Lao Tzu Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

"Brim-fill the bowl,

it'll spill over.

Keep sharpening the blade,

you'll soon blunt it.

Nobody can protect

a house full of gold and jade.

Wealth, status, pride,

are their own ruin.

To do good, work well, and lie low

is the way of the blessing."

Lao Tzu Chapter 19

Raw Silk and Uncut Wood

Stop being holy, forget being prudent

It'll be a hundred times better for everyone.

Stop being altruistic, forget being righteous,

people will remember what family feeling is.

Stop planning, forget making a profit,

there won't be any thieves and robbers.

But even these three rules

needn't be followed; what works reliably

is to know the raw silk,

hold the uncut wood.

Need little,

want less.

Forget the rules.

Be untroubled.

Translation by Ursula K. Le Guin

Lao Tzu Chapter 48

In the pursuit of everyday something is added

In the pursuit of Tao,everyday something is dropped.

Less and less in done, until one arrives at nonaction.

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

The world is won by letting things take their own course.

If you still have ambitions, it's out of your reach.

Lao Tzu Tao de Ching 

Chapter 13

Abraham Darby Cottage Rose 

Photograph Abraham Darby Cottage Rose Jan. 2010

Lao Tzu Chapter 37

The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu
Chapter 37






Eternal Tao doesn't do anything
yet it leaves nothing undone.
If you abide by it, everything in existence will transform itself.


When, in the process of self-transformation,
desires are aroused, calm them with nameless simplicity.


When desires are dissolved in the primal presence,
peace and harmony naturally occur,
and the world orders itself.


For JS

Lao Tzu Chapter 14

Look for it- it is invisible;
Listen for it- it is silent;
Try to grasp it- it is not solid.
Its nature is bodiless,
Yet it is the essence of the body.

Its darkness is the source of light,
Its infinitude, the ground of time.
It is the Formless One
From which all forms arise.

Pursue, and it eludes you;
Follow, and it vanishes.
Thought cannot hold it,
But you can't think without it.

It is the thread of all being,
The origin, the pulse of time.
It is the wave upon the strand of life:
Pervading, defining, nourishing.

From the Tao de Ching of Lao Tzu