Tao Te Ching
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(Writings of LAO TZU. Translation & Commentary by Ralph Alan Dale)
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Celebrate Paradox!
No-thing remains itself.
Each prepares the path to its opposite.
To be ready for wholeness, first be fragmented.
To be ready for rightness, first be wronged.
To be ready for fullness, first be empty.
To be ready for renewal, first be worn out.
To be ready for success, first fail.
To be ready for doubt, first be certain.
Because the wise observe the world through the Great Integrity, they know they are not knowledgeable.
Because they do not perceive only their perceptions,
they do no judge this right and that wrong.
Because they do not delight in boasting, they are appreciated.
Because they do not announce their superiority, they are acclaimed.
Because they never compete, no one can compete with them.
Verily, fragmentation prepares the path to wholeness, the mother of all origins and realizations.
(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
Who Are You?
If you understand others, you are astute.
If you understand yourself, you are insightful.
If you master others, you are uncommonly forceful.
If you master yourself you have uncommon inner strength.
If you know when you have enough, you are wealthy.
If you carry your intentions to completion, you are resolute.
If you find your roots and nourish them, you will know longevity.
If you live a long creative life, you will leave an eternal legacy.
(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
Tranquillity
Allow the heart to empty itself of all turmoil!
Retrieve the utter tranquillity of mind from which you issued.
Although all forms are dynamic,
and we all grow and transform,
each of us is compelled to return to our root.
Our root is quietude.
To fully return to our root is to be enlightened.
Never to experience tranquillity is to act blindly,
a sure path to disaster.
To know tranquillity is to embrace all.
To embrace all is to be just.
Justice is the foundation for wholeness.
Wholeness is the Great Integrity.
The Great Integrity is the infinite fulfilling itself.
(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
The Whole Is In Each Part...
Whatever is planted deeply is not easily uprooted.
Whatever is embraced sincerely does not crave escape.
Ever since we lost our intuition as our main guide in life,
these virtues have had to be consciously cultivated to survive.
Cultivate them in yourself and they will be genuine.
Cultivate them in your family and they will surely flourish.
Cultivate them in your community and they will be long lasting.
Cultivate them in your country and they will be widely propagated.
Cultivate them in the world and they will certainly become universal.
In this way you will know others by what you do yourself.
You will know families by what you contribute as a family.
You will know the world by what you do as a planetary citizen.
How do we know all this?
Because we know that each part is the whole,
and the whole is in each part.
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(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
taken at the Pagan Ranch |
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(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
taken at the Pagan Ranch |
Too Much Invites Disaster
What is over expanded becomes diminished.
What is too strong becomes weakened.
What is too high is cut down.
What is over possessed become impoverished.
It is in the nature of process that in the final stages, those who are over extended, over armed and over privileged, shall be overcome.
Disaster stalks the fish which swims up from its deep water home, and the army which threatens to conquer those beyond its own borders.
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(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
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Identity
Accolades can usher in great trouble for your body.
Censure can herald misery.
Why can favor and disfavor both be harmful?
Because both accolades and censure, when filtered through self as ego, always place us in jeopardy.
But when the universe becomes your self, when you love the world as yourself, all reality becomes your haven, reinventing you as your own heaven.
Only then, will you transcend tense to fully be here now.
Only then, no harm will the universe proffer nor you to her, for you will be not you but she and both - the universal Great Integrity.
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(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
Then And Now
In ancient times, all entities and their own integrity and function.
The sky was clear and endless.
The earth was calm and firm.
The gods were charged with spiritual powers.
The wells were clean and full.
The 10,000 creatures were healthy and fecund.
Leaders were elected to plan the work and defense of the community.
How wondrously concordant!
If the sky were not endless, it could have fallen.
If the earth were not firm, it could have burst.
If the gods did not exercise their spiritual power, they would have been abandoned.
If the wells were not full, they could have dried up.
If the 10,000 creatures were not productive, they could have become extinct.
If the leaders did not plan the work and defense of the community, they would have been replaced.
In this way, each entity had its own essentiality,
each part complementing every other.
Nowadays, when the privileged among us identify themselves with the orphan, the widower and the hungry one,
it may be an opportunistic appeal for the support of the lowly, or a realization that loudly trumpeting self-glory negates itself, or a premonition that shining like jade, and resounding like stone chimes attracts the desperate adventurers among those deprived of hope, inviting disaster among those who create these deprivations. |
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
The Primal Simplicity
The Great Integrity imposes no action, yet it leaves nothing undone.
Were governments to embrace it, everything would develop naturally.
If thereafter an old ego should reincarnate, the already permeated Primal Simplicity would neutralize it in its pervasive silence.
Returning to peace, the world re harmonizes itself.
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| (photography and graphic design by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Healing the Mind
Academia confuses knowledge with knowing.
Most everyone applauds the memorization of the 10,000 trivia.
Beware! These schooled addictions are not just myths -
They are a form of mental illness.
Any fragment of the mind, divorced from heart, spirit, human community, and from the primal reality of the universe, is an abomination of the Great Integrity.
Let us prepare for the Great Integrity by cleansing ourselves of all these cobwebs of cluttered fragments that paralyze the mind.
In this way we will function as our own holistic physicians.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
The Secrets Of Getting Things Done
Act without acting on.
Work without working at.
Enter bountifulness when it is still insufficiency.
Answer with kindness when faced with hostility.
Begin a difficult task in its stage because large problems grow from small ones.
Begin a large task in it formative state because complex issues originate from simple ones.
But beware of those who promise quick and easy solutions!
Accept problems as challenges.
In this way, the sage accomplishes great tasks without ever having to struggle with them.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Avoiding Voids
Standing on tiptoe will only make you tipsy,
Walking with long strides will not allow a long walk.
Shining the light on yourself will never enlighten you.
Being self-righteous precludes you from being right.
Boasting about yourself will never boost your eminence.
Parading yourself parodies leadership.
Tao consciousness avoids the cultivation of all these ego bloated voids.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Appearance and Reality
Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water.
Yet there is nothing better for subduing all that is harder and stronger.
Everyone observes how weak overcomes strong, how gentleness overcomes rigidity.
Yet, this principle is seldom put into conscious practice.
Though some may say it is useless to accept responsibility for the calamities and toxicities of the world, taking such responsibility might put us on the road to the Great Integrity.
Just remember that truth often masquerades as falsity, and falsity as truth.
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(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
Choices
Colors can make us blind!
Music can make us deaf!
Flavors can destroy our taste!
Possessions can close our options!
Racing can drive us mad and its rewards obstruct our peace!
Thus, the wise fill the inner gut rather than the eyes,
always sacrificing the superficial for the essential.
(photography and graphic design by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
Transcending
The Tao that can be told is not the universal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the universal name.
In the infancy of the universe, there were no names.
Naming fragments the mysteries of life into ten thousand things and their manifestations.
Yet the mysteries and manifestations spring from the same source: The Great Integrity which is the mystery within manifestation, the manifestation within mystery, the naming of the unnamed, and the un-naming of the named.
When these interpenetration's are in full attendance, we will pass the gates of naming notions in our journey toward transcendence.
(photography and graphic design by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
The Fusion of Opposites
To know the masculine and be true to the feminine is to be the waterway of the world.
To be the waterway of the world is to flow with the Great Integrity, always swirling back to the innocence of childhood.
To know yang and to be true to yin is to echo the universe.
To echo the universe is to merge with the Great Integrity, ever returning to the infinite.
To know praise and be true to the lowly is to be a model for the planet.
To be a model for the planet is to express the Great Integrity as the Primal Simplicity - like an un carved block.
When the un carved block goes to the craftsman, it is transformed into something useful.
The wise craftsman cuts as little as necessary because he follows the Great Integrity.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Beyond Reason
That which we look at but cannot see is the invisible.
That which we listen to but cannot hear is the inaudible.
That which we reach for but cannot grasp is the intangible.
Beyond reason, these three merge, contradicting experience.
Their rising side isn't bright.
Their setting side isn't dark.
Sense-less, unnameable, they return to the realms of nothingness.
Form without form, image without image, indefinable, ineluctable, elusive.
Confronting them, you see no beginning.
Following them, you see no end.
Yet, riding the plow less plow can seed the timeless Tao, harvesting the secret transcendence of the Now.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Linking with Ancient Times
In ancient times the people knew the Great Integrity with subtlety and profundity.
Because they are so unfathomable to us, we can describe the ancients only with great effort.
They were- cautious as those crossing an icy stream, wary as those surrounded by dangers, dignified as guests, yielding as melting ice, innocent as virgin wood, open and broad as valleys, merging freely as muddy water.
But today, who can remain patient while the mud so gradually clears? Who can remain still while the moment for action so slowly emerges?
Who? We observers of the Great Integrity, who in our times, like those ancients, never seeking fulfillment, are never unfulfilled.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
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Life's Spirit
The spirit of life never dies.
It is the infinite gateway to mysteries within mysteries.
It is the seed of yin, the spark of yang.
Always elusive, endlessly available.
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(photography and graphic design by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
The Value of Minimums
That which is most tender can overcome that which is most rigid.
That which has least substance can penetrate that which has least space.
Acting without deliberate action, and teaching without uttering a word are rarely practiced.
So few find their way to the Great Integrity!
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| (photography and graphic design by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Wisdom
Wise people are not absorbed in their own needs.
They take the needs of all people as their own.
They are good to the good.
But they are also good to those who are still absorbed in their own needs.
Why?
Because goodness is in the very nature of the Great Integrity.
Wise people trust those who trust.
But they also trust those who do not trust.
Why?
Because trusting is in the very nature of the Great Integrity.
Wise people merge with all others rather than stand apart judgmentally.
In this way, all begin to open their ears and hearts, more prepared to return to the innocence of childhood.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Ruling by Fear
People do not fear death when they are forced to live in hopeless misery, Thereby the executioners are no threat to fearless rebels who dare to make trouble.
They might even execute the executioners.
When people do fear death, they do not defy the executioners at first.
But how long can the killings go on before those who fear death also become fearless?
Then, they too might execute the executioners.
By the time, the only ones left who might serve as the executioners would be the people themselves.
However, it is said that those who hew wood in place of skilled carpenters are likely to cut their own hands.
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(photography and graphic design by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
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All is Paradox
The movement of the Great Integrity is infinite, yet its character is passive.
Being defines every form of life, yet all originate in, and return to, non-being.
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| (photography and graphic design by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Our Future
Govern a country like you would fry a small fish - with care, respect and with the least interference.
When the world is governed according to the Great Integrity, evil will lose its power.
Not only will evil lose its power, it will no longer even exist.
When evil ceases to exist, neither will good exist.
Without good and evil, we simply will live totally in our human natures.
No one will compromise anyone else because we will all be inextricable parts of the Great Integrity.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
The Great Integrity
The Great Integrity is an endless abyss,
Yet, it is the inexhaustibly fertile source of the universe.
It blunts all sharpness, unties the entangled, and merges with the dust!
Hidden but ever present - this parent of the gods - whose child may it be?
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Naming the Nameless
What preceded life? The earth.
What preceded the earth? The Universe.
What preceded the Universe?
The soundless and shapeless, origin or origins,
ever transforming and having no beginning nor end.
This Mother of the Universe is boundless, and nameless.
But if we wanted to share with you anything about this remarkable non-executing executor, we must invent a name for it.
We will call it the Tao because Tao means great.
Incredible great because it occupies infinite space, being fully present in the whole universe, and in every infinitesimal particle.
Because this Great Integrity created the Universe, and the Universe created the earth, and the earth created us, we are all incredibly great.
Life derives from the nature of the earth.
The earth derives from the nature of the Universe.
The Universe derives from the nature of the Great Integrity.
And the Great Integrity is the omnipresent, omnigenous omniform, the universal material and spiritual substance, and the holoversal interlinkage and coition of existence. |
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
The Highest Good
The highest good is like water, nourishing life effortlessly, flowing without prejudice to the lowliest places.
It springs from all who nourish their community with a benevolent heart as deep as an abyss, who are incapable of lies and injustices, who are rooted in the earth, and whose natural rhythms of action play midwife to the highest good of each pregnant moment.
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| (photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com) |
Limitations
When embracing the unity of mind, body, emotions and spiritual being, can we transcend our fragmentations without leaving a trace?
When Qi Gong sculpts sinew suppleness, can our flesh become soft as a new born babe?
Can we cleanse the inner vision, leaving mind in spiritual purity?
Can our affairs of the heart, and our affairs of state be so unconditional that we grant unqualified permissibility?
Can the gate to Yin be opened without inviting Yang?
Can our reasoning mind be purged of coercion, allowing our heart its unfettered joy?
Can we act like every other species, seeking no reward, taking no pride, guiding without enslaving?
Such is our vision of the Great Integrity on whose path we have at last planted both feet, ready to move, step by step, until we arrive at the great unfettered gate.
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(photography by me ~ Angelthread33@yahoo.com)
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