Tuesday, February 06, 2024

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 56

Dao De Jing, Laozi
Chapter 56

"Those who know, do not speak.
Those who speak, do not know.
So shut your mouth
Guard your senses
Blunt your sharpness
Untangle your affairs
Soften your glare
Be one with All dust.
This is the mystery of union.
You cannot approach it Yet you cannot escape it.
You cannot benefit it
Yet you cannot harm it.
You cannot bestow any honor on it
Yet you cannot rob it of its dignity.
That is why the whole Universe reveres it."
-  Translated by John Mabry, Chapter 56



"One who understands won't be willing to use words;
One who uses words won't be willing to understand.
Shut off your dissipation.
Seal up your door.
Harmonize with your brightness.
Adapt to the dust in your life.
Blunt your sharpness.
Untangle your disorder.
This is correctly described as the mystery of putting the pieces together.
Therefore, what can't be obtained and held closely also can't be obtained and cast off.
What can't be obtained and used for profit also can't be obtained and used for harm.
What can't be obtained and valued also can't be obtained and cheapened.
Therefore, every action in the world is precious."
-  Translated by Nina Correa, Chapter 56



"One who knows does not speak,
One who speaks does not know.
Stop the apertures,
Close the door;
Blunt the sharp,
Untie the entangled;
Harmonize the bright,
Make identical the dust.
This is called the mystical identity (hsüan t'ung).
Therefore with this person you cannot get intimate (ch'in),
Cannot get distant,
Cannot benefit,
Cannot harm,
Cannot exalt,
Cannot humiliate.
Therefore such person is the exalted of the world."
-  Translated by Ellen M. Chen, Chapter 56 




知者不言.
言者不知.
塞其兑.
閉其門.
挫其銳.
解其分.
和其光.
同其塵.
是謂玄同.
故不可得而親.
不可得而踈.
不可得而利.
不可得而害.
不可得而貴.
不可得而賤.
故為天下貴. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 56 


zhi zhe bu yan.
yan zhe bu zhi.
se qi dui.
bi qi men.
cuo qi rui.
jie qi fen.
he qi guang.
tong qi chen.
shi wei xuan tong.
gu bu ke de er qin.
bu ke de er shu.
bu ke de er li.
bu ke de er hai.
bu ke de er gui.
bu ke de er jian.
gu wei tian xia gui.
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 56  



"Blunt all that is sharp;
Cut all that is divisible;
Blur all that which is brilliant;
Mix with all that is humble as dust;
This is called absolute equality.
Therefore it cannot be made intimate;
Nor can it be alienated.
It cannot be benefited;
Nor can it be harmed.
It cannot be exalted;
Nor can it be debased.
Therefore it is the most valuable thing in the world."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 56  






"He who knows, speaks not;
He who speaks, knows not.
He closes the mouth,
He shuts the doors of the senses.
He rounds off angles;
He unravels all difficulties.
he harmonizes Light.
He brings men into Unity.
This is called wonderful Unity.
Favour and disgrace do not touch him,
profit and loss do not affect him,
Honour and shame are alike to him,
Therefore he is held in high esteem by all men."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 56



"El que sabe no habla.
El que habla no sabe.
Habla solo lo necesario,
Controla tus emociones,
Simplifica los problemas,
Deshazte de la confusión,
Atenúa tu resplandor,
Identifícate con el polvo,
Esta es la Misteriosa Totalidad.
Quien ha alcanzado este estado,
No se preocupa por el amor o el odio,
ni por el auge o el fracaso.
A la Misteriosa Totalidad,
No se le puede atraer;
no se le puede rechazar;
no se le puede beneficiar;
no se le puede perjudicar;
no se le puede honrar;
Por eso, es lo máximo que un hombre podrá alcanzar."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 56



"Those who know do not talk.
 Those who talk do not know.

 Stop talking,
 meditate in silence,
 blunt your sharpness,
 release your worries,
 harmonize your inner light,
 and become one with the dust.
 Doing this is the called the dark and mysterious identity.

 Those who have achieved the mysterious identity can not be approached,
      and they can not be alienated.
 They can not be benefited nor harmed.
 They can not be made noble nor to suffer disgrace.
 This makes them the most noble of all under the heavens."
 -  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 56  
 




Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching



Taoism: A Selected Reading List








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