[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Antagon

Thanks for the recommendation.

sure thing. you want to "think small" and that book contains passages like this:

3

If you overesteem great men,
people become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.

The Master leads
by emptying people's minds
and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition
and toughening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything
they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion
in those who think that they know.

Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place.

OR

8

The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people disdain.
Thus it is like the Tao.

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don't try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.

When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.

OR

9

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

(etc.)

===

these are modern translations i found on a university website. can't tell you how accurate they are, though they read "easy". the versions i've read before are a bit less on the nose, more metaphorica. probably best to find a scholarly/well-annotated one. the book is ancient, the language archaic, and the meaning hidden in symbolism, so it requires a big leap (even for modern chinese people)-- but it does challenge the "western" striving/goal oriented/individualistic/perpetually unsatisfied mind. so maybe you'll spot something useful there.

there are explanations of taoism flying around, most famously by alan watts, who by some accounts was some sort of sex maniac? or something. anyway, there's that. here's to finding/enjoying.

ps - oh! also chuang-tzu. who can be HILARIOUS.