done.
4.
Tao is
bottomless
emptiness—
seeming source
of all things.
Harmonizing,
it perhaps exists.
Yet its birth is unknown—
image older than God.
5.
The cosmos isn’t humane
nor is the sage—
all beings are sacrificial.
The universe will always make more.
Thus abide in the silent center.
6.
The valley spirit never dies—
call it the feminine
mystery.
Its gate is the root of the cosmos.
Ethereal—
but in use
inexhaustible.
7.
The world abides—
for it doesn’t exist for itself.
So by yielding the body—
one is present.
And being free of self—
one is fulfilled.
8.
As truth,
like water,
one helps all
and vies with none,
lives low—
as Tao.
All holds the truth—
by not resisting,
one is free
from illusion.
9.
A cup filled to the brim will spill.
Acts done in excess produce the opposite.
When work is complete, the self retreats—
Nature’s Way.
10.
Can you rest
in the seam of opposites?
See Spirit and Instinct
as One?
Give birth
without claiming,
raise
without ruling?
This deepest power.
11.
Shape clay into a cup—
from emptiness forms function.
As it is in a dwelling.
In being arises increase,
but in non-being rests value.
12.
Overkill deadens the senses;
wild pursuits enrage the mind;
treasure loses the way.
So a sage
observes insight
and overlooks eyesight.
16.
13.
Honor and shame
bind us to judgment—
suffering is bound
to our own pretense.
But seeing all as oneself—
one is free to be here for all.
14.
Not seen, heard, nor felt—
one.
Rising, not light.
Falling, not dark.
Formless form.
Hold the Ancient Way
to journey here and now.
15.
Ancients were so unfathomable,
we only picture their appearance—
to be so murky as to settle into clarity,
so still to stir to life.16.
Empty and resonate
in silence—
see all rise and return
to the root.
Not knowing is all-suffering
but knowing the way loses all
to be always.
17.
Best is nearly never known.
Next best is loved.
Then, feared—
the worst is scorned.
But words never do—
it appears
to happen
spontaneously.
18.
When the Way is forsaken—
responsibilities rise.
As knowledge ripens—
duplicity appears.
Then all becomes chaos—
blind faith persists.
How do I know? It tells me.
22.
19.
Abandon knowledge, morality, and profit—
people will thrive.
Yet one more item is crucial:
hold to the unhewn—
self erodes, desires fade.
20.
What’s the difference between good and bad?
People conform—they’re all so full!
I’m homeless and useless with the mind of a fool.
I nurture on the Mother.
21.
Tao alone is truth.
Formless—it holds an image.
Indistinct—it shelters fact.
Hidden—it embraces essence.
22.
Yield—
and be whole.
As hollow—
so filled.
Thus the sage embraces unity.
Not self-absorbed—
self-evident.
Not empty talk—
the way to the whole.
23.
Speak sparingly as nature—
wind and rain doesn’t storm all day.
To follow Tao is to be Tao.
In gain be gain, in loss, loss.
In Tao trust.
24.
On tiptoes, one can’t stand.
Showing off, one doesn’t shine.
For one on the Way, it’s called
excess food and a tiring pace.
Never indulge.
25.
Before all—
there was something silent,
empty.
Name?
Call it Tao.
Humans follow earth
follows heaven
follows Tao.
Tao follows itself.
26.
Firm—root of light.
Still—lord of the wilderness.
Sages walk with resources near—
calm amid lookouts.
Lightly—lose footing.
Wildly—lose direction.
27.
Perfect action is not undone.
Students are enshrouded light.
Teachers employ that fact
or lack all resources—
simply confusion!
So a sage sees subtly
28.
Know splendor—
abide in obscurity—
return to the natural.
When something uncut
is split, it is used.
is split, it is used.
But a sage is unhewn and divides nothing.
29.
One can’t improve
the world—
it’s perfect spirit.
One’s hot—then cold.
Strong—weak.
On—off.
So a sage avoids indulgence in extremes.
30.
As armies occupy,
thorns arise.
The adept are resolute,
but never favor force—
for things gone overgrown decay.
That isn’t the Way.
31.
Weapons are tools of misfortune—
the sage avoids them.
When many are killed—
clearly mourn them.
But even in a victory—
observe it with a funeral.
32.
Tao is ever nameless—
none command it.
Rain falls without an order.
Make rules—
names rise—
stop!
Tao in use is like a river flowing to the sea.
33.
To know others—
wise.
To know self—
enlightened.
To overcome others—
strong.
To overcome self—
all-powerful.
To not be lost in status—
enduring.
To die yet not die—
immortal.
34.
Tao
floods all directions.
All rely on it for being
yet it claims no name.
Thus a sage not acting for oneself
accomplishes greatness.
35.
Whoever follows the Great Image
enjoys peace.
Song and cake entice the passersby
to stop.
But the Way is tasteless—
never seen, heard, or exhausted.
36.
To weaken—first brace.
To take—give.
This is Dark Light.
Soft breaks hard.
Fish aren’t caught in depths.
A nation’s weapon is its peaceful villages.
37.
Tao is ever not doing
yet nothing remains undone.
Even desire is stilled
by the Nameless Pure.
Thus there’s peace of its own accord.
38.
High Te Virtue—
no action and no aim.
Kindness—
action and no aim.
Duty—
action and aim.
Ritual—
action and force
to chaos.
This is the descent from Tao.
39.
Attaining the one—
the world is pure.
Without the one—
the world cracks.
High is rooted in low.
Don’t jingle like jade—
clatter like stone.
40.
The movement of Tao is returning,
its function is yielding.
All things in the world are born of being.
Being is born of non-being.
41.
The best hear of Tao and endeavor.
The middling half-believe
and the lowest laugh.
The Great Image has no shape.
Thus Tao is hidden
but completes all.
42.
Tao begets
one
two
three
begets ten thousand things.
All carry yin—
face yang—
blend chi
to harmony.
Some gain by loss—
lose by gain.
And the forceful die first.
43.
World’s soft
overcomes hard.
Not-being
penetrates being.
Thus I know
the benefit of not-doing.
To teach with no words nor action,
few master.
44.
Are self and wealth worthy?
Gain & loss—which is worse?
Great desire is costly.
Knowing when to stop avoids fatigue.
Thus one lives forever.
45.
Perfection seems
imperfect
but its use is endless.
Motion outdoes cold.
Calm outdoes heat.
But Pure Calm makes the world our measure.
46.
When all is with Tao
horse manure enriches the fields.
When all is without Tao
horse soldiers roam the border.
One content being content is truly content.
47.
Without going out a door,
one knows the world.
Without looking out a window,
one perceives Tao.
Thus the sage names without seeing,
perfects without doing.
48.
One seeking
knowledge gains.
One seeking
Tao lessens.
Lessen and lessen
until one is doing nothing.
Do nothing
and nothing is left undone.
49.
The sage has no ideas.
All ideas are hers or his.
Treat good as good
and bad as good—
true goodness.
The sage lives one with the world as a child.
50.
Most look after living
intensely.
But one who truly lives
doesn’t even fear a tiger.
Sages have no mortal spot
for tigers to sink their claws.
51.
Tao begets.
Te rears.
Things shape.
Circumstance completes.
Tao and Te
go never honored
by decree—
but naturally.
Again, this deepest power.
52.
52.
Know the world’s mother
and know the child.
Know the child
and abide in the mother.
Soft vision is resilient.
Use light—
return to light—
no harm:
this is Nurturing the Eternal.
53.
If I’ve wisdom to walk the Straight Way,
there’s but this peril:
many like the byroads.
Such indulgence:
Grand Theft Auto!
Not the Grand Way.
54.
Firmly rooted,
it’s not uprooted
and where it’s cultivated,
it’s authentic.
So view
each through itself.
But how to look at the World?
By all of this.
55.
A newborn holds such power—
hawks won’t seize it.
Tender but holds firm—
cries all day and doesn’t lose its voice.
Such harmony is enlightenment.
56.
One who knows doesn’t lecture.
One who lectures doesn’t know.
Seal the mouth—
close the senses—
join with dust.
Deep union!
Highest of the world.
57.
Use justice to govern,
cunning to war,
but non-involvement
captures the cosmos.
Thus a sage does nothing—
people transform themselves.
58.
When rule is passive,
people are pure,
and when rigorous,
restless.
Normal is abnormal—
all is confusion.
Thus a sage is bright
not dazzling.
59.
To lead others and serve heaven,
nothing compares with moderation.
No limit!
Deep roots—
firm stalk—
the Tao of long life and lasting vision.
60.
Rule a state like frying a delicate fish.
Using Tao to lead the land,
demons lose power
and holy men do no harm.
Integrity is restored.
61.
A great state is like
the one downriver—
the world’s confluence.
Large streams unite to nurture.
Small streams join to serve.
Great ones all are humble.
62.
Tao—
source of being.
The good’s treasure
treasures bad.
No gift equals
sitting still with Tao.
It is said—
seek and find,
stray and disappear.
63.
Act
without doing.
Deal with problems early—
they begin in great simplicity.
So a sage treats all
in humble complexity.
And in the end—
there are no problems.
64a.
64a.
That which has not appeared
is easily arranged.
Act on things
while they do not exist.
A one-thousand mile journey
begins with a footstep.
64b.
Do not act
and you will not ruin.
Caring at the end as at the start
averts failure.
Thus a sage helps all become
but dares not interfere.
65.
Ancient masters did not illumine
but helped the people stay
natural-minded.
Guiding through not-knowing
is deep power leading
to the great accord.
66.
Rivers and seas—
lords of the valleys
by being below.
So a sage speaks with humility
and leads by following—
she doesn’t resist, none resist her.
67.
Tao is vast—
like the nothingness of space!
But three riches—
love, simplicity, and reserve.
With them—
courage, generosity, guidance!
Without them—
death.
68.
A captain isn’t warlike.
A warrior isn’t wrathful.
A champion unites.
A manager serves.
This is harmony,
Te,
sway,
heaven’s highest!
69.
Retreat a foot
rather than press an inch.
Fight without facing
an enemy.
When two sides confront
each other,
the defenseless one
shall win.
70.
My words—
so easy to know—
none realize them.
My sayings have a source—
as this isn’t grasped,
a sage in homespun carries unseen a gem.
71.
Knowing not-knowing—
best.
Not knowing this knowing—
sick.
Being sick of sickness—
one’s not sick.
Thus a sage is free of all sickness.
72.
When one fears no power—
great power comes.
A sage knows and loves herself
but doesn’t regard and exalt herself—
leaves that—
accepts this.
73.
Bold in risk—death
in not—life.
Who knows what Heaven favors—
it doesn’t speak but just replies.
Its net is vast and open
yet nothing slips through.
74.
Who dares replace Heaven’s Executioner?
To substitute is as an amateur
replacing the Master Artisan—
bound to injure one’s own hand.
75.
People consider death lightly
because their exemplars indulge
in the diversions of living—
one only seizes life when not pursuing it.
76.
At birth, one is pliant—
at death, rigid.
Living things yield—
the unyielding die.
So it is, the strong trees fall—
and the surrendered rise.
77a.
Tao is like securing a longbow—
the top is lowered and the bottom raised.
The way of humankind isn’t so—
taking from the poor and giving to the rich!
77b.
Who offers abundance to all the world?
Only the one holding to Tao.
So the sage acts without expectation.
Great skill hasn’t a need for big display.
78.
Nothing is weaker than water
yet nothing stops it
from overcoming the strong.
Nobody doesn’t know
but none abide.
Truth seems upside down.
79.
Resolving enmity still leaves injury—
how to balance?
Te pays
but doesn’t exact a payment.
Tao doesn’t keep tabs
and stays with principle.
80.
Let there be small states
with few people
and tools with no use.
Let people enjoy food
and clothes
and home.
Hear the sounds
of the next village
but never visit.
81.
The wise are not learned.
The learned are not wise.
The more a sage shares,
the more she receives.
Tao renders without harm—
its sage acts without effort.
In the summer of 2009 I started transcreating the Tao Te
Ching, reading different translations (Ellen M. Chen, David Hinton, Stephen
Mitchell, Red Pine and several others), pondering each word of each verse as
translated in a word-by-word grid created by Jonathan Star, and abridging each
and every verse into a 140 character tweet. I ended up publishing it in book
form:
http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Te-Tweet-transcreated-140-character/dp/1466248912/
I am now transforming the transcreations into short sections
of a long poem as a new project, making minor revisions along the way, and no
longer holding to the 140 character limit, although not necessarily adding or
subtracting or revising either, except in the lineation added to the original.
I am trying to stay true to the initial transcreation, which attempted to stay
true to the original as viewed through translations—this is not a project
revisiting those translations or that amazing grid, for that was an extensive
project in and of itself.
the latest transformation
of an original transcreation
of several unique translations
of the nameless…
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