Dao always uses non-action
Yet nothing is left undone.
When kings and princes maintain it
The ten thousand things evolve naturally.
They evolve yet their thoughts arise. 5
I subdue them with the nameless, the uncarved block.
The nameless, the uncarved block.
Truly
This will free them from their thoughts.
Once they are freed from their thoughts 10
Stillness settles naturally in the world.
***
NOTES
lines 1 and 2: These lines appear in a modified form in poem 48.
lines 6 and 7, the uncarved block: See Introduction section IV.4.
COMMENTARY
Non-action is the explicit topic of poem 37, right from the first line. This principle of spontaneity, discussed in the Introduction section IV.3, can only encourage further spontaneity, and so The ten thousand things evolve naturally; or as Laozi tells us in poem 64, when Sages use non-action, They assist the ten thousand things in being natural. Following the example of namelessness, purity, and simplicity incarnated in the uncarved block, you can step back from your own thoughts, which allows stillness to settle naturally about you. And when you are constant and free of thought, as poem 1 phrases it, you’re doing what Dao does, insofar as it too, according to poem 34, is constant and free of thought.
Links To:
The Classic of Dao and De by Laozi: Contents
For more on Daoism, see:
Film Dreams: Frank Capra
Music: KALW Radio Show #3, Ancient China in 20th-Century Music
Music: SFCR Radio Show #8, Daoism in Western Music, part 1
Music: SFCR Radio Show #9, Daoism in Western Music, part 2
NICOLE V. GAGNÉ 