The Tao is like an empty bowl, yet it may be used without ever needing to be filled. It is the deep and unfathomable source of the ten thousand things. Blunt the sharpness. Untie the knot. Soften the glare. Settle with the dust. It is hidden deep yet ever present. I do not know whose [...]
Not exalting the talented prevents rivalry. Not valuing goods that are hard to obtain prevents stealing. Not displaying desirable things prevents confusion of the heart. Therefore, the True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire and filling the belly with food, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones. If the people are simple and free from [...]
All under heaven see beauty as beauty only because they also see ugliness. All announce that good is good only because they also denounce what is bad. Therefore, something and nothing give birth to one another Difficult and easy complete one another. Long and short fashion one another. High and low arise from one another. [...]
Today we begin a translation of the Tao by Tolbert McCarroll. Tolbert McCarroll, better known as “Brother Toby” has lived by Meister Eckhart’s adage that what a person acquires in contemplation should be spent in compassion. He is a highly respected spiritual guide for people on many paths and journeys. An award-winning author of nine [...]
[display_podcast] Announcement For those of you who get the Tao of the Day emails, and especially those of you who don’t, the http://www.taooftheday.com website is restarting with a new translation as of Monday. We’ve finished another round of 81 chapters, and it’s time to start over again with #1.¬† Now is the best time to [...]
[display_podcast] Chapter 81 Trustworthy words are not beautiful. Beautiful words are not trustworthy. The knower does not know everything. The know-it-all knows nothing. Kindness is not overindulgent. Overindulgence is not kind. The sage does not collect. As soon as he exists for others, he has more. As soon as he gives to others, he has [...]
