The Tao Teh Ching – #60 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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Governing a big country is like attracting little fish.
—
When you are in the role of leader use this Tao as a guide,
For the essence of this teaching is leading with attractions.
Leading a people by attracting them with their original motivations
Will be leading them with their inner inclinations.
Use their historical motivation to lead your people, for
Leading a people with their common core unites their behavior.
The wise prince also leads the people away from harm.
These two kinds of leading do not interfere with each other, and
The people proceed vigorously along their natural path.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #59 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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The Tao Teh Ching – #59

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When you are governing a group and doing Heaven’s work,
Always be seen as moderate in your behavior.
The habit of moderation is best learned while young, and
Skill in moderation heaps and accumulates true virtue.
—
When you do things by attractive actions
No one can know your motivations, and
When no one knows your motivations,
Your actions will not be impeded.
By knowing the historical motivations of a group,
You may help it along its natural path.
By having root understandings of a group’s original motivations,
You develop a profound and lasting insight into their behavior.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #58 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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Tao Teh Ching

58

When the government is seen to be dull and empty,
The people become simple;
When the government is seen to be clever and grasping,
Each person’s desires feed other people’s desires, and
Each person’s misery adds to other people’s misery.
—
Those with excess take more, and
To excess the greedy add excess.
Yes, graft and greed create misery.
Those in poverty are pushed away to be forgotten.
Misery abounds, it seems, without limits, and it will not stop.
—
The upright becomes abnormal, and
Good behavior seems unlucky.
The people’s confusion grows daily and does not cease.
—
Wise princes are lawful, but not legalistic;
They are proper, but not strict;
They are correct, but not rigid;
They are glowing, but not brilliant.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #57 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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Tao Teh Ching

57

With model behavior lead the government, and
With empty behavior direct armies;
With attractive behavior lead everyone.
How may you know the correctness of that observation?
Only through practicing this method.
—
The more restrictions princes place on their people,
The poorer their people become;
The more armies and weapons princes acquire,
The less secure their nations become;
When artful weapons are seen, cunning deceits soon lurk;
When laws proliferate, punishments become frequent.
Soon thieves abound; then bandits appear. Misery?
—
The sages do attractive acts, and
The people’s selves react;
They manifest quietness, and
The people’s selves become upright;
They do attractive business, and
The people’s selves become fulfilled;
They exhibit void desires, and
The people’s selves become simple.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #56 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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Tao Teh Ching

56

When you manifest ability with this Tao, you
Speak with words that attract the right kinds of actions.
When you speak with these attractive words,
You are making real your knowledge of the void. But
You must never display your ability to use the void, and
You must hide your awareness of the void from public view.
—
Soften your abilities’ sharp edges;
Unravel their tangles;
Dim their brilliance.
With somber conviction, show your virtues are more lowly than dust.
—
Then you will not be manipulated by lovers or haters, or
Tempted by profits or losses, or
Beguiled by honors or dishonors.
By transcending these temptations you become Nature’s companion.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #55 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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People who display the greatness of their virtues
Are like foolish children.
Poisonous insects are attracted to sting them;
Wild beasts are attracted to attack them;
Birds of prey are attracted to pounce upon them.
Their bones may be soft, and their sinews tender,
But their grasping is resolute.
Although their childish virtues may be complete,
They don’t know the relation of attraction and repulsion.
Is the displaying of their virtues the perfection of their selves?
The whole day they may cry and sob without becoming hoarse.
Is that the harmony brought forth by perfected virtue?
—
To manifest harmony is to be in accord with the eternal law.
To manifest the eternal law is to be enlightened, but
To stretch one’s virtues to the limit attracts difficulties.
To follow an inner need to achieve recognition breeds display.
Things grow to full power, and then are countered and decay.
Power perceived creates counter-Tao, and
Whatever creates counter-Tao soon ceases.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #54 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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That which is well planted is attracted into the soil.
The well planted doesn’t need to grasp to preserve its self.
—
When you relate to the source of an existence, and
To the source of that source you send your roots deep,
This attracts that existence to continue.
When you practice this method on your self,
Your self will become very healthy.
When you practice this method on your family, community,
country, or all mankind,
They also will become very healthy.
—
It is with your self that you influence other people’s selves;
With your family that you influence other families;
Your town, other towns;
Your country, other countries;
Your people, other people; and
How may you know how all humanity is influenced?
By the way former peoples were influenced.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #53 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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If your inner self has even a little bit of this ability,
You may move along the wonderful path of Tao. But
Avoid displaying this special knowledge.
—
The great path of Tao is smooth and easy,
Although people are easily attracted to the by-paths.
When the center of thought and decision is seen as splendid,
Necessary work will be avoided, and strife will ensue.
Wearing expensive jewelry and fancy swords, or
Being excessive in drinking and eating, or
Displaying an abundance of wealth and treasure is the arrogance of thieves.
It is the reverse of this Tao!

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The Tao Teh Ching – #52 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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Everything has a beginning, and
At the beginning we may know its source.
When its source is known,
We may know the original motivation of the thing.
When relating to this thing, always
Interact with it in terms of its original motivation, for,
To the very end, that motivation
Will be imbedded in that thing.
—
Close your mouth and hide your source,
And your essence will never be attacked.
Speak out and expose your self,
And your essence will never be safe.
—
Being seen as small permits greatness.
Being known as tender permits strength.
When you use this light, you are enlightened.
Let your essence become attracted to the void;
Then you become unified with the eternal.

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The Tao Teh Ching – #51 – Revealed by Lao Tzu – Rendered by Charles Scamahorn

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All things are born of the invisible Tao, and then
Visible virtue nurtures them, and
Using virtue hardens them, and
Exploiting virtue finishes them.
Among all creatures only sages purposefully create voids, but
Everyone respects manifest virtue.
—
The void has infinite virtues, although its virtues are invisible.
It is virtue made visible that commands respect. And
Tao commands nothing; It is always spontaneous.
It gives rise to the very existence of everything and everyone.
However, visible virtue nurses, rears, feeds, fills, matures, positions and protects
things.
—
Tao brings all into existence, but does not own any.
It makes them, but does not claim them.
It raises them, but does not rule them.
It is undetectable;
It is the source of all.

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