TAO

Practice not-doing, 
and everything will fall into place. 

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

Colors blind the eye. 
Sounds deafen the ear. 
Flavors numb the taste. 
Thoughts weaken the mind. 
Desires wither the heart.

Success is as dangerous as failure. 
Hope is as hollow as fear.

What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure?
Whether you go up the ladder or down it, 
your position is shaky. 
When you stand with your two feet on the ground, 
you will always keep your balance.
What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear? 
Hope and fear are both phantoms 
that arise from thinking of the self. 
When we don't see the self as self, 
what do we have to fear?

Each separate being in the universe 
returns to the common source. 
Returning to the source is serenity.

If you don't trust the people, 
you make them untrustworthy.
The Teacher doesn't talk, he acts. 

Stop thinking, and end your problems. 
What difference between yes and no? 
What difference between success and failure? 
Must you value what others value, 
avoid what others avoid? 
How ridiculous!

Other people are excited, 
as though they were at a parade. 
I alone don't care, 
I alone am expressionless, 
like an infant before it can smile.