What’s most unflawed appears incomplete
Yet it never stops being useful.
What’s most full appears empty
Yet it never peters out.
Great justice seems unjust. 5
Great talent seems inept.
Great speech seems to stammer.
Movement overcomes cold.
Stillness overcomes heat.
Your stillness and clarity 10
Set the standard for the world.
***
NOTES
lines 1 and 3, most unflawed, most full: Dao.
COMMENTARY
Laozi employs the paradoxical perspectives of poems 22 and 41 when he attempts to describe Dao in the opening lines of poem 45. His words are equally applicable to the follower of Dao, who will also appear incomplete and empty yet remain useful and not peter out. So you should be careful not to be taken in by appearances – which is to say, don’t let other people’s evaluations of you interfere with your self-realization. There will always be people ready to say that you are stammering or inept or unjust, but that doesn’t mean you’ve failed at being eloquent or talented or just. You cannot rely on others to locate yourself in these matters – or in any other matters where you are following Dao. You rely on Dao, and you’ll move or be still at the right times and in the right ways.
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 