Sunday, December 5, 2021

"Know, learn the spiritual law and apply it. Let the mental dwell on it, and this will bring greater harmony and make the life more worthwhile."   ECRL 2323-1

Diptych 雙聯畫

《道德經第二十二章》

曲則全，枉則直，窪則盈，弊則新，少則得，多則惑。

是以聖人抱一為天下式。

不自見，故明；不自是，故彰；不自伐，故有功；不自矜，故長。

夫唯不爭，故天下莫能與之爭。

古之所謂曲則全者，豈虛言哉！誠全而歸之。

Dao De jing Chapter Twenty-two — C. Ganson

22

Be humble; you will remain yourself.

Be flexible, bend, and you will be straight.

Be ever receptive, and you will be satisfied.

Become tired and weary and you will be renewed.

Have little, you will have enough;

to have abundance is to be troubled.

The truly wise seek Unity, embrace oneness,

and become examples for all the world.

Not revealing themselves, they shine;

not self-righteous, they are distinguished;

not self-centred, they are famous;

not seeking glory, they are leaders.

Because they are not quarrelsome

no one quarrels with them.

Thus it is as the ancients said:

"To yield is to retain Unity."

The truly wise have Unity,

and the world respects them.

Dao De jing Chapter Twenty-two — James Legge

22 (The increase granted to humility)

The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose (desires) are many goes astray.

Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and manifests it to all the world. He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished; from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged; from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority. It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.

That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was not vainly spoken: - all real completion is comprehended under it.

Dao De jing Chapter Twenty-two —  Arthur Waley

22

“To remain whole, be twisted!”

To become straight, let yourself be bent.

To become full, be hollow.

Be tattered, that you may be renewed.

Those that have little, may get more,

Those that have much, are but perplexed.

Therefore the Sage

Clasps the Primal Unity,

Testing by it everything under heaven.

He does not show himself; therefore he sees everywhere.

He does not define himself, therefore he is distinct.

He does not boast of what he will do, therefore he succeeds.

He is not proud of his work, and therefore it endures.

He does not contend,

And for that very reason, no one under heaven can contend with him.

So then we see that the ancient saying “To remain whole, be twisted!” was no idle word;

For true wholeness can only be achieved by return.