TAO TE CHING - Parts 71 - 76

To realize that you do not know is best. If you are not aware of how the mind continually assumes that it is right, then you are sick with a disease of I already know. Without thinking that you already know something, you can be open to see without preconceived assumptions. Evolved ones realize that the can misinterpret things and they free themselves by investigating their thoughts when they think they already know. When people lose a sense of awe about life, they sometimes turn to an outside source for inspiration. When they no longer trust in themselves, they seek outer authorities for learning. However, evolved ones know themselves, yet they do not push their understanding onto others. Instead, they help people develop self-knowledge by showing them how to respect what they are feeling inside. Someone bold and daring might kill or be killed. Those who are not this way might survive. Of these two, either could bring harm or benefit. But who knows why? Even evolved ones are unsure about these things. The way of nature overcomes without striving, responds without speaking, appears without being summoned, designs without using a plan. The net of the heavens is wide-meshed and covers the whole universe, and yet nothing slips through it. When people are not afraid to die, how can you threaten them? Yet when people live in the constant fear of dying, they can be controlled or limited. But who would volunteer to be the executioner? To decide who lives and who dies is like becoming the master carpenter of life. Those who take on the master carpenter's job seldom do so without a major reaction. When governments take too much in taxes, people go hungry. When leaders are oppressive and interfere, people rebel. And when people feel that life is not worth living, they stop wanting to participate or be productive. However, evolved ones do not interfere, and they have a great respect for life and living. People are soft and tender when born. They are hard and stiff when dead. As well, plants are tender and supple when alive, but dry and brittle when dead. Those who become stiff and inflexible have taken on the way of dying. Those who are yielding and receptive take on the way of life. Notice how what is stiff and inflexible is easily broken, while what is flexible and fluid can adapt and adjust more easily.