Edge without sharpness,

knot without tangle,

hole without emptiness,

door without opening.

Soft glare.

Clear fog.

Submerged,

indistinct,

motherless,

older than the gods.

The Tao is like a well, empty but inexhaustible, dark, enduring, deep, ancestor of ten thousand things.

However much you use it, you never have to fill it.

However much you use it, you never use it up.

The Tao is like a fertile valley, filled with creativity, Gateway of the Female, roots of Heaven and Earth.

Be one with the Tao.

Act without forcing.

Teach by showing.

Things come let them come.

Things go let them go.

Give birth without possessing, achieve without expecting, create without taking credit, work without needing praise.

Complete your work, then forget it.

Your work lasts forever.

養身 The Nourishment of the Person

Whenever there is beauty there is ugliness.

Whenever there is good there is bad.

Long and short complete each other.

Difficult and easy need each other.

High and low support each other.

Sound and silence fulfill each other.

Front and back follow each other.

Form and space shape each other.

Life and death give birth to each other.

Manifestations and Mystery come from the same source.

體道 Embodying the Tao

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

Unnameable is the essence.

Naming is the beginning of ten thousand particular things.

Named are the manifestations.

Nameless is the Mystery.