The Journey of TAO

Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
Nothing can surpass it.

The TAO is like a well:
used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void:
filled with infinite possibilities.

Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.

Open yourself to the TAO,
and then trust your natural responses;
And everything will fall place.

Less and less do you need to force things,
     until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

We make a vessel from a lump of clay;

It is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.

We make doors and windows for a room;

But it is those empty spaces that make the room livable.

Thus, while the tangible has advantages,

It is the intangible that makes it useful.