[esborrany]
Daodejing
s6-s5 LAOZI
1
The Dao that can be told is not the timeless Dao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
Heaven and earth emerged from the nameless.
The named is the mother of all things.
Lose desire and see the Dao’s essence.
Have desire and see the Dao’s manifestations.
These two have the same source but different names.
Their sameness is a mystery,
mystery of mysteries,
gateway of untold secrets.
4
Dao is an empty vessel,
used without ever being filled,
unfathomably deep, the source of all things,
where sharpness blunts,
knots untangle,
glare mellows,
dust coalesces.
So hidden, in nonbeing it is being.
Who knows whose child it is,
this ancestor of the gods?
11
Thirty spokes join at one hub;
emptiness makes the cart useful.
Cast clay into a pot;
the emptiness inside makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows to make a room;
emptiness makes the room useful.
Thus being is beneficial,
but usefulness comes from the void.
47
Without walking out the door,
know the whole universe.
Without looking out the window
see the Way of heaven.
The farther you go, the less you know.
Thus the sage knows by staying still,
fathoms without seeing,
achieves through nonaction.
78
Nothing is softer and more yielding than water,
yet nothing is better in attacking the solid and forceful
because nothing can take its place.
Weak conquers strong, soft conquers hard.
No one doesn’t know this,
yet who practices it?
Thus the sage says,
“The state’s true master takes on
the country’s disgrace
and by taking on the country’s misfortunes is king under heaven.”
Straight speech may seem like paradox.
Jia Yi, Owl Dinastia Han