EIGHT
The highest good is like water.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.
In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In daily life, be competent.
In action, be aware of the time and the season...
TWENTY-FIVE
Something mysteriously formed.
Born before heaven and earth.
In the silence and the void,
Standing alone and unchanging.
Ever present and in motion
Perhaps it is the mother of the ten thousand things.
I do not know its name...
TWENTY-NINE
Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.
The universe is sacred.
You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it, you will ruin it.
If you try to hold it, you will lose it.
So sometime things are ahead and sometimes they are behind;
Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily;
Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness;
Sometimes one is up and sometimes down...
THIRTY-SIX
That which shrinks
Must first expand.
That which fails
Must first be strong.
That which is cast down
Must first be raised.
Before receiving
There must be giving.
This is called perception of the nature of things.
Soft and weak overcome hard and strong...
THIRTY-NINE
These things from ancient times arise from one:
The sky is whole and clear.
The earth is whole and firm.
The spirit is strong and whole.
The ten thousand things are whole and alive...
...All these are virtues in wholeness.
The clarity of the sky prevents its falling.
The firmness of the earth prevents its splitting.
The strength of the spirit prevents its being used up.
The fullness of the valley prevents its running dry.
The growth of the ten thousand things prevents their dying out...
Therefore the humble is the root of the noble.
The low is the foundation of high...
Too much success is not an advantage.
Do not tinkle like jade
Or clatter like stone chimes.
FIFTY-TWO
The beginning of the universe
is the mother of all things.
Knowing the mother, one also knows the sons.
Knowing the sons, yet remaining in touch with the mother.
Brings freedom from the fear of death.
Keep your mouth shut,
Guard the senses,
And life is ever full.
Open your mouth,
Always be busy,
And life is beyond hope.
Seeing the small is insight;
Yielding to force is strength;
Using the outer light, return to insight,
and in this way be safe from harm.
This is learning constancy.
SEVENTY-SIX
A man is born gently and weak.
At his death he is stiff and hard.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.
The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.
Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.
-excerpted from:
Tao Te Ching
Translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English
credits
released September 3, 2021
recorded live to two-track in osaka.
guitar, field recordings, synths.
no overdubs.
sounds: 曇り男
mastering: Chris Weal @ Black Dog Audio
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