Tao as a Moral Principle, or 'Virtue'

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter two of the Sayings of L'aotsu by Lautsu, translated
by Lionel Giles. This LibriVox recording is in the public
domain recording by Nemo Tao. As a moral principle or virtue,
the highest goodness is like water, for water is excellent

(00:23):
in benefiting all things, and it does not strive. It
occupies the lowest place, which men abhor, and therefore it
is near a kin to Tao. When your work is
done and fame has been achieved, then retire into the background,
for this is the way of heaven. Those who follow

(00:44):
the way desire not excess, and thus without excess, they
are forever exempt from change. All things alike do their work,
and then we see them subside when they have reached
their bloom. Each returns to its origin. Returning to their
origin means rest or fulfillment of destiny. This perversion is

(01:06):
an eternal law. To know that laws to be enlightened.
Not to know it is misery and calamity. He who
knows the eternal laws liberal minded, Being liberal minded, he
is just being just. He is kingly, being kingly, He
is akin to heaven. Being akin to Heaven, he possesses Tao.

(01:28):
Possessed of Tao, he endures forever. Though his body perish,
yet he suffers no harm. He who acts in accordance
with Tao becomes one with Tao. He who treads the
path of virtue becomes one with virtue. He who pursues
a course of vice becomes one with vice. The man

(01:49):
who is one with Tao Tao is also glad to receive.
The man who is one with virtue virtue is also
glad to receive. The man who is one advice vice
is also glad to receive. He who is self approving
does not shine. He who boast has no merit. He

(02:10):
who exalts himself does not rise high judged. According to Tao,
such conduct is like that of a glutton, an object
of universal disgust. Therefore, one who has Tao will avoid it.
Perfect virtue is unconscious of itself as virtue, and therefore

(02:31):
it is true virtue. Inferior virtue tries not to fall
short of virtue, and therefore it is not virtue at all.
Perfect virtue is inactive, having no need to act. Inferior
virtue acts feeling the need to do so. Perfect charity
operates without the need of anything to evoke it. Perfect

(02:53):
righteousness operates, but needs to be evoked. Perfect propriety operate,
and if there is no response, it resorts to force.
When Tao is lost, virtue appears when virtue is lost.
Charity appears when charity is lost. Righteousness appears when righteousness

(03:15):
is lost. Propriety appears. Propriety is but the veneer of
loyalty and good faith, while oft times the source of disorder.
Forek knowledge is but a showy ornament of Tao, while
oft times the beginning of imbecility. Therefore, the truly great

(03:36):
man takes his stand upon what is solid, and not
upon what is superficial, upon what is real, and not
upon what is ornamental. He rejects the latter in favor
of the former. When the superior scholar hears of Tao,
he diligently practices it. When the average scholar hears of Tao,

(03:57):
he sometimes retains it, sometimes loses it. When the inferior
scholar hears of Tao, he loudly laughs at it. Were
it not thus ridiculed, it would not be worthy of
the name of Tao. He who is enlightened by Tao
seems wrapped in darkness. He who is advanced in Tao
seems to be going back. He who walks smoothly in

(04:20):
Tao seems to be on a rugged path. The man
of highest virtue appears lowly. He who is truly pure
behaves as though he were sullied. He who is virtue
in abundance behaves as though were not enough. He who
is firm and virtue seems like a skulking pretender. He

(04:41):
who is simple and true appears unstable as water. If
Tao prevails on earth, horses will be used for purposes
of agriculture. If Tao does not prevail, war horses will
be bred on the common. If we had sufficient knowledge
to walk in the Great Way, what we should most

(05:02):
fear would be boastful display. The Great Way is very smooth,
but the people love the bypaths, where the palaces are
very splendid. There the fields will be very waste, and
the grainaries very empty. The wearing of gay embroidered robes,
the carrying of sharp swords, fastidiousness and food and drink,

(05:26):
superabundance of property and wealth, the psico of flaunting robbery.
Most assuredly, it is not doo. He who trust to
his abundance of natural virtue is like an infant newly born,
whom venomous reptiles will not sting, Wild beasts will not seize,
birds of prey will not strike. The infant's bones are weak,

(05:49):
its sinews are soft, yet its grasp is firm. All
day long, it will cry without its voice becoming hoarse.
This is because the harmony of its bodily system is perfect.
Temper your sharpness, disentangle your ideas, moderate your brilliancy, live
in harmony with your age. This is being conformity with

(06:10):
the principle of Tao. Such a man is impervious, alike
to favor and disgrace, to benefits and injuries, to honor
in contempt, and therefore he is esteemed above all mankind.
In governing men and in serving heaven, there is nothing
like moderation, For only by moderation can there be an

(06:31):
early return to man's normal state. This early return is
the same as a great storage of virtue. With a
great storage of virtue, there is naught which may not
be achieved. If there is naught which may not be achieved,
then no one will know to what extent this power reaches.
And if no one knows to what extent a man's

(06:52):
power reaches, that man is fit to be the ruler
of a state. Having the secret of rule, His rule
shall endure, setting the tap root deep and making the
spreading roots firm. This is the way to ensure long life.
To the tree, Tao is a sanctuary where all things

(07:14):
find refuge, the good man's priceless treasure, the guardian in
savior of him who is not good. Hence, at the
enthronement of an emperor and the appointment of his three
ducal ministers, though there be some who bear presence of
costly jade and drive chariots with teams of four horses,

(07:34):
that is not so good as sitting still and offering
the gift of this Tao. Why was it that the
men of old esteemed this Tao so highly? Is it
not because it may be daily sought and found and
can remit the sins of the guilty. Hence it is
the most precious thing under heaven. All the world says

(07:55):
that my Tao is great, but unlike other teaching. It
is just because it is great that it appears unlike
other teaching. If it had this likeness long ago, would
its smallness have been known. The skillful philosophers of the
olden time were subtle, spiritual, profound, and penetrating. They were

(08:17):
so deep as to be incomprehensible. Because they are hard
to comprehend, I will endeavor to describe them shrinking. Were
they like one fording a stream in winter? Cautious? Were
they like one who fears an attack from any quarter? Circumspect?
Were they like a stranger guest self effacing like ice

(08:39):
about to melt, Simple like unpolished wood, vacant like a valley,
opaque like muddy water. When terms are made after a
great quarrel, a certain ill feeling is bound to be
left behind. How can this be made good? Therefore, having
entered into an agreement, the sage adheres to his obligations,

(09:02):
but does not exact fulfillment from others. The man who
is virtue attends to the spirit of compact. The man
without virtue attends only to his claims. He who tries
to govern a kingdom by his sagacity is of that
kingdom the despoiler. But he who does not govern by

(09:23):
sagacity is the kingdom's blessing. He who understands these two sayings,
finds in them a pattern and a model. To keep
this pattern constantly in mind is called profound virtue. Profound
virtue is unfathomable, far reaching the reverse of things as
they are, but leading to the perfect conformity of nature

(09:48):
and of Tao as a moral principle or a virtue,