Evocative, to say the least. Also to say the most, which I guess is the point. 

One thing all the translations I have looked at make clear from the beginning:  Don’t try to pin it down. If you can define it, you’re leaving something out. I find that at once refreshing, frustrating, and liberating. 

Celebrate the mystery. You might as well. 

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In Hogan’s translation, he says don’t worry about the score, just do what you have to do. Star’s translation says honor is founded on disgrace and disgrace is rooted in honor, so both should be avoided. 

Fame and misfortune are both fleeting and depend on other people, who are doubtless wrestling their own demons and so are hardly objective. Making the opinion of others the measure of my worth is a snare I find myself in over and over. You would think that having to disentangle myself would teach me a lesson, but evidently I need to learn some things more than once.

If one has lost the Way, there is still integrity. If that is lost, there is kindness. If kindness is lost, there is still justice. If justice is lost, all that is left is rules of conduct. 

We spend much of our time, energy, and resources creating, codifying, and enforcing rules of conduct, which in this list is set as the lowest bar. It’s the most easily quantified, so there is that advantage.

In Star’s translation, he says that when men rely on rules for guidance, ignorance abounds. 

Maybe following the rules is the least we can do. 

Star’s translation says that if you need rules to be kind and just, if you “act” virtuous, this is a sure sign that virtue is absent.

MacDonald says that talk of patriotism is a sure sign that the country is falling into chaos. The same theme shows up in all four translations, whether the example is country or family. Talking about it, labeling it, be it patriotism or family loyalty, is seen as a substitute for the real thing. 

The teenagers I used to work with who were truly dangerous individuals never talked about it. And everyone knew they were the real thing. Those guys knew that if you had it there was no reason to advertise it.

Just do the right thing, the kind thing, the just thing. Don’t talk about it or make rules about it. 

In their translations, Hogan says the greatest beauty is invisible, and Mitchell says that the greatest art seems unsophisticated. What at first glance seems contradictory is apparently a glimpse into the great unknown.

Star’s translation says that Tao is always becoming what we have need for it to become. If it couldn’t do this, it would not be Tao.

I find myself hearing that last bit as both mystifying and reassuring – another seeming contradiction. I’m not sure whether I need to look deeper into that or just roll with it, although I’m leaning toward the latter.

In Mitchell’s translation, it says that when the will to power is in charge, the higher the ideals the lower the results. Watching the strength of the addictive nature of power play out in real time is very difficult, though not surprising. The lure of power may be the most potent drug there is.

Star’s translation says that good fortune hides within bad fortune. In light of today’s events, I hope that good fortune comes out of hiding. For me and for many people I know, a touch of good fortune would be most welcome. It’s something to hang on to, even though the Tao isn’t much in favor of hanging on to anything.

It’s funny; this exercise was supposed to be a respite from the day-to-day, an exploration of more universal themes. Today’s randomly selected verse was so clearly aligned with the unfolding events as to make the thought of respite irrelevant.

Get rid of sanctity and morality, Hogan’s translation says. His reading, like the others, points to the basic goodness of people. We all know, on some level, what is right and good and moral, and those who take it upon themselves to instruct us in those things more often than not just get in the way. We have a harder time rediscovering love on our own, which is the only true way to get to it, if someone is whispering in our ear or shouting from a platform about what it’s supposed to look like and sound like and feel like. The teens I once worked with were barely functional (much less successful) in “normal” environments, frequently crashing into one set of rules or another. Almost without exception, though, when the situation was genuinely important they not only knew what was necessary and right, they did it without instruction or argument. Remarkable, really.

Also from Hogan: Do your work as best you can. Don’t think about what you get for it. Stay focused.

Just stay at the center of the circle, says Mitchell. On my good days I have a sense of where the center is, and on my better days I can spend some time there.

Star’s translation says give without conditions and people will prosper. The singer Dolly Parton gives in large measure on a regular basis, from books for children to fire relief to medical research, and undoubtedly much more that we don’t know about. She doesn’t lack for money as a result of this, and is seen as a shining light not only by those touched directly by her giving, but by those who hear about it and are similarly inspired. There is a saying in the Christian tradition: Cast your bread upon the waters and it will return a hundredfold. There are many real-life examples of the value and rightness of giving without strings attached.

Hogan says a wise leader keeps quiet and people do the right thing on their own.

Mitchell:  If you want to be a great leader, stop trying to control.

We don’t need leaders to tell us what’s good. Most folks are doing their best, frequently in difficult circumstances. Changing the world a little bit at a time. We could let ourselves recognize and celebrate that more often, and help it grow and spread. Casting our bread, so to speak.

Star:  Wealth is the fruit of generosity.

Possession for its own sake leads to misery; the more you have, the more you have to lose, and the harder you have to work to protect your pile of stuff. Accumulating beyond what it takes to sustain is a burden we not only accept but ask for, sacrifice for, believe will bring happiness and security. This is false. Being generous creates the kind of wealth that cannot be stolen and does not need to be guarded, because it cannot be measured or possessed, only experienced.

Mitchell:  When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Hogan:  Doing the right thing is like water. It’s good for all living things and flows without thinking where it’s going.

It’s that last part that struck home on this reading. It is difficult to act without an agenda, whether open or hidden, but if we can do the right thing without worrying about whether it ripples out or stays close, damages or enhances our reputation, gets us blame or credit, inspires others or goes unnoticed, then it’s more genuine. There are so many unintended consequences in this life that trying to figure out all the ramifications of our actions is fruitless, and, more importantly, misses the point. Star, in his translation, said when acting we should remember that timing is everything. I’ve heard that’s true of comedy. It only makes sense that it’s also true in a larger context.

Star:  We recognize beauty because there is ugliness, virtue because of sin.

Things exist together; difficult and easy, high and low, life and death. Seeing that the existence of one depends on the existence of its opposite runs counter to wishful thinking of all types, and means, among other things, that as long as there are kind people there will also be unkind, as long as there are privileged there will be those without privilege, and so on. Terms that assign value exist only and always because their opposite also exists. I think one thing we can understand from this is that we don’t give in order to achieve a certain end or receive something in return; rather, we give because we have something available to us that we can give. Later, we will be in a position to receive. We experience joy knowing that sorrow will certainly come to us, and experience sorrow knowing that joy is its companion and will show up in due course. Whatever we are experiencing, it won’t last.

Gia-Fu Feng:  Creating, yet not possessing. Working, yet not taking credit. Work is done, then forgotten.

Do the job, and move on to the next one. Let the thing that is leaving, leave. A skill I’m still trying to master.

Hogan: Don’t spend too much time thinking about stupid shit. Why should you care about things that worry others?

Watching other people rush around, appearing to have goals and purposes, can make us feel like guests, like we don’t belong in this world. There is an advantage, though, in having that kind of vantage point. The wind and waves only appear to be aimless; they have direction and intention, it’s just not obvious from our viewpoint. Getting tied to things or places makes some things difficult to see. It doesn’t mean they’re not there. Being adrift on the sea of faith, for example, opens us up to truths from multiple perspectives.

Star:  Should I fear darkness when that light is shining everywhere? Nonsense!

Star:  Tao is eternal; it brings all things to completion without their even knowing it.

McDonald: Because it doesn’t seek greatness, it is able to accomplish great things.

It’s certainly the case that often the person out in front who is receiving all the attention is not the person who is actually getting the job done. Those who shun the spotlight are sometimes the ones who deserve the most credit. Without them, the people seeking the spotlight would have no accomplishments to display. The invisible ones are the key to much that is done for the benefit of us all. In the current pandemic sweeping the globe, those previously invisible are lauded as heroes, when by and large, they are all just doing their job. More difficult and dangerous due to the virus, but they’ve kept things running for a long time without being noticed. The fact that they do their work with no fanfare, no public recognition, is a measure of how great they truly are.

McDonald: Know the honorable, but do not shun the disgraced; embrace the world as it is.

Recognizing both light and dark, honorable and disgraced, idealism and reality, allows us to glimpse the whole world. Several of the translations refer to the Uncarved Block, reality before it is divided into “useful” tools. The Uncarved Block carries limitless possibilities. Detaching pieces of it means you have something useful, but imposes limitations on what you can see and experience. Quite a high price, if you think about it that way.

Star: When the opposing forces unite within, there comes a power abundant in its giving, unerring in its effect, flowing through everything.

Mitchell: If you accept the world, the Tao will be luminous inside you.

Star: No greater curse than desire; no greater fault than selfishness

Much of our time is spent trying to satisfy desires of one kind or another. The structure of our society has encouraged a competition among us to accumulate more, larger, “better” stuff and more elaborate experiences. Many of us buy into this world view, which leads to envy, selfishness, desire, and a host of other ills we carry with us as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Laying aside all desires is certainly out of reach for most, including me. I have luxuries it would be difficult for me to leave behind. It doesn’t follow that I shouldn’t, but the act of leaving them behind also means a setting aside of the desire to immediately replace them with something else equally unnecessary. A life without desire is frightening to contemplate.

Mitchell: There is no greater illusion than fear.

Star: A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind.

Hogan: If you are rigid and unyielding you might as well be dead. 

The young people I worked with some years ago would frequently back themselves into a corner by being stubborn. A sometimes dangerous and always unfortunate situation resulted when the staff who were charged with caring for and working with these teenagers behaved in a similar fashion. 

Many times conflicts between individuals or groups reach an impasse when both sides take the position that they will change as soon as the other side does. This rigidity makes compromise impossible and a solution elusive.

Pierre, a man we hired to fell some trees close to our house, once told me, “Never climb a tree that won’t bend.”

Star: Now if one is fearless but has no love, abundant but has no moderation, rises up but has no humility, surely he is doomed.

Hogan: If you want to get ahead, show people compassion. It’s the most powerful force in the universe.

Compassion for those we like and respect is easy; for those outside that circle, not so much. It helps me to remember that just because I think I know the reasons someone is acting or believing in a certain way, that doesn’t make it so. People are much richer, deeper, and more complex than we think they are, and the same thing is true of ourselves. Taking an honest look inward (or at least as honest as we can manage) can help foster compassion for self, which makes compassion for others possible, if not always easy.

Star: Love vanquishes all attackers.

Star: Be tranquil like the rain of spring.

Hogan: If you stay calm, the world will sort itself out around you.

Staying calm is a rare and precious skill in any circumstance, and especially so in difficult times, when the cacophony of voices around us are insisting that we do the opposite. I have read that we are hard-wired to pay more attention to signals that indicate danger than those which indicate the lack of danger. If true, knowing that about people impacts news programs, magazine editorial content, political campaigns, deciding which verses to use as the basis for next Sunday’s sermon, and so on. Telling us we must not remain calm is good sales technique, but believing it is a poor approach to long-term health, whether physical, mental, or spiritual.

Mitchell: The Master allows things to happen. She steps out of the way and lets the Tao speak for itself.

The fact that Mitchell translates the Master as female in this verse is refreshing, to say the least.

Hogan says that verse 42 boils down to “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”

Reap what you sow, cast your bread on the water and it will return to you a hundredfold, sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, what goes around comes around, instant karma’s gonna get you, the list goes on. Almost everyone is familiar with this lesson from the Tao. It is remarkable how many folks think they are exempt from this basic law of human interaction. There is always give and take, and we can’t opt out of that basic truth. The interplay of yin and yang fills the universe, says Star, who goes on to say:

Only at the still point, between the breathing in and the breathing out, can one capture perfect harmony.

The presence of Tao doesn’t mean that evil ceases to exist, only that it loses its power.

Certainly a different way to consider what to do about the existence of evil in the world; the conventional wisdom, and the mantra used in many cases to encourage a group’s willingness to fight, is that evil must be eradicated. Acceptance of the requirement that if there is good there must by definition also be evil and that, rather than eliminating it, we should act in a way that robs it of its power turns the whole concept on its head. This might be a good and necessary thing to do.

Star: It’s not that they (dark spirits) have no power, it’s that their power can’t harm anyone.

Star says that Tao is everywhere; to see it in a person, see it as a person. In a family, see it as a family. In the world, see it as the world.

A while back our minister told the story of a Sufi mystic who was talking to someone who told him he saw God in everything he looked at: trees, flowers, people, and so on. The Sufi’s reply? “I never see anything but God.” 

I find it comforting to think that Tao is everywhere, around us and in us, ready for us to choose to recognize its presence. That it dwells in the realm beyond language doesn’t make it inaccessible, just impossible to pin down or categorize.

Mitchell: Let the Tao be present in your life and you will become genuine. Let it be present in the universe, and the universe will sing.

Mitchell: We work with being, but non-being is what we use.

In our modern day quest for information and stimulus we risk losing appreciation of silence, emptiness, the pause between phrases. Two people who know and respect each other can sit in silence without distress. Silence in a piece of music helps us appreciate what led up to it, and the player’s decision about how long to hold the silence says as much as the notes that precede or follow it. The space between trees that allows a view of the mountain beyond or the river’s path leading away is as necessary as any other component but usually goes unnoticed unless it is so vast that it dominates (like the Grand Canyon). While the examples in this verse are physical – the hollow in the cup, the hole at the center of the wheel, the space inside a room – I thought immediately of music and poetry. In the practice of Tai Chi the twinned concepts of full and empty speak to the same idea.

Gia-Fu Feng:  Benefit comes from what is there; usefulness from what is not there.

Star: When a thing has existence alone, it is mere dead weight.

Mitchell: When they think that they know the answers, people ae difficult to guide. When they know that they don’t know, people can find their own way.

One of the principles of the Unitarian Universalist Church is the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We are more interested in questions than answers, and so as a rule do not dictate a view or explanation to be accepted and followed by all. The thing that keeps it from being a “believe whatever you want” approach is the word responsible. The expectation is that having a theology includes doing the work to make sure it is honest and coherent; nobody checks your work, but the belief is that honesty and coherence leads to a fuller, richer life in all its aspects. More than a little Taoism in there.

Star says that at every moment Te (energy, vitality) seeks Tao (the Way). This is the impulse that leads all things back home.

Star:  The most yielding thing in the world will overcome the most rigid.

Think water wearing away stone, or a seed lodged in a rock crevice that germinates and eventually splits the rock in two. Or Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias” and the destruction of the giant statue by wind and weathering. Use of force is a blunt instrument, effective in the short term but clumsy and unsustainable.

Star again: Rare indeed are those who are still. Rare indeed are those who are silent.

Star:  Tao is the great wealth of those who are awake, the great protector of those still sleeping. 

The Way is there, waiting for us to come around, waiting for us to recognize it. There is no punishment meted out to those who don’t get it; we all fail to get it at one time or another. If we are dealing with someone wicked, we should continue to be the person we are and not change in reaction to their deeds; we should show them our deeds instead. If Tao is protecting them, then who are we to sit in judgment? If we are right with Tao, as Hogan puts it, we are wealthy. It would be a mistake to turn away from that. Better to share it with those who are able to accept it, and be patient with those who aren’t.

Star again: Within, within. This is where the world’s treasure has always been.

Hogan: When you have nothing to say, you may as well keep your mouth shut.

Open yourself, Mitchell says. To use insight fully, we must open ourselves to it. With loss, to be open to it allows us to experience it fully. 

The only way to move on from something, whether good or bad, is to go ahead and experience it. Hanging on to good times, we run the risk of self-parody as well as missing out on the present. Hanging on to bad times only means that we experience the negative again and again while the present is continually reinventing itself all around us. We should let things be what they are and not try to force them into sticking around after they’re done.

Mitchell: Open yourself to the Tao, then trust your natural responses; and everything will fall into place.

Gia-Fu Feng: Knowing ignorance is strength. Ignoring knowledge is sickness.

The contrast is not between strength and weakness, but between strength and sickness. The Tao does not advocate the pursuit of knowledge in order to demonstrate cleverness or superiority, but it does say that if you don’t know the things that need to be known, the results will be terrible. The Dunning-Kruger Effect, which says that people who know the least are the most self-assured and confident of their knowledge, has led people, some in positions of great responsibility, to produce all manner of disastrous results.

McDonald says that only by recognizing that you have an illness can you move to seek a cure. The idea promoted in recovery groups that you have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired has ancient roots, as it turns out. 

Gia-Fu Feng says that self-righteousness, boasting, bragging are unnecessary luggage and do not bring happiness.

Trying to consider what value Lao-Tsu, or Jesus, or any of the great teachers would find in social media as it exists today is an interesting thought experiment. For that matter if, as Star says in his translation, self-promoting is something that must be left behind, there is much more in our daily lives than just social media that needs examination. 

 Mitchell: To be in accord with Tao, just do your job, then let go.

Hogan says, This is how Tao works: It doesn’t push itself, and it always succeeds. It can’t be rushed; it’s always on time.

Bravery mixed with passion will get you killed; bravery mixed with calm preserves life. 

Good fortune and bad fortune both tether men to this world, in Star’s translation. The best course of action is to be, as much as possible, in harmony with Tao and not worry about future outcomes or grand plans. These things are unknowable anyway, so dwelling on them gains nothing.

Mitchell says that all streams flow to the sea because it is lower; humility gives it power.

Hogan: If you want to teach people, don’t talk down to them. If you want to lead them, find out where they want to go.

In my career I worked with teens in treatment centers and alternative schools, and most of them had been talked down to for so long they assumed I would too. It took a while to get past that, but no teaching was possible through that barrier. Convincing those young people that I was not only able, but willing, to treat them with respect opened more doors than anything else I did.

Also Mitchell, speaking of the Master: because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her. It takes two to make a contest of any kind, whether it’s to accomplish something or to win an argument. Refusal to compete is a great source of power, even though it is seldom seen in that way.

Serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. Mother of the Universe. For lack of a better name, I call it Tao.

Like Mitchell’s translation above, the other translations I have at hand all say that this source, this way, is beyond language. Tao is the name they give it, but they all acknowledge the inadequacy of spoken or written language in the face of it. 

I find this recognition that the most important stuff is beyond naming very comforting.

Mitchell says that humanity follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself.

Star says those who know do not talk and those who talk do not know.

Hogan: If you get right with Tao, you won’t be worried about praise or scorn, about winning or losing, about honor or disgrace. That’s the way to be.

When I think about how much of everyday life is centered around these dichotomies it emphasizes how difficult it would be to step away from all of it. Likes on social media, reviews on books I’ve written, competitions of all kinds requiring a winner and a loser, the emphasis on reputation, all of this stands in opposition to Tao. It all comes down to desire, of course, which is the major impediment to embracing Tao.

Hogan: People waste time and energy trying to be strong or beautiful, and their strength and beauty fade. They’ve lost touch with Tao.

The pressure to become and remain strong and beautiful is relentless, and thus we lose the wisdom and perspective of the old among us. Fighting the natural order of birth, growth, maturity, and death, trying to hold on to a phase of life that is slipping farther and farther away, is not only misguided but fruitless. We could celebrate the important perspective that comes from having seen life from multiple points of view. Disregarding that robs us of the present, which is all there really is.

Star: A full life — this is your blessing. A gentle heart — this is your strength.

Star: The best warrior fights without anger. He puts himself below and brings out the highest in his men.

McDonald: The best leaders become servants of their people.

Having been raised in the Christian tradition, when I read this verse I immediately thought of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. There is both power and value in humility and modesty, a lesson that has to be relearned over and over again. Leaders who make themselves the focus instead of the goal make everyone’s job more difficult and confusing. They also carve a path that does not lead to attainment of the goal, whatever it is. It leads instead to their feet, and then there is nowhere else to go.

From Star’s translation:   . . . to Heaven and Earth all are the same; the high, the low, the great, the small — all are given light, all get a place to rest.

Mitchell goes on to say the Master doesn’t take sides; she welcomes both saints and sinners.

It is we who divide people into acceptable and unacceptable. The Tao makes no such distinction. All are the same for Tao. According to Hogan, if you keep using Tao, it works better. Mitchell says the more you talk about it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the center.

Mitchell: Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Gia-Fu Feng says that mastering others requires force; mastering the self needs strength.

It is very easy (and very common) to confuse force with strength. Force always implies movement, while strength can be still. Sturdy, a friend of mine once called it. “Not everyone can be forceful,” she said. “We can all be sturdy.” Maybe she was a Taoist. I never thought to ask.

McDonald says that those who know they have enough are truly wealthy. Again, stillness. There is no need to run around chasing after stuff; be content with what you have and you will be rich.

Just take a moment and consider how wealthy you actually are. Not possession wealth. The other kind. The enduring kind. The kind you have to be still to notice.

Star: Let them be content in their homes and joyful in the way they live.

Lao Tzu is thinking about, dreaming about, a small village and an unhurried life. In his village, machinery to speed things up would go unused, and weapons would remain in storage, out of sight. I wonder what he would make of the level of frenetic activity that characterizes much of our lives, and our pride in the quantity and ferocity of our armaments.

Mitchell: People enjoy their food, take pleasure in being with their families, delight in the doings of the neighborhood. 

Star again: The people must take death seriously and not waste their lives in distant lands.

Home, family, community. These are the important things.

Confront the difficult while it is still easy, says Mitchell in his translation.

Hogan: Get the job done before it becomes a chore.

In Star’s translation, he says: Beware of those who promise a quick and easy way for much ease brings many difficulties.

In today’s world, and my guess is also in the times that came before, the lure of the quick and easy way is so seductive as to be almost impossible to resist. Accepting that things, especially great things, have an element of difficulty in them and confronting this head on instead of trying to sidestep it is, again from Star, the sure way to end up with no difficulties at all

Learn how to stand still if you want to go places.

You can go far if you don’t have anything to carry.

These are both from Hogan’s translation of verse 22. It’s hard to imagine laying down all the stuff I carry. The notion is very attractive but seems impossible, and I think that’s because much of my self-definition is bound up in the baggage I’m carrying around. Not a particularly good thing to admit, but as I typed it there was the ring of truth in the words, and I knew I was on to something. 

The question that naturally arises is, after we lay down our baggage, our burdens, all the false shame and false pride, the minimizations and exaggerations and outright lies we have been telling ourselves, what then?

As Mitchell’s translation says, if you want to become full, let yourself be empty.

In his translation Star talks about women in colorful gowns, men carrying well-crafted swords, and overflowing food and drink, while the fields grow barren and the granaries are empty.

The lure of material wealth is a strong addiction in our society, as it has been for others in the past. “The one with the most toys wins” is a point of view shared by all too many. There are those among us who could not possibly use their wealth in a dozen lifetimes and continue to accumulate more and more. The fact that when one of them gives back in some significant way it is big news is an indicator of how prevalent greed is. Star says it’s like thieves boasting after a looting and is contrary to Tao.

Hogan puts it a little more bluntly: They’re nothing but gangsters and crooks, he says. That’s not what Tao’s about.

In Star’s translation, Lao Tzu says his teachings are easy to understand and to practice, but those who follow his ways are rare.

For me the interesting thing about this verse is that Lao Tzu doesn’t speak of people following him. He is not important; the teachings are. The ego trap is so deadly and seductive that a person leading a movement has to take care not to make himself or herself the focus. I’m reminded of the old civil rights slogan, “Keep your eyes on the prize.” 

From Star again: Those who follow my ways . . . . even if they wear the clothes of a beggar they carry a priceless gem within.

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