The oneness of life
Displays itself in its parts:
Clarity expresses oneness in the sky,
Stillness expresses oneness in the earth,
Purity express oneness in spirit.
Valleys express oneness when they flow with rivers,
When the 10,000 creatures realize oneness,
They flourish,
When leaders realize oneness,
They bring peace to the world.

Without clarity, heaven would crack;
Without stillness, the earth would crumble;
Without purity, spirit would dissolve;
Without fullness, valleys would dry up;
Without humility, leaders would fall.

Because the high is built on the foundation of the low,
And humility is the root of greatness,
Good leaders call themselves
Orphaned, widowed, destitute.
Who will keep chasing after the clink of treasure
After they have heard stone growing on a cliff?

The most practical skills involve disguising intentions. Imitate the inky cuttlefish to hide your cards, to keep your passions unknown, to conceal even your tastes. The more obvious your goals, the more easily rivals can subvert them or use them to manipulate. Defend your aspirations by balancing caution and reserve against malicious curiosity and competition. This helps avoid both backbiting and flattery.

The most foolish fail because of not thinking things through at all. The less but still foolish think about their lives and goals but lose focus and easily get distracted by the superficial but flashy, by the unimportant but entertaining. The wise quickly recognize the consequential, see which courses of action lead to gain and which to loss, and prioritize their most diligent concentration and highest skill to the most important issues. For most however, "common sense is not so common" and they never lose their common sense because they didn't have any to lose. They make a big deal about things that don't matter and ignore the most important issues. The wise apprehend life's hidden and obscure treasures, deeply root them in their minds, and apply their most diligent and focused attention.

The more we want and try to make people like and respect us, the less they do. Actions based on desires to impress others usually only have the opposite effect as well as undermining our integrity. Genuine respect grows from authentic presence and genuine activity, not from advertising credentials and position. Bragging only invites disdain and envy. History mainly honors the results of struggle and integrity, not the outward trappings of unearned circumstance.

The more exceptional your success, the more important to hide it. The more light a torch gives out, the quicker it burns away. The more diverse and accomplished the skills and the more success; the more envy, competition, and ill-will engendered. Many believe that bragging about success and flaunting it brings approval and esteem; but instead, it more often only increases resentment. Avoid the limelight and over-familiarity; avoid the extremes of both jack-of-all-trades and incompetence.

The less a leader does and says,
The happier the people.
The more a leader struts and controls,
The more discontent.

Misery lurks under good fortune,
Happiness hides under misery.
Since nothing is certain,
Who knows what the future holds?

Happiness and misery alternate like the seasons:
Honesty becomes deception,
The fortunate becomes unfortunate,
The ominous becomes auspicious
And our bewilderment goes on and on.

And so the wise become:
An edge that doesn’t cut,
A point that doesn’t pierce,
A line that doesn’t extend,
A light that doesn’t shine.

The highest praise goes to those who speak well about those who speak badly about them. Indulge in envy and die not once but every time the envied wins applause. The glory and success of rivals tortures the envious. A lasting fame for a rival creates an eternal punishment for the jealous. To be made unhappy by another's happiness creates one of life's greatest torments. Instead, disengage from competitive rivalries and focus on the positive, practical ways of finding success.

The highest goodness,
Not revealing or clinging to goodness
Has true goodness.
Lesser goodness tries to hold onto it
And therefore loses it.
The highest goodness involves no effort
Or the thought of effort.
Lesser goodness does nothing
But always has an end in view.

The good the truly good do
Has no end in view.
The good the righteous do
Always has a goal.

When those who act
in conventional obedience to the law
Don’t get their way,
They angrily roll up their sleeves
And try to control, threatening and compelling.

When we lose the Way,
We seek the power of goodness.
When we lose this,
We look to kindness.
When we lose kindness,
We look for justice.
When we lose justice,
We look to opinion: conventional wisdom,
Ritual & obedience to the law.

Opinion is the beginning of ignorance.
Belief is the beginning of delusion
Thinking of our delusion as wisdom
Is the beginning of mental illness
In an individual and a sick society
In politics and culture.

For these reasons,
The wise choose this over that,
The fruit over the flower,
Substance over surface,
The sense over the words,
This over that.

The greatest perfection seems flawed
Yet has inexhaustible usefulness.
Perfectly full, it seems empty
Yet never runs dry.

True straightness looks crooked,
True skill looks clumsy,
True eloquence sounds tongue-tied.

Still, it overcomes the active;
Active, it overcomes the still.
Opposites complement each other
Becoming the peaceful and serene
That sets the universe in order.

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.

The disgraced and dishonorable have little respect for honesty and virtue. With a bad reputation, they have little to lose. Crossed ethical and legal boundaries become much easier to cross again. Much better to avoid the dishonorable as much as possible and to only associate with the trustworthy, with those true to their word. The honorable treat even rivals and adversaries better than the dishonorable treat their "friends."

The best plans undertaken at the wrong times fail. Beauty has its day; even wisdom fails when applied too early or too late, when it does too much or too little. This is why for most, nothing ever seems to work out well and others always seem to have the best luck. When the time is ripe, insight shines, lucky stars rise, and success becomes effortless. At such times, don't waste a moment or lose the smallest opportunity; seize the day. To discover these creative moments, take small steps to test the response and watch carefully. If roadblocks and unexpected problems quickly arise, quickly withdraw. If instead unanticipated good fortune appears, advance with haste.

The best military experts advise:
Retreat when not strong enough to advance,
Advance when your opponent not strong enough to attack.
March without moving,
Roll up your sleeves without flexing your muscles,
Be strong and powerful without weapons,

Give an attacker no opponent -
Nothing is worse than attacking what yields,
To attack and find no enemy.
Aggression destroys our greatest treasure.
When opponents are evenly matched,
The most compassionate prevails.

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.

Successes of ability and attainment become insipid when clung to and not forgotten. Conceptual identifications and cultural truisms easily become stale attachments that limit and blinder. The more something is heard, the less importance it holds. Semi-relevant "breaking news" easily overshadows much more important but older accounts. For these reasons, always work on reinventing yourself, your opinions, your fortunes. Like the sun, arise reborn each day, if possible each moment.

Success in life depends on making good decisions but often even the most intelligent and highly educated continually make choices that undermine their own happiness, accomplishments, and goals. Not intelligence, experience, or education assure good judgments. To be able to choose at all requires an objective and clear self-awareness. To make good choices requires an experiential understanding of cause and effect, an appreciation for the power of goodness, and a dedication to virtue.

Substance doesn't go far without a good appearance. Even the most just and reasonable cause falters with an unsavory presentation. A little charm and grace, however, opens almost every door, gilds and sweetens the truth, wins over people's hearts, adds beauty to old age itself, and can—with only a simple expression or tone—help us out of many difficult situations. The "how" of the way things are done can be as important or more important than if they are done not.

Study people with as much attention and time as you would study an important book. Instead of accepting the polished surface, look deeper into the more rough-cut reality. As with buying a product, better to be cheated by the price than by the quality. But with merchandise, it's much easier to ascertain the truth. Understanding people to this degree requires a very open mind as well as discipline and penetrating intelligence.

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.

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.