Daodejing - Chapter Ten

 

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道德經  - 第十章

載營魄抱一，能無離乎？

專氣致柔，能嬰兒乎？

滌除玄覽，能無疵乎？

愛民治國，能無知乎？

天門開闔，能為雌乎？

明白四達，能無知乎？

生之、畜之，生而不有，為而不恃，長而不宰，是謂玄德。

Daodejing - Chapter Ten

Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness?

Can you let your body become supple as a newborn child's?

Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light?

Can you love people and lead them without imposing your will?

Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course?

Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?

Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control, this is the supreme virtue.

References

1. The above translation is based on the translation by poet, translator, scholar and anthologist, Stephen Mitchell.  His reading of the work can be found on the following YouTube video: Tao Te Ching, The Book Of The Way by Lao Tzu:  https://youtu.be/t109UFLSQhk?t=1132
2. This chapter on the above video starts at 18:50 and ends at 20.00.
3. You can find the complete 81 chapters of Daodejing in Chinese and English (James Legge version) in the ctext.org website: https://ctext.org/dao-de-jing