In the distant past, straightforward contemplation of communications may have sufficed; but today, lies, deception, half-truths, and proliferating scams dominate the culture. To avoid these traps, we must learn to see more deeply than the status quo surface and become psychic and material event forecasters. In terms of self-evaluation and feedback, be slow and skeptical to accept good news and positive comments; welcoming and open to criticism and unfavorable opinion.

Those who tiptoe stumble,
Those who strut can’t walk far,
Those who show off don’t impress,
Those who brag receive no credit,
Those who define themselves aren’t real.
Self-promoters do no good.

This is like unnecessary baggage,
Over-eating, working too hard,
Not knowing when to stop.
When the wise are full, they stop eating;
When tired, they rest;
They avoid what others fight over.

Imagination can bring contentment, make happiness possible, and balance reason. It can also tyrannize and dominate our lives, burden our mind and body by leading us to folly in blissful delusion. For some, it exaggerates dangers and prevents action; for others, it spurs on foolish action by promising unrealistic adventure and happiness. For these reasons, understanding and influencing our imaginations with prudent self-control remains essential for a good life. Sometimes we need to hold it in check, other times better to galvanize and encourage.

Nature doesn’t make long speeches,
Only simple and quiet words ripen by themselves.
A hurricane doesn’t last all morning,
A sudden cloudburst doesn’t last all day.
If even the greatest forces of nature
Can’t go on and on,
How much less so do people need to?

So whatever you do,
Be one with the Way.
When you succeed,
Be one with success.
When you fail,
Be one with failure.
To be appreciated, appreciate.

We often cling to our faults and imperfections—both physical and moral—as a way of attracting sympathy and attention. Even when small however, enemies easily create a focus of attention on the defect which can obscure an abundance of good and noble qualities. Like a small cloud that can obscure the entire sun, a small failing can obscure the most impressive reputations. Therefore, don't neglect even the smallest shortcoming. Like Caesar who decorated his baldness with a laurel wreath, we can often transform mistakes and imperfections into unique and remarkable impressions.

Break to become whole,
Twist to become straight,
Empty to become full,
Wear out to become new,
Have little to gain much,
With much, you gain only confusion.
The wise therefore embrace non-duality
And use that to shepherd the world.

Not showing off, they shine brightly.
Not justifying themselves, they gain respect.
Not defining themselves, they become new.
Not bragging and parading themselves, they lead.
Not flattering themselves, their success endures.

Not competing,
In all the world they have no competition.
As the old masters taught,
Surrender to overcome.
By returning, you become whole.

Most often, more wisdom transmits through a joke than through philosophical discourse. Conversation supplies a context, meaning, and openness for insight. By avoiding gossip and prejudiced speculation, the wise become able to apply knowledge and understanding to current events and situational problems; their insight finds an educational openness and creates positive change.

The foolish chase appearances
And forget the essence.
The wise follow the essence
And forget about everything else.
This brings the greatest Power of Goodness,
A goodness elusive and intangible
Yet projecting images and forms,
Thoughts and feelings.

From beginningless time,
This Goodness shines
Illuminating all of creation.
Existing yet not existing;
Dark and distant
It waxes and wanes,
Form as empty
Empty as form.

Without the Way,
Goodness would have no Power;
Without Goodness,
The Way would have no Form.
How do we know?
Through here-and-now
Empty-hearted this-ness.

Believing in "good" or "bad" luck projects agency and makes people feel like victims, trapped with no escape. The wise understand the rules of "luck" and don't leave things to chance. Being wise welcomes "lucky", being foolish "unlucky." Only integrity and insight create the true situation of good fortune.

Stop always cramming more and more information into your head
And realization may dawn dissolving all difficulties.
Yes and no,
Agreement and rejection,
Beautiful and ugly,
Good and bad…
Won’t seem so different and far apart.
How foolish to fear something just because others do.

When people get what they want,
They are wreathed in smiles, joyous and beaming,
Drowning in what they love.
The wise stay unmoved
Knowing that nothing is ever lost or gained.
Alone, aimlessly wandering like a child,
Like a baby too young to smile,
Not belonging, not fitting it,
They remain with nowhere to turn, no one to turn to.

Fools accumulate more and more but never have enough.
The wise with nothing remain completely content.
Fools thinking they know become more and more convinced
While falling further and further from truth.
The wise remain uncertain, unconvinced, open without answers,
Drifting without anchor like waves on the sea;
Without direction like the restless wind.

The foolish stay busy, settle into habits and endlessly chase goals.
The wise are not seduced, don’t interfere, and remain content with what is.

Although being in the right place at the right time gives the greatest advantage, it is also extremely rare. Sometimes the right time might be a different century, the right place a different country. While many basic qualities, skills, and kinds of intelligence have a consistent stability; attitudes, conditions, and cultural complexities constantly shift and impulsively change. Ageless wisdom, however, breaks all constraints of time and place.

Stop trying to be kind and just –
You will discover Basic Goodness.
Stop believing in wise words and reason –
You will become your own sage.
Stop always striving for profit and gain –
Competition, robbers and rivals will disappear.
Forget even these three rules –
You will discover ordinary mind.

When you start something new, be extremely careful about people's anticipation and their imagination. They need to know enough to become curious and inspired but not enough to arouse unrealistic expectations. We can never accurately imagine the future's reality. No matter how beneficial the project or how much integrity the person, they will always fall short of the public's desire-inspired imagination. Hope distorts the truth and transfigures reality, creates a pitfall for the famous, and conjures detractors and enemies out of colleagues and customers. The highest success arrives when the results climb higher than the anticipation, the taste proves better than the appearance, when the reward goes further than the goal. With evil people and activities, however, the opposite applies. Expectations of great calamity manifest as easily tolerable and the negative event brings relief instead of frustration.

When realization of the Tao and authentic presence dims,
We try to be kind and just.
When we over-value reason and learning,
Immense hypocrisy arises.

The sicker the society,
The more loyal true believers.
The more dysfunctional the family,
The more autocratic and subservient.
The more harmful the religion,
The more dogmatic extremists.
The more detrimental the government,
The more fanatic partisans.

Most value highly in collaborators their intelligence, skill, and experience. Attitude, however, often becomes more important. Often mediocre but dedicated people go further than skillfully superior people without the inspiration. In most—even the highest—positions, ability is rarely lacking, most-often the limiting factor becomes attitude. And to achieve any kind of greatness, we need both. It's understandable to prefer a small success in a great endeavor instead of a great success in a small one; but, to prefer a lazy mediocrity to an animated achievement is inexcusable. What requires little effort earns little reward.

During golden ages, people barely know their leaders exist;
In lesser times, people love and praise them.
In darker days, people fear their rulers
And in the darkest times, they despise them.

When leaders work for personal reward,
Honesty fails and deception rules.
Corrupted by desire for fame and power,
Leaders create criminals.

At any price, words from a true leader are hard to gain.
Their advice – given in secret without fuss or boasting,
Like the truest voice in a group of singers –
Seems to come from the people themselves.
When good works succeed,
The people think they’ve done it themselves.

With a rival or competitor, avoid predictability. It's easy to shoot a bird flying in a straight line, not so easy if they weave back and forth. Don't conform to predictable patterns always doing the same procedures in the same ways at the same times. And likewise, don't always act on either the first or the second impulse, the first or the second thought. Poker players don't play with their cards face up. Even more so, with an enemy watching, frequently change the way you do things.

Emptiness is the Way of Heaven,
Stillness is the Way of Earth.
Taking emptiness to the limit,
Resting the mind in stillness,
The perception of all things arise and fall together
And in their arising is their return.

Like flowers and leaves,
They grow, flourish, and then return to their root.
Returning to the root brings peace,
A peace that recognizes
No difference between self and other
And appreciates awareness
As completely perfect just as it is.

Without this recognition,
Perceptions are deluded and confusion rules.
With this complete realization of awareness,
Open-hearted compassion dawns
And brings life without limits.
The body comes to its ending
But nothing dies.

Skill without wisdom and good intentions poisons results, creates unnatural monsters, corrupts with more subtlety, and only ruins with more ability. Knowledge without good sense only makes failure more harmful.

The ancient sages of old
Focused on uncontrived awareness
And realized the union of wisdom and compassion.
Inscrutable, you can only describe their appearance:
Mindful and slow like someone crossing a river in winter,
Meek like one aware of danger on all sides,
Polite and quiet like visiting houseguests,
Ephemeral and yielding like melting ice,
Simple and blank like uncarved blocks of wood,
Empty, receptive and expansive
Like a hollow in a valley,
Mysterious and obscure like turbulent water.

Who can wait and use stillness
To let what is troubled settle and grow clear?
Who can use action
To let what is still become full of life and movement?

Followers of the Way
Don’t look for praise or fulfillment.
Complete without effort,
Not seduced by hope and fear, grasping and fixation,
They are not swayed by a desire for change.