beck

The Way Never Interferes
The Way never interferes,
yet through it everything is done.
If leaders would follow the Way,
the world would be reformed of its own accord.
When reformed and desiring to act,
let them be restrained by what is simply natural.
Undefined simplicity is free of desires.
Being free of desires, it is serene;
and the world finds peace of its own accord.

blakney

The Way is always still, at rest ...

The Way is always still, at rest,
And yet does everything that's done.
If then the king and nobles could
Retain its potency for good,
The creatures all would be transformed.

But if, the change once made in them,
They still inclined to do their work,
I should restrain them then
By means of that unique
Original simplicity
Found in the Virgin Block,
Which brings disinterest,
With stillness in its train,
And so, an ordered world.

byrn

The dao never does; it takes no action. Through it everything is done, yet there's nothing left undone.
If good kings and barons would master some fit dao and keep it, all things in the world should transform spontaneously.
When reformed and rising to action, let all influenced be restrained by the blankness of the unnamed, the nameless pristine simplicity. Yes, if after being transformed they should desire to act, someone has to restrain them with simplicity that has no name.

Its an unnamed blankness; it could bring dispassion; As such nameless pristine simplicity is stripped of desire. So to be truly, artfully dispassionate, be free of desires and still. Simple wit and sense is free of desires.

By stripping of desire true [yoga] rest is achieved almost of itself, the whole [body or] empire will be at rest of its own accord. And next the world [perhaps of somebody] could get at peace of its own accord.

feng

Tao abides in non-action,
Yet nothing is left undone.
If kings and lords observed this,
The ten thousand things would develop naturally.
If they still desired to act,
They would return to the simplicity of formless substance.
Without for there is no desire.
Without desire there is.
And in this way all things would be at peace.

ganson

Tao never acts directly;
it activates everything.
If rulers would do likewise,
the world would improve of itself.

But when improving, motives show.
These should be restrained by motiveless Yin.

Motiveless Yin is free of all desire.
Being free of desire is to be serene.
Being serene, the world is at peace.

gnl

Tranquillity
The Way takes no action, but leaves nothing undone.
When you accept this
The world will flourish,
In harmony with nature.

Nature does not possess desire;
Without desire, the heart becomes quiet;
In this manner the whole world is made tranquil.



Part 2

hansen

Non-Deeming Action
Some guide treats lacking deeming-action as a constant
yet everything is deem-acted.
If fief-holding kings could preserve this,
all the natural kinds would come to self transformation.
If they transform and desire to construct,
I will mollify them with the nameless uncarved wood.
Nameless uncarved wood is,
in general also being on the point of lacking desires.
If we use not desiring to get calm,
the social world will be on the point of self-fixing.
Book II
De
virtuosity

legge

The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of
doing it), and so there is nothing which it does not do.

If princes and kings were able to maintain it, all things would of
themselves be transformed by them.

If this transformation became to me an object of desire, I would
express the desire by the nameless simplicity.

Simplicity without a name
Is free from all external aim.
With no desire, at rest and still,
All things go right as of their will.

mccarroll

The Tao never strives,
yet nothing is left undone.
If leaders were able to adhere to it
the ten thousand things would develop
of their own accord.
If after they have developed
they experience desires to strive,
they can bury those desires
under the nameless Uncarved Block.

The nameless Uncarved Block can protect
against desire.
When desires are restrained there will be peace,
and then all under heaven will be at rest.

THE SECOND BOOK: Te (Virtue)

mcdonald

The Tao never acts with force,
yet there is nothing that it can not do.

If rulers could follow the way of the Tao,
then all of creation would willingly follow their example.
If selfish desires were to arise after their transformation,
I would erase them with the power of the Uncarved Block.

By the power of the Uncarved Block,
future generations would lose their selfish desires.
By losing their selfish desires,
the world would naturally settle into peace.

merel

Quieting the Heart

Tao does not act, yet leaves nothing undone.
If the Self understands this
All the things of the World naturally flourish;
Flourishing, they are constrained by Nature.

Nature does not possess desire;
Without desire, the heart becomes quiet,
And so the whole World may be made tranquil.

merel2

Tranquility
The Way takes no action, but leaves nothing undone.
When you accept this
The world will flourish,
In harmony with nature.
Nature does not possess desire;
Without desire, the heart becomes quiet;
In this manner the whole world is made tranquil.

mitchell

The Tao never does anything,
yet through it all things are done.

If powerful men and women
could venter themselves in it,
the whole world would be transformed
by itself, in its natural rhythms.
People would be content
with their simple, everyday lives,
in harmony, and free of desire.

When there is no desire,
all things are at peace.

muller

The Tao is always "not-doing"
Yet there is nothing it doesn't do.
If the ruler is able to embody it
Everything will naturally change.

Being changed, they desire to act.

So I must restrain them, using the nameless "uncarved block (original mind)."

Using the nameless uncarved block
They become desireless.
Desireless, they are tranquil and
All-under-Heaven is naturally settled.

rosenthal

THE EXERCISE OF LEADERSHIP
The way of nature is not contrived,
yet nothing which is required
is left undone.

Observing nature, the wise leader knows this,
and replaces desire with dispassion,
thus saving that energy, otherwise spent,
which has not been wasted away.

The wise leader knows
his actions must be
without the use of forced energy.

He knows that more
is still required,
for he also knows
that he must act
without deliberate intent,
of having no intention.

To act without contrived intent
is to act without contriving,
and is the way of nature,
and so is the way of the Tao.