Chapter Four - Bend to Be Whole, Return to the Root

CHAPTER FOUR

Bend to Be Whole, Return to the Root

(VERSES 22–28)

If you want to be whole, let yourself bend.

If you want to be straight, let yourself be crooked.

If you want to be full, let yourself be empty.

If you want to be renewed, let yourself wear out.

If you want to receive, let go.

This is how the Tao works.
It gives to those who let go.
It fills what’s empty, and empties what’s full.

The sage doesn’t show off, and so they shine.
They don’t defend themselves, and so they’re strong.
They don’t promote themselves, and so they’re noticed.
They don’t brag, and so they last.

Because they don’t fight the world, the world doesn’t fight them.

Speak little.
Stay quiet.
Storms never last, and neither does force.

The Tao stays still, yet moves through everything.

If you live in the Tao, you flow with the Tao.
If you live in virtue, you flow with virtue.
If you live in loss, you flow with loss.

Whatever you align with, that’s what you become.

Those who stand on tiptoe can’t stay balanced.
Those who rush ahead can’t keep up.

Those who show off don’t shine.
Those who talk themselves up don’t grow.
Those who try to control can’t lead.

From the Tao’s point of view, these are extra.
They’re not the Way.
And the Tao has no use for what’s extra.

Before anything had a name, there was something shapeless yet complete.
It came before heaven and earth.
It moves in silence.
It stands on its own.
It doesn’t change, but it gives birth to everything.

You could call it the Mother of the world.
But I call it the Tao.

I don’t know its real name, so I just call it the Way.

If I had to describe it:
It flows like it’s great.
It stretches out.
It reaches far.
It returns home.

The Tao is great.
Heaven is great.
Earth is great.
And the human being can also be great.

In the order of things:
Human follows Earth.
Earth follows Heaven.
Heaven follows the Tao.
The Tao follows what simply is.

Heaviness is the root of lightness.
Stillness is the master of movement.

This is why the wise stay grounded.
Even if they live in palaces, they don’t float above the world.

If you lose your roots, you lose your calm.

If you act without stillness, you’ll end up making a fool of yourself.

The best walkers leave no tracks.
The best speakers don’t stumble.
The best counters don’t need tools.
The best locks don’t use bolts, but can’t be opened.
The best knots use no rope, but can’t be undone.

The sage is generous with people.
They are good to the good, and good to those who aren’t.

Because everyone is part of the Way.

Don’t write off anyone.
Don’t throw out anything.
That’s called inner clarity.

Know what’s strong, but hold to what’s soft, and you become a riverbed.

Know what’s bright, but stay with what’s dim, and you become a guide.

Know what’s high, but stay with what’s low, and you become a valley.

If you hold both sides, you stay whole.
You stay rooted in the source.

This is called returning to uncarved wood.
The state of original simplicity.

Use it wisely, and you can lead.
Use it recklessly, and you’ll break what it holds.