Daodejing - Chapter Twenty Three

 

道德經  - 第二十三章

希言自然，故飄風不終朝，驟雨不終日。

孰為此者？天地。

天地尚不能久，而況於人乎？

故從事於道者，道者，同於道；

德者，同於德；

失者，同於失。

同於道者，道亦樂得之；

同於德者，德亦樂得之；

同於失者，失亦樂得之。

信不足，焉有不信焉。

Daodejing - Chapter Twenty Three

Express yourself completely; then keep quiet.

Be like the forces of nature;

when it blows, there is only wind;

when it rains, there is only rain;

when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.

If you open yourself to the Dao, you are at one with the Dao, and you can embody it completely.

If you open yourself to insight, you are at one with insight, and you can use it completely.

If you open yourself to loss, you are at one with loss, and you can accept it completely.

Open yourself to the Dao, then trust your natural responses, and everything will fall into place.

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=2092
2. This chapter on the above video starts at 34.50 and ends at 36.10.
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