Poems

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The Poetry of Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, has long

and often been used as an adjunct to psychotherapy, East and West.

Below are some of his more famous poems.

1.

Ways can be told,

But not the lasting way.

Names can be named,

But not the lasting name.

Nameless was the beginning

Of heaven and earth.

Names were the birth

Of the ten thousand things.

Those without desire

Will see its inner core;

Those with desire

Will see its outer face.

Both are simply aspects

Of the same mysterious whole

That has worn different names.

Both are curiosities.

When curiosity is greatest

The gateway to eternity

Opens wide.

7.

Heaven and earth will last forever.

Why must this be so?

They do not live for themselves,

Hence they will always be.

The wise stay behind

And go ahead.

They lose themselves

And find themselves.

They want nothing

And have everything.

20.

I’ve given up learning and ended my worries.

Given up my “yes” and given up my “no.”

How great is the distance between right and wrong?

What nonsense to fear what others fear.

Yet others are all so very happy,

Feasting on the sacrificed ox in the fall,

Climbing up to the tower in the spring,

While I alone drift mutely along

Like a babe who has not learned to smile,

Like a waif without a home.

Others have more than they need,

While I alone have nothing.

What a fool am I! How confused am I!

Other are so very strong,

While I alone am weak.

Others are so very bright,

While I alone am dim.

So I drift along like the waves of the sea,

Like a restless, aimless wind.

Yes, others are teeming with plans and high causes,

While I alone drift stubbornly on,

Alone in my infantile Way,

Lapping up the milk of the Great Mother.

43.

The softest and the weakest

Overcome the hard and the strong,

And only Nothing finds a place

Where Something takes up space.

And so I think of stillness,

Of being instead of doing,

Of wordless words that few can hear

On this swarming hemisphere.

47.

Would you run outside

To study the earth?

Would you throw your windows wide

To study its birth?

The further you go,

The less you will know.

Know without going.

See without seeking.

Do without doing.

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