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Word Gems exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching: quotes featuring Te - Virtue
from https://www.taoistic.com/taoquotes/ Te, Virtue, is one of the most important concepts in Tao Te Ching, the old classic on Taoism. That's why the word is also in the title. It can be explained as the noble behavior of a person who follows Tao, the Way, which is virtuous in itself. We human beings, though, have to learn it. Below are those chapters, out of the 81 in Tao Te Ching, which deal mainly with the theme of Te, Virtue, and what is truly virtuous.
And not lose it? Can you gather your vital breath And yet be tender like a newborn baby? Can you clean your inner reflection And keep it spotless? Can you care for the people and rule the country And not be cunning? Can you open and close the gate of Heaven And act like a woman? Can you comprehend everything in the four directions And still do nothing?
Carry them without taking possession of them, Care for them without subduing them, Raise them without steering them. That is the greatest virtue.
Honor and great distress are like the body.
Praise leads to weakness. Getting it causes fear, losing it causes fear. This is why praise and disgrace cause fear.
The reason for great distress is the body. Without it, what distress could there be?
He who treasures his body as much as the world Can care for the world. He who loves his body as much as the world Can be entrusted with the world.
Abide in steadfast stillness.
Thereby we see their return. All things flourish, And each returns to its source.
It is returning to one's fate. Returning to one's fate is eternal. Knowledge of the eternal is realization.
Knowledge of the eternal is all-embracing. To be all-embracing leads to righteousness, Which is majestic. To be majestic leads to the Heavenly. To be Heavenly leads to the Way.
Until your last day, you are free from peril.
And people will benefit a hundredfold. Abandon benevolence, discard duty, And people will return to the family ties. Abandon cleverness, discard profit, And thieves and robbers will disappear.
Let this be what to rely on:
Lessen selfishness and restrain desires. Abandon knowledge and your worries are over.
Hard rains do not last all day. What cause them? Heaven and Earth. If Heaven and Earth are unable to persist, How could man?
Those who live virtuously are one with virtue. Those who deprive themselves are one with deprivation.
Those who are one with virtue are welcomed by virtue. Those who are one with deprivation are deprived of deprivation.
You become the valley of the world. Being the valley of the world, Eternal virtue will never desert you, And you become like a little child anew.
You become a model to the world. Being a model to the world, Eternal virtue will never falter in you, And you return to the boundless.
You become the valley of the world. Being the valley of the world, Eternal virtue will be full in you, And you return to the state of uncarved wood.
Its parts are put to use. When the sage is put to use, He becomes the head. The best way to carve is not to split.
Those who understand themselves are wise. Those who defeat others are strong, Those who defeat themselves are mighty.
Those who are unswerving have resolve. Those who stay where they are will endure. Those who die without being forgotten get longevity.
Therefore it has virtue. The lowest virtue holds on to virtue. Therefore it has no virtue.
Yet, nothing needs to be done. The lowest virtue does everything. Yet, much remains to be done.
The highest righteousness acts with purpose. The highest ritual acts, but since no one cares, It raises its arms and uses force.
When virtue is lost there is benevolence. When benevolence is lost there is righteousness. When righteousness is lost there are rituals. Rituals are the end of fidelity and honesty, And the beginning of confusion.
And the beginning of folly. Therefore, The truly great ones rely on substance, And not on surface, Hold on to the fruit, And not to the flower. They reject the latter and receive the former.
What is well held will not escape. Children and grandchildren will not cease to praise it.
And it will be true. Cultivate virtue in the family, And it will be overflowing. Cultivate virtue in the town, And it will be lasting. Cultivate virtue in the country, And it will be abundant. Cultivate virtue in the world, And it will be universal.
See others as yourself. See families as your family. See towns as your town. See countries as your country. See worlds as your world.
By this.
Wasps, scorpions, and serpents will not sting him. Birds of prey and wild beasts will not strike him. His bones are soft, his muscles weak, But his grasp is firm. He has not experienced the union of man and woman, Still his penis rises. His manhood is at its very height. He can shout all day without getting hoarse. His harmony is at its very height.
Knowing the eternal is called clarity. Filling life exceedingly is called ominous. Letting the mind control the vital breath is called force.
This is going against the Way. What goes against the Way meets an early end.
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