$42
Life, when it came to be,
Bore one, then two, then three
Ellements of things;
And thus the three began
—Heaven and earth and man—
To balance happenings:
Cool night behind, warm day ahead,
For the living, for the dead/
Though a commoner be loth to say
That he is only common clay,,,,,
Kings and princes often state
How humbly they are leading,,,,
Because in true succeeding’,
High and low correlate.
It is an ancient thought,
Which many men have taught,
That he who over-reaches
And tries to live by force
Shall die thereby of course,
And is what my own heart teaches.
interpretation:
Everything works by threes, positive,negative, neutral, heaven/earth, result
human beings (3) actions -male,female,child – thus three actions must take place before “materialization” which we call the “effectg” “high and low correlate, work together, thus a man is “wise” when it refrains by “making it happen”(over-reaches) which forces “force” going “against the “nature of things” – great lesson of life of coiurse
#43
As the soft yield of water cleaves obstinate stone,,
So to yield with life solves the insoluble:
To yield, I have learned, is to come back again,
But this unworded lesson
This easy example
Is lost upon men.
interpretation
Stupid people do not “yield” even though Nature yields constantly
What is the mystery of yielding? egoless people understand what
yielding is all about; they “know” how “Nature” works! Unfortunately
stupid people do not!
#44
Which means more to you,
You or your renown?
Which brings more to you,,,
You or what you own?
And which would cost you more
If it were gone?
The niggard pays,
The miser loses
The least ashamed of men
Goes back if he chooses
He knows both ways
He starts again.
interpretation:
What this stanza is saying is that “people in general use status, wealth
to determine “who they are” That is more meaningful to them than who “they really are” which means nothing to them, one is materialistic; the other speculative. Man can lose his money; man can be disgraced, lose his status, usually they work together. The wise man does not depend on status or wealth, but “his true self”
#45
A man’s work, however finished it seem,
Continues as long as he live:
A man, however perfect he seem,
Is needed as long as he live:
As long as truth appears falsity,
The seer a fool,
A prophet a dumb lout.
If you want to keep warm keep stirring about,
Keep still if you want to keep cool,,,
And in all the world one day no doubt,,,,
Your way shall be the rule.
interpretation:
The so called “real world””materialistically inclined world” exists; the “seer/prophet” is needed despite the criticizm, laughter, jeers, insults,
as in the biblical prophets of the Hebrew tradition. The priests of that time were as corrupted as they are today in our generation; puppets of the kingly authorities. Common Sense which hasnt existed for hundreds of years, reign supremely today as it did years ago., but as we approaach the Golden Era, that will change of course! “these are my words of course”
The beginning sentence stating that a “man’s work is never finished, means his “inner work” not his outer work, must eradicate the “cause” of his ignorance of course! ignorance that breeds ‘destruction”
#46
In a land where the way of life is understood
Race-horses are led back to serve the field,,,
In a land where the way of life is “not” understood
War-horses are bred on the autumn yield.
Owning is the entanglement,
Wanting is the bewilderment,,,,,
Taking is the presentiment:
Only he who contains content
Remains “content”
interpretaton:
Contentment what is it? according to the author there cannot be contentment in a world where there are winner and losers; the world that we live in today. In the stock market, the winner takes the money of the loser etc. its all about “winning” winning what? money,power,influence what else? nothing of course, is that why we incarnated? or are there other reasons for incarnations? LaoTzu believes there is, mighty ones of course!
Who are the disbelievers? Those who laugh, jeer, insult, make mockery of “The Way of Life” – do you know people like that? I do of course, there are more of them than us unfortunately, the kings,queens of old of course! the many false prophets of before and now – what dominates their life, money, power influence of “dummies”
#47
There is no need to run outside
For better seeing,
Not to peer from a window, Rather abide
At the center of your being;
For the more you leave it, the less you learn,
Search your heart and see
If he is wise who takes each turn;
The way to do “is to be”
interpretation:
“truth lies within, not without” search your heart; not your head!
#48
A man anxious for knowledge adds more to himself every minute;
A man acquiring life loses himself in it,
Has less and less to bear in mind,
Less and less to do,
Because life, he finds, is well inclined,
Including himself too.
Often a man sways the world like a wing
But not by deed;
And if there appear to you to be need,
Of motion to sway it, it has left you behind,
interpretaton:
What does the author mean when he says that “life is well inclined” what is life? What does it mean to “be living” – does living imply “knowing” and if so “knowing” and “knowledge” are not compatible – “knowing stems from the “inside”; knowledge the “outside” The author prefers the inside to the outside, one is soul; other ego of course! Do we dictate to Nature, or does Nature have the first and last word? even a dummie knows that answer!