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Word Gems exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching: quotes featuring Wu Wei - non-action
from https://www.taoistic.com/taoquotes/ Wu Wei, Non-action, is one of the most famous Taoist concepts, repeatedly pointed out in Tao Te Ching, the great Taoist classic. We should not hurry to action, since most things in the world take care of themselves if left alone. And when we act, we should do so cautiously, or we might destroy more than we solve. Below are those chapters, out of the 81 in Tao Te Ching, which deal mainly with the theme of Wu Wei, Non-action, and what it leads to.
Then ugly exists. When everyone sees good, Then bad exists.
What is and what is not create each other. Difficult and easy complement each other. Tall and short shape each other. High and low rest on each other. Voice and tone blend with each other. First and last follow each other.
Teaches without speaking, Attends all things without making claim on them, Works for them without making them dependent, Demands no honor for his deed. Because he demands no honor, He will never be dishonored.
Prevents envy. Not valuing wealth Prevents theft. Not displaying what's desirable Prevents confusion of the senses.
The sage governs by emptying senses and filling bellies, Curbing strife and strengthening backs, Keeping the people ignorant and without desire, Making the learned afraid to act. If he acts without action, order will prevail.
The hole in the middle makes it useful. Mold clay into a bowl. The empty space makes it useful. Cut out doors and windows for the house. The holes make it useful.
But the use comes from what is not there.
I do not think it can succeed. The world is a sacred vessel that cannot be changed. He who changes it will destroy it. He who seizes it will lose it.
Some lead and some follow, Some sigh and some pant, Some are strong and some are weak, Some overcome and some succumb.
Yet nothing is left undone. If princes and kings can abide by this, All things will form themselves. If they form themselves and desires arise, I subdue them with nameless simplicity. Nameless simplicity will indeed free them from desires.
And the world settles by itself.
Surpasses the hardest in the world. What has no substance Can penetrate what has no opening.
And accomplishing without action Is understood by few in the world.
You can know the world. Without looking through the window, You can see Heaven's Way. The longer you travel, the less you know.
The sage knows without traveling, Perceives without looking, Completes without acting.
Collect something every day. Those who seek the Way, Let go of something every day.
Until reaching no action. When nothing is done, Nothing is left undone.
Those who want to tamper with it Are not fit to take over the world.
Pursue without interfering. Taste the tasteless.
Return animosity with virtue. Meet the difficult while it is easy. Meet the big while it is small.
Must be easy in its beginning. The biggest in the world Is small in its beginning. So, the sage never strives for greatness, And can therefore accomplish greatness.
Must meet with little trust. Taking things lightly Must lead to big difficulties. So, the sage regards things as difficult, And thereby avoids difficulty.
What has not yet emerged is easy to prevent. The brittle is easy to shatter. The small is easy to scatter. Solve it before it happens. Order it before chaos emerges.
Grows from a tiny shoot. A tower of nine stories Starts with a pile of dirt. A climb of eight hundred feet Starts where the foot stands.
Those who seize will lose. So, the sage does not act and therefore does not fail, Does not seize and therefore does not lose. People fail at the threshold of success. Be as cautious at the end as at the beginning. Then there will be no failure.
Does not value rare treasures, Learns without learning, Recovers what people have left behind. He wants all things to follow their own nature, But dares not act.
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