When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't posses,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.
My interpretation:
When we separate everything we see a world made up of dichotomies and opposites. Our minds then can want to group everything in categories and judge them. When we understand that everything arises from the same source, we can see that everything is connected and interdependent on each other. The Master goes to the silence (source and place of the unchanging) and attaches to nothing in the physical world. This means that Master is in harmony with the source/silence as the script of life is written.
Stephen Mitchell:
"Her actions are appropriate responses. Thus they are effortless. She embodies compassion, yet she doesn't try to be compassionate. She doesn't struggle to make money, yet she enjoys spending it when it comes to her. She goes her own way, yet she accepts help gratefully and has not pride in walking alone. She is not elated by praise, not discouraged by neglect. She doesn't give a moment's thought to right and wrong. She never has to make a decision; decisions arise by themselves. She is like an actress who loves her role. The Tao is writing the script.
The way she buys oranges or ties her shoelaces is a teaching. Her face is more eloquent than any scripture could be.
That is why it lasts forever. Not in time and space, but in quality."
Stephen Mitchell's book on Amazon
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't posses,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.
My interpretation:
When we separate everything we see a world made up of dichotomies and opposites. Our minds then can want to group everything in categories and judge them. When we understand that everything arises from the same source, we can see that everything is connected and interdependent on each other. The Master goes to the silence (source and place of the unchanging) and attaches to nothing in the physical world. This means that Master is in harmony with the source/silence as the script of life is written.
Stephen Mitchell:
"Her actions are appropriate responses. Thus they are effortless. She embodies compassion, yet she doesn't try to be compassionate. She doesn't struggle to make money, yet she enjoys spending it when it comes to her. She goes her own way, yet she accepts help gratefully and has not pride in walking alone. She is not elated by praise, not discouraged by neglect. She doesn't give a moment's thought to right and wrong. She never has to make a decision; decisions arise by themselves. She is like an actress who loves her role. The Tao is writing the script.
The way she buys oranges or ties her shoelaces is a teaching. Her face is more eloquent than any scripture could be.
That is why it lasts forever. Not in time and space, but in quality."
Stephen Mitchell's book on Amazon
