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.

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.

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.

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.

Something that contains everything,
Quiet and still, pure and deep;
Here before heaven and earth,
Alone and unchanging
Like a mother bringing up her children
Formless, it completes all things.

Not knowing its real name,
We call it the Way.
Not knowing how to describe it,
We call it sacred.
Sacred means always and never changing.
Always changing means indefinable.
Not defining means returning to this.

So the Way is sacred -
Heaven, Earth, and Humankind - all sacred.
Humankind imitates Earth,
Earth imitates Heaven,
Heaven imitates the Way,
And the Way follows what is
As the mother of all things.

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.

The root masters the trivial,
Stillness masters moving
And constantly transforms itself.
Therefore the wise
Never leave the root,
Are never seduced by the superficial.
They don’t ignore their body
Chasing external things,
Forgetting their true nature by
Following their emotions.

If leaders are frivolous,
They lose respect.
If impatient and restless,
They lose support.
If self-serving,
They lose all value.

As all politicians know, manipulating and controlling people becomes easy when you know what motivates them. Everyone idolizes something—most often fame, fortune, pleasure, or power. For many, this prime-moving motivation hides more deeply than the surface persona crafted by dogma and culture. It rules from a dark, hidden, and secret core of egocentric inclinations. When an external force or person understands a person’s dark, ruling passion, they easily appeal to it with words and images, tempt them into motion, checkmate their will, and capture their freedom. Understanding these basic and everyday-used techniques can help immunize us from the nearly constant manipulations of politicians, advertisers, rivals, and everyone else.

Good walking leaves no footprints,
Good talking leaves no confusion,
Good action leaves no trace.
The best door has no lock
Yet can’t be opened.
The best binding has no knots
Yet can’t be untied.

In this way, the wise
Take care of everything;
Rejecting no one,
Abandoning nothing,
They always follow
Their inner light
Teaching asleep, confused people
Who are the beginnings of the good.

Those who don’t respect and honor teachers,
Who don’t cherish and care for students,
No matter how clever and learned
Only go astray creating more confusion.

Understanding this and leaving no trace,
The wise alone are perfectly blind
Seeing clearly into the distance.

Value inspired focus over a large but shallow abundance; quality over quantity. The larger the quantity, the lower the perceived value; the broader the spotlight, the more mediocrity. Don't value books based on their thickness like they were weight-lifting equipment. The best are always few and rare, giants are usually really dwarfs. Intensity can achieve much more success than skill, experience, and intelligence alone. The more innate ingenuity and genius, the more temptation to spread too thin, neglect the most important, and dissipate capacity.

Recognize the masculine
But turn back to the feminine
And become the world’s riverbed
Always true and unswerving,
Becoming a new born child again.

Recognize the light
But turn back to the dark
And become a pattern to the world,
True and unerring power
Going back again to boundlessness.

Recognize the glory
But turn back to the modest
And become the world’s guide
To boundless energy and power
Going back again to the natural,
An uncarved block of wood,
Primal simplicity.

A block of wood can be made into tools
But tools cannot be made into a block of wood
The wise can easily be made into leaders
But leaders not so easily made wise.
The greatest carver does the least cutting.

It is great and wise to be ill at ease when your deeds please the mob. When popular with the mob of public opinion, be concerned and more careful. Pleasing the gods of popular approval most often reflects a decrease of integrity. Don't be satisfied with empty and fickle praise which has no depth or intelligence and can abruptly change. The larger the crowd, the more admiration for foolish delusions. And so, don't follow the herd in anything, be common in nothing; and instead, watch for deception.

Those who try to improve the world with force
Only come to grief;
Tampering makes things worse.
Because life is sacred just as it is,
It can’t be forced.
Trying to change only harms,
Trying to control only spoils,
To grasp is to lose.

Sometimes things lead,
Sometimes they follow;
Sometimes they’re strong,
Sometimes weak;
Sometimes easy, sometimes hard;
Sometimes success, sometimes failure.

Always hold fast to the virtues of integrity and goodness. Regard deception as treason and embrace righteousness even when it conflicts with family, friendship, cultural norms, political influences, or any kind of self-interest. Many praise these values but few follow them, especially when danger or desertion threatens. The worldly wise make distinctions and compromise for pragmatic political demands. People of the highest integrity, however, hold fast to their path of goodness and follow the truth rather than the opinions and attitudes of their culture, country, or religion. This kind of unwavering loyalty to integrity transcends physical and spiritual materialism and readily leaves a fickle group when the group leaves the path of virtue.

Those who with wisdom advise rulers
Counsel against conquest,
Using aggression & violence to rule.
The nature of weapons
Is to turn against their holder.
Where armies march,
Thorns and brambles grow.
War brings bad harvests.
Great conquerors
Are really great criminals.
Best to defend and stop.

The best leaders succeed
Without becoming arrogant,
Without bragging,
Without feeling proud,
Without feeling regret.
They only do what has to be done,
They succeed without using force.

Like waves in the sea,
Let life ripen and then fall.
The Tao - like the sea itself -
Doesn’t begin or end.
What goes against the Tao
Comes to an early end.

Carefully avoid all foolish ventures, in particular all those disreputable schemes that may bring an audience and notoriety but also disdain and loss of reputation. Eccentricity has its attractions and rewards but this attention can quickly become ridicule; the spotlight most often only brings laughter and disrespect. And since the path of right livelihood and wisdom often crosses status quo values and norms, the wise carefully cultivate anonymity and avoid public notice.