All the world says that my Tao is great, but seems queer, like nothing on earth. But it is just because my Tao is great that it is like nothing on earth! If it were like anything on earth, how small it would have been from the very beginning!
I have Three Treasures, which I hold fast and watch over closely. The first is Mercy. The second is Frugality. The third is Not Daring to Be First in the World.
Because I am merciful, therefore I can be brave. Because I am frugal, therefore I can be generous. Because I dare not be first, therefore I can be the chief of all vessels.
If a man wants to be brave without first being merciful, generous without first being frugal, a leader without first wishing to follow, he is only courting death!
Mercy alone can help you to win a war. Mercy alone can help you to defend your state. For Heaven will come to the rescue of the merciful, and protect him with its Mercy.
(Tao Teh King 67–Wu translation)
All the world says that my Tao is great, but seems queer, like nothing on earth. But it is just because my Tao is great that it is like nothing on earth! If it were like anything on earth, how small it would have been from the very beginning!
Because humanity lives in ignorance the way a fish lives in water, the Tao seems to be a fantasy and folly, even insanity. But it is really the antidote to those things, being not just wisdom but Reality. Those who can only understand matters in the context of this world can only be bewildered at hearing of the Tao.
Many people say: “I don’t see that” when they cannot understand. The Tao is too great to see with earthly eyes. Only that which is small can be seen by those immersed in worldly illusions and ignorance. So if we could see it, it would be small indeed and therefore not really the Tao. The only way to see the Tao is to expand our consciousness far beyond its present boundaries. This is what yoga is all about.
I have Three Treasures, which I hold fast and watch over closely. The first is Mercy. The second is Frugality. The third is Not Daring to Be First in the World.
Because I am merciful, therefore I can be brave. Since there is no violence in the heart of a truly merciful person he is fearless even though keenly aware of danger and of the evil that is in the world and which often prevails. Also, being merciful he knows that he has not sown enmity but only kindness, goodness and mercy. Therefore that is what he shall reap.
Because I am frugal, therefore I can be generous. Since he has kept his resources the wise man has a store from which he can draw to help others. Further, because he is frugal it is not his habit to be extravagant and give more than is needed or practical. Therefore his generosity is genuine and not an inflated show.
Because I dare not be first, therefore I can be the chief of all vessels. The wise man is free from overweening ambition and the need to maintain an inflated position in society. Therefore he is full control of his life and chief of all within it.
If a man wants to be brave without first being merciful, generous without first being frugal, a leader without first wishing to follow, he is only courting death! Disaster alone can follow trying to act virtuously without being oneself grounded in virtue.
Mercy alone can help you to win a war. Mercy alone can help you to defend your state. For Heaven will come to the rescue of the merciful, and protect him with its Mercy. Perhaps Jesus had this passage in mind when he perfectly encapsulated it: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
Next in the Tao Teh King for Awakening: The Virtue of Not-Contending