Tao Te Ching...

verse for today (*):

If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.

The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.

Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
-+-+-+-

Govern a country with upright integrity
Deploy the military with surprise tactics
Take the world with non-interference
How do I know this is so?
With the following:

When there are many restrictions in the world
The people become more impoverished
When people have many sharp weapons
The country becomes more chaotic
When people have many clever tricks
More strange things occur
The more laws are posted
The more robbers and thieves there are

Therefore the sage says:
I take unattached action, and the people transform themselves
I prefer quiet, and the people right themselves
I do not interfere, and the people enrich themselves
I have no desires, and the people simplify themselves

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
-+-+-+-

Rules create rule-breakers.
War creates crimes of war.
Stop.
Laws create lawlessness.
Poverty creates weaponry.
Rank creates discord.
Stop.
One Sage, doing Nothing,
Plants the seed of Peace.
Peace can lead to illumination.
Illumination is Nothingness:
No gain, no loss, Zero.
This heaven, sleeping a Light Sleep,
Waits patiently.
Never having left,
It is experienced when time is Right.
But right time knows no time.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
-+-+-+-

*) The

Tao Te Ching

is a Chinese classic.
It was written around the 6^th century BC by the sage Lao Tzu.
The short text consists of 81 brief chapters, or verses.
Every day we issue a "verse of the day" for contemplation, in two leading English translations, that nevertheless differ substantially, and since December 8^th 2013, we have a radically different third translation:

"Nothingness and Zero"
A Post New-Age Approach to Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, published by courtesy of the translator and interpreter.
© Copyright 2013 Jeremy M. Miller. All rights reserved.
Acknowledgments: The hundreds of prior translations, especially that by Arthur Waley.
To Pythagoras, who understood Zero and taught It; and to Chuang Tzu, the ideal poetic student.

The I Ching is based on the number 2, with its 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 (2⁶) = 64 hexagrams.
The Tao Te Ching is based on the number 3, with its 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 81 chapters.
We now offer it in three translations.
Perhaps, when reflecting on the three interpretations, the true meaning will emerge.
These 81 verses simply rotate; every day the next number, and after 81, number 1 will appear again.
This is done deliberately; if you want to read the complete text, you should purchase the resp. translations by Stephen Mitchell, Derek Lin or Jeremy M. Miller below.
(All three available in Kindle edition as well.)

If you want to have a peek at tomorrow's verse, you can read it at I Ching Online.NET, which is always one day ahead of ICHING.ONLINE.

Tao Te Ching

Stephen Mitchell