Returning to the Source, Great Mother, Soft and Small, Avoiding Misfortune, Study Origins,
Humility, Listening, Seeds, Undying Nature, Examine Relationships,
歸元
"All under Heaven has a generatrix, which we regard as
the mother of all under Heaven.
Once one has access to the mother, through it he can know the child.
Once one knows the child, if he again holds on to the mother, as long as he
lives, no danger shall befall him.
Block up your apertures; close your door,
And to the end of your life you will never be exhausted.
But if you open your apertures and deal consciously with things, to the end of
your life you will never have relief.
To see the small is called "perspicacious."
To hold on to softness is called "strength."
Make use of its brightness,
But always let its brightness revert.
Never let one's person be exposed to disaster: this is a matter of practicing
constancy."
- Translation by
Richard Lynn,
Chapter 52
"The world (t'ien hsia) has an origin (shih),
Which is the world's (t'ien hsia) mother (mu).
Having reached the mother,
(We) know her child.
Having known the child,
Return and abide by its mother.
(In this way) one loses the body without becoming exhausted.
Stop the apertures (tui),
Close the doors,
(In this way) one's whole life (shen) is without toil (ch'in).
Open the apertures,
Going about the affairs,
(In this way) one's whole life (shen) cannot be saved.
To see the small is called illumination (ming).
To abide by the soft is called strength.
Use the bright light (kuang),
But return to the dim light (ming),
Do not expose your life (shen) to perils,
Such is to follow (hsi) the everlasting (ch'ang)."
- Translated by
Ellen M. Chen,
Chapter 52
"The world had a beginning
And this beginning could be the mother of the world.
When you know the mother
Go on to know the child.
After you have known the child
Go back to holding fast to the mother,
And to the end of your days you will not meet with danger.
Block the openings,
Shut the doors,
And all your life you will not run dry.
Unblock the openings,
Add to your troubles,
And to the end of your days you will be beyond salvation.
To see the small is called discernment;
To hold fast to the submissive is called strength.
Use the light
But give up the discernment.
Bring not misfortune upon yourself.
This is known as following the constant."
- Translation by
D. C. Lau, Chapter
52
By Alexander Simkins. 
By Derek Lin.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
By Benjamin Hoff.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
Translated by Thomas Cleary.
"If you trace problems in your relationship
back to the beginning
you will find their seeds
were sown and then ignored.
They grew unnoticed until their fruit
ripened and surprised you.
But if you can find
where the seeds were sown,
there you will find the roots as well.
And if you remove the roots
your problems will wither."
- Translated by
William Martin,
Chapter 52
"That which was the beginning of all things under heaven
We may speak of as the “mother” of all things.
He who apprehends the mother
Thereby knows the sons.
And he who has known the sons,
Will hold all the tighter to the mother,
And to the end of his days suffer no harm;
“Block the passages, shut the doors,
And till the end your strength shall not fail.
Open up the passages, increase your doings,
And till your last day no help shall come to you.”
As good sight means seeing what is very small
So strength means holding on to what is weak.
He who having used the outer-light can return to the innerlight
Is thereby preserved from all harm.
This is called resorting to the always-so."
- Translated by
Arthur Waley,
Chapter 52
"This world must have begun in certain way;
We may thenceforth consider it the origin (mother) of our world;
Once we manage to ascertain the origin, we could [apply it] to study its
offsprings;
After we learn more about the offsprings, we may reciprocally eke out our
knowledge about the mother (the origin);
This is my never-ending life-long quest.
If paths and openings of one's connections [to the outside world] are blocked,
he will never be aroused to do anything in life;
If paths and openings of one's connections [to the outside world] are unlocked
and he is properly motivated, he will never cease [from the quest described
above].
One who perceives subtleties is brilliant;
One who maintains humility is strong.
One who would use [the light of Tao] to illuminate his [potential] brilliance
will thus leave behind nothing that could cause misfortune to later generations.
A person, who achieves all of the above described fulfillment, is what I called
the person with embodiment of the perpetual [Te]."
- Translated by
Lee Org, Chapter
52
By Hu Xuzehi
Annotated translation by Victor Mair 
By Ha Poong Kim
By Hans-Georg Moeller 
By Roger T. Ames and David T. Hall
By Wes Burgess
By Arthur Waley
"The beginning of the universe, when materialized, is
considered to be a mother.
When a man finds the mother, he will know the children, accordingly.
Even though he knows the children, he still clings to the mother:
Therefore, although his body wanes, he never perishes.
The person who shuts his mouth and closes his doors
Will never perish.
If he opens his mouth and increases his affairs,
He will never be saved.
The person who sees the tiniest thing possesses clear vision,
The person who adheres to the weak possesses strength.
Use your light, but dim your brightness,
In this way you will not do yourself any harm.
This is called following the eternal Tao."
- Translated by
Chou-Wing Chohan,
Chapter 52
"The world has an origin.
The origin is the mother.
Knowing the mother, we know the son.
Knowing the son, we deduce the mother.
This way, we can be successful.
Plugging leakages,
Closing openings,
We can never be depleted.
Opening leakages,
Making too many commitments,
We can be hopeless.
Those who pay attention to details are wise.
Those who exercise flexibility are strong.
Use the light,
Things are illuminated.
Thus we can avoid mistakes.
This is called normal behavior."
- Translated by
Thomas Zhang,
Chapter 52
"Everything begins with the Tao and ends with the Tao.
To know it retrace the steps of your life.
When you reach back to the beginning, the Tao lies herein.
Then you will realise there is no death.
Without desire your heart is at peace.
Without judgment your mind is clear.
See who it is that sees.
Witness thoughts come and go.
Turn the light around and find its source.
Practicing this leads to enlightenment."
- Translated by
David Bullen,
Chapter 52
Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni
Translated by Brian Walker
Translated by Arthur Waley
Translated by Lionel and and Herbert Giles
By Eva Wong
"When creation began, Tao became the world's mother.
When one knows one's mother he will m turn know that he is her son.
When he recognizes his sonship, he will in turn keep to his mother and to the
end of life will be free from danger.
He who closes his mouth and shuts his sense gates will be free from trouble to
the end of life.
He who opens his mouth and meddles with affairs cannot be free from trouble even
to the end of life.
To recognize one's insignificance is called enlightenment.
To keep one's sympathy is called strength.
He who uses Tao's light returns to Tao's enlightenment and does not surrender
his person to perdition.
This is called practicing the eternal."
- Translation by
Dwight Goddard,
Chapter 52
"If you trace problems in your relationship
back to the beginning
you will find their seeds
were sown and then ignored.
They grew unnoticed until their fruit
ripened and surprised you.
But if you can find
where the seeds were sown,
there you will find the roots as well.
And if you remove the roots
your problems will wither."
- Translated by
William Martin,
Chapter 52
Tao Te Ching
Translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Translated by Livia Kohn
Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way
“Realizing the interplay of the Tao
way of life
and the virtue of nuturing all things under heaven
will introduce you to the primal mother
The mother of the world
resting peacefully with the mother
will introduce you to her sons and daughters
The sons and daughters of the world
these children can be exhausting
and though they mean no harm
trying to follow or control them
will only bring great danger to you
To be safe
rest peacefully with the mother
gently close your eyes
and look inward
softly direct your eyes
to listen within
lightly close your mouth
raise your tongue to its roof
and quietly savor the interior
gently lift your crown
sit firm with a relaxed hold
on your bodymind
and let her love
fill you up
you will never be empty
again
remember
chasing children
brings calamity
no matter
how hard
you try
to follow
or grasp them
the whole universe is in the palm
of your hand
but without
illumination
you cannot see it
the real world is not open
to the rational mind
the ancient child asks
when you have rested sufficiently
in the arms of the primal mother
and you vision begins to clear
what occurs
it is an unexpected sense of making
that first arises within the bodymind
then you are engulfed in a benevolent
flame
that outlines rather than burns
and I do not know if I am
the source or the witness
the senses play
leaping to and fro
mischievously acting against their nature
emotions of comfort and satisfaction
swell
so that even the harshest rain
feels like a lover’s kiss
resting deeper
you fell as if an unseen enemy
has been vanquished
and life courses through you limbs
as the warrior’s belt collects you
the connection to the Tao source and way of life
becomes punctuated and definite
possessed of a wholly benevolent clarity
language leaves you
and a light and sensitive energy collects at your
crown
visions cascade upon you so rapidly
that it becomes impossible
to divide or discern
what we normally regard as real
death becomes impossible
fire and force penetrate deeply
within you bodymind
and a new truth shapes you
into someone altogether different
you begin to breathe
the Tao way of life
as true respiration
within a quickening
that shines out
for all to see
spinning out of the quickening
you understand the mother’s children
you sing and dance
you paint and play
you look at the palm of your hand and
you see
you can still make mistakes
you can still be confused
you can still misstep
but you will always have the eyes of the Tao
however
should you ever see yourself as separate from it
you will cease
to see
altogether”
- Translation and Interpretation by the Reverend Venerable
John Bright-Fey,
Chapter 52
“All the universal things have a
common origin. We regard it as the “Mother” of all things.
Gaining the mother, we can know its children,
Knowing how the children come into being, we can return to hold onto the mother.
Thus ensuring nor danger to life.
Closing the eyes and shutting up the mouth,
One can keep from sickness forever.
Opening the eyes to chase after desires and passions,
One can be helpless forever.
Watching less and less can be enlightened.
Holding onto the weak can be mighty.
Using the outgoing eyesight,
To turn to illuminate the inward,
Thus, there can be no disaster to the body.
This is called practicing enduring Tao.”
- Translated by Hu
Huezhi, Chapter 52
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Lao-tzu's Taoteching
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Thematic Index to the
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Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui
Texts (Classics of Ancient China)
Revealing the Tao Te Ching: In Depth Commentaries on an Ancient Classic.
By Hu Huezhi. Edited by Jesse Lee Parker. Seven Star Communications,
2006. 240 pages.
Cloud Hands Blog
Mike Garofalo writes about Taoism, Gardening, Taijiquan, Walking, Mysticism,
Qigong, and the Eight Ways.
Tao Te
Ching: A New Translation and Commentary. By Ellen Chen. Paragon
House, 1998. 274 pages.
The Tao
and Method: A Reasoned Approach to the Tao Te Ching. By Michael
Lafargue. New York, SUNY Press, 1994. 660 pages.
The
Whole Heart of Tao: The Complete Teachings from the Oral Tradition of Lao-Tzu.
By John Bright-Fey. Crane Hill Publishers, 2006. 376 pages.
Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching
Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Grove, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California
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The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) circa 500 BCE