Chapter 63, Tao Te Ching
Dao De Jing, by Lao Tzu, Chapter 63
Classics
Ancient Wisdom
For Making This Life Significant #1
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo
December 17, 2006
Chapter 63 Read by Mike Garofalo (WMA, 3:41 Minutes, 886Kb)
Comments by Mike Garofalo on Chapter 63 of the the Dao De Jing
"Do things noncoercively (wuwei),
Be non-interfering in going about your business (wushi),
And savor the flavor of the unadulterated in what you eat.
Treat the small as great
and the few as many.
Requite enmity with character (de).
Take account of the difficult while it is still easy,
And deal with the large while it is still tiny.
The most difficult things in the world originate with the easy,
And the largest issues originate with the tiny.
Thus, it is because the sages never try to do great things
That they are indeed able to be great.
One who makes promises lightly is sure to have little credibility;
One who finds everything easy is certain to have lots of difficulties.
Thus, it is because even the sages pay careful attention to such things
That they are always free of difficulties.
Chapter 63, Daodejing
Translation by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall
Daodejing "Making This Life Significant": A Philosophical Translation,
(2003), p. 175.
"Act without
doing (wu wei).
Work without working.
Taste without tasting.
Great is small, more is less.
Respond to hatred with the action of your soul.
Deal with the
difficult by becoming one (with the source).
Easily become great through the exquisite.
The difficult
endeavors of Heaven below (the sacred body) flourish through ease.
Heaven below’s great endeavors arise from the exquisite.
Until their last day, the sage does not act great, hence can accomplish great things.
To condemn
the inarticulate diminishes trust.
Changing places (becoming one with) becomes very difficult.
By means of resembling the difficulty, the sage is free of difficulty until the
end of their days."
Translated by Alan Sheets and Barbara Tovey, The Way of the Action of the Soul, # 63
"Act without doing;
work without effort.
Think of the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts.
The Master never reaches for the great;
thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into a difficulty,
she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn't cling to her own comfort;
thus problems are no problem for her."
Translated by S. Mitchell, Tao Te Ching #63
"It
is the way of the Tao to act without thinking of acting;
to conduct affairs without feeling the trouble of them; to taste
without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great,
and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness.
The master of it
anticipates things that are difficult while they
are easy, and does things that would become great while they are
small. All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a
previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one
in which they were small. Therefore the sage, while he never does
what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest
things.
He who lightly promises is
sure to keep but little faith; he who is
continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.
Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so
never has any difficulties."
- Translation by James Legge, Tao Teh King #63
"It acts without action, does without doing, finds flavour in what is
flavourless,
Can make the small great and the few many,
“Requites injuries with good deeds,
Deals with the hard while it is still easy,
With the great while it is still small.
In the governance of empire everything difficult must be dealt with while it is
still easy,
Everything great must be dealt with while it is still small.
Therefore the Sage never has to deal with the great; and so achieves greatness.
But again “Light assent inspires little confidence
And 'many easies' means many a hard.
Therefore the Sage knows too how to make the easy difficult,
and by doing so avoid all difficulties!"
Translated by Arthur Waley, The Way and Its Power #63
"Do that which consists in taking no action;
Pursue that which is not meddlesome;
Savor that which has no flavor.
Make the small big and the few many;
Do good to him who has done you an injury.
Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult before it becomes difficult;
Make something big by starting with it when small.
Difficult things in the world must needs have their beginnings in the easy;
Big things must needs have their beginnings in the small.
Therefore it is because the sage never attempts to be great that he succeeds in
becoming great.
One who makes promises rashly rarely keeps good faith;
One who is in the habit of considering things easy meets with frequent
difficulties.
Therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult.
That is why in the end no difficulties can get the better of him.
Translated by D. C. Lau, The Way and Its Power
Bibliography, Links, Quotes, Resouces, Notes
Chapter 63 Read by Mike Garofalo (WMA,
3:41 Minutes, 886Kb)
This reading uses the translation by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall
Google Search: Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63
Making This Life Significant, #1, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63
Green Way Blog Post [+Audio:
886, 3:41],
12/17/2006
Taoism: Bibliography,
Links, Resources, Quotes, Notes. By Mike Garofalo.
Tao Te Ching by Lao
Tzu: Bibliography and Links
Comments by Mike
Garofalo
About Chapter 63 of the Dao De Jing
"Thus, it is because even the sages pay careful attention to such things
That they are always free of difficulties."
The ordinary person, or the sage, must deal with many difficulties and challenges. Some are caused by himself or herself, and others caused by others, and some are just accidents, mishaps, and novel situations. We can reduce "difficulties" by sensible living; but, to be "free" of them is an unrealistic expectation. We can also redefine events as being challenges, view them as problems to be solved, or just accept them as part of life and let go of our immature expectations that they would not occur. Take a Stoic attitude toward these difficulties, and let mind dictate our reactions.
"Treat the small as great
and the few as many.
Take account of the difficult while it is still easy,
And deal with the large while it is still tiny.
The most difficult things in the world originate with the easy,
And the largest issues originate with the tiny."
"Caress the detail, the divine detail."
- Vladimir Nabokov
"Details are all there are."
- Maezumi Roshi
"We think in generalities, but we live in
details."
- W.H. Auden
"If you take care of the little things, the
big things take care of themselves."
- R. Reese
"We work with the stuff of the soul by
means of the things of life."
- Thomas Moore
"Pay attention to minute particulars. Take
care of the little ones.
Generalization and abstraction are the plea of the hypocrite, scoundrel, and knave."
- William Blake
"The object of our lives is to look at,
listen to, touch, taste things.
Without them, - these sticks, stones, feathers, shells, -
there is no Deity."
- R. H. Blyth, Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics, p.
144.
"When we look for things there is
nothing but mind,
and when we look for mind there is nothing but things."
- Alan Watts, The Way of Zen, p 131
Classics
Ancient Wisdom
For Making This Life Significant
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo
Green Way Research
Copyrighted © 2007 by Green
Way Research
Michael P.
Garofalo.
All rights reserved.
I Welcome Your Comments, Ideas, Contributions, and
Suggestions
E-mail Mike Garofalo in Red Bluff, California
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Distributed on the Internet Since December 1, 2006.
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