La vita degli esseri

è simile al galoppo di un cavallo. 
In ogni suo movimento si modifica, 
in ogni suo istante si sposta.
Chiedete quello che dovete fare 
e quello che non dovete fare?
Lasciatevi andare
alle vostre trasformazioni naturali. 

looking for Tao

Knowledge wandered north looking for Tao, over the Dark Sea and up the Invisible Mountain. There on the mountain he met Non-Doing, the Speechless One. He inquired, “Please inform me, Sir, by what system of thought and what technique of meditation I can apprehend Tao? Where must I start, what road must I follow to reach Tao?” Non-Doing, the Speechless One, made no reply. Not only did he not reply, he did not even know how to reply!

Knowledge swung south to the Bright Sea and climbed Luminous Mountain, sometimes called “Doubt’s End”. There he met Act-On-Impulse, the Inspired Prophet, and asked the same questions. “Ah,” cried the Inspired One, “I have the answers, and I will reveal them!” But just as he was about to tell everything, he forgot all he had in mind. Knowledge got no reply.

So Knowledge went at last to the palace of the Emperor Ti, and asked his questions. The Emperor replied, “To exercise no thought and follow no way of meditation is the first step toward understanding Tao. To dwell nowhere and rest in nothing is the first step toward resting in Tao. To start from nowhere and follow no road is the first step toward attaining Tao.”

Knowledge replied, “You know this and now I know it. But the other two, they did not know it. What about that? Who is right?” The Emperor replied, “Only Non-Doing, the Speechless One, was perfectly right. He did not know, or at least, could not reveal what he knew. Act-On-Impulse, the Inspired Prophet, only seemed right because he had forgotten. As for us, we come nowhere near being right, since we have the answers. As the ancients expressed it, ‘For he who knows does not speak, he who speaks does not know.’ and, ‘The Wise Man gives instruction without the use of speech.’

wu-wei

Quando ancora non si era usciti dal caos, gli uomini antichi

erano partecipi della placida indifferenza che permeava tutto il

mondo. A quell'epoca lo yin e lo yang erano armoniosi e calmi, il

loro riposo e il loro movimento non erano disturbati, le quattro

stagioni giungevano a tempo debito, le diecimila creature non erano

danneggiate, gli esseri viventi non morivano prematuramente.

Anche se qualcuno aveva la capacità di conoscere, non la usava

mai. Questo era lo stato della somma unità. A quell'epoca nessuno

agiva, ma tutti seguivano sempre la spontaneità.

XVI 106