Translation by Sifu John A. Fey
1 this is a warning
2 beware the constraints of looking and ceasing to see
3 the seeds of chaos that were sown
4 by the sons and daughters of the emperors and empresses
5 are buried in the soil
where they can do no harm to your essential
nature
6 you must protect the ancestral treasures
your lifeforce
your essence
your spirit
7 benevolent altruism honest authority observed ceremony the songs of creativity
8 cannot be managed
by any manner of collective intent
9 to govern through the tao way of life is to do so without notice and remain invisible to the world
10 to govern by the tao way of life granting light and sound to the eyes and ears attracts the heartmind and heart spirit of the word
11 to govern through light and sound without the tao way of life engenders the fear of the world
12 to govern by unwise force alone
breeds hatred in the world that nourish the seeds
of chaos
13 having faith in the faithless destroys the heart of man
and they become sleeping automatons driven by
words and labels and words as drugs
14 the method of the true self as original nature is all that is needed to embody to accomplish wonders
1-2 MIND and HEART: "Looking and ceasing to see" describes a mind that is hypnotized by illusion.
3-5 MIND: These stanzas refer to an ancient Chinese creation myth in which the populace was thrown into chaos because it stopped looking at things as they truly were and started to see all sorts of fanciful illusions.
"Buried in the soil" refers to dissolution.
"Looking and ceasing to see," or being hypnotized by an illusion, is endemic in human culture and is a function of our neurology interacting with our universe. But there's no karmic momentum to looking and ceasing to see. Lao-tzu is saying that the sins of the father will not be visited on the son.
6 HAND: Your life-force is called qi. Your essence is ching. Your spirit is shen. These are the three vital forces that combine to make you a living, breathing human being.
7-8 BODY: The life of a human being cannot be run by commitfee. These stanzas are an affirmation of Taoist individualism. "Benevolent altruism" refers to doing good works for the good of the world and the community. "Honest authority" is being resolute and forthright. "Observed ceremony" is ritual. "Songs of creativity" is an archaic reference to all sorts of creative acts. Stanza 8 says that a king, a ruler, a government, or even a religion cannot govern these acts among people. An individual must govern himself.
9-12 BODY and HAND: "To govern" in archaic Taoist language has virtually nothing to do with governing a group of people, a community, a city, or a kingdom. To govern in this case is to govern oneself; to govern one's intellect, one's passions, one's energy, and one's life.
Stanza 9 outlines the best way to govern oneself.
Stanza 10 outlines the second best way to govern yourself.
Stanza 11 outlines a less-than-desirable way to govern oneself.
Stanza 12 outlines the worst way to govern oneself.
13 MIND and BODY: If you have "faith in the faithless," from a Taoist perspective, you become hypnotized into a waking sleep where you are governed by illusions ("words as labels" and "words as drugs").
14 HEART: "The method of the true self as original nature" is the Taoist definition for cultivation.