Chapter XXXVIII
(Chapter 38)

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Ko Yuen Translation

Concerning the Teh
1. Those who possessed perfectly the powers1 did not manifest them, and so they preserved them.  Those who possessed them imperfectly feared to lose them, and so lost them.
2. The former did nothing, nor had need to do.  The latter did, and had need to do.
3. Those who possessed benevolence exercised it, and had need it; so also was it with them who possessed justice.
4. Those who possessed the conventions displayed them; and when men would not agree, they made ready to fight them2.
5. Thus, when the Tao was lost, the Magick Powers appeared; then, by successive degradations, came Benevolence, Justice, Convention.
6. Now convention is the shadow of loyalty and good will, and so the herald of disorder.  Yea, even Understanding is but a Blossom of the Tao, and foreshadoweth Stupidity3.
7. So then the Tao-Man holdeth to Mass, and avoideth Motion; he is attached to the Root, not to the flower.  He leaveth the one, and cleaveth to the other4.

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S. Mitchell Translation
The Master doesn't try to be powerful;
thus he is truly powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;
thus he never has enough.

The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.

The kind man does something,
yet something remains undone.
The just man does something,
and leaves many things to be done.
The moral man does something,
and when no one responds
he rolls up his sleeves and uses force.

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith,
the beginning of chaos.

Therefore the Master concerns himself
with the depths and not the surface,
with the fruit and not the flower.
He has no will of his own.
He dwells in reality,
and lets all illusions go.

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James Legge Translation
1. (Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure).  (Those who) possessed in a lower degree those attributes (sought how) not to lose them, and therefore they did not possess them (in fullest measure).
2. (Those who) possessed in the highest degree those attributes did nothing (with a purpose), and had no need to do anything.  (Those who) possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and had need to be so doing.
3. (Those who) possessed the highest benevolence were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so.  (Those who) possessed the highest righteousness were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had need to be so doing.
4. (Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were (always seeking) to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they bared the arm and marched up to them.
5. Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared; when its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared; when benevolence was lost, righteousness appeared; and when righteousness was lost, the proprieties appeared.
6. Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good faith, and is also the commencement of disorder; swift apprehension is (only) a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity.
7. Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower.  It is thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.

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GNL not Lao

Ritual
Well established hierarchies are not easily uprooted;
Closely held beliefs are not easily released;
So ritual enthralls generation after generation.

Harmony does not care for harmony, and so is naturally attained;
But ritual is intent upon harmony, and so can not attain it.

Harmony neither acts nor reasons;
Love acts, but without reason;
Justice acts to serve reason;
But ritual acts to enforce reason.

When the Way is lost, there remains harmony;
When harmony is lost, there remains love;
When love is lost, there remains justice;
And when justice is lost, there remains ritual.

Ritual is the end of compassion and honesty,
The beginning of confusion;
Belief is a colourful hope or fear,
The beginning of folly.

The sage goes by harmony, not by hope;
He dwells in the fruit, not the flower;
He accepts substance, and ignores abstraction.

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Ko Yuen Commentary
1. Teh.

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2. Teh appears as Chokmah-Binah, Benevolence as Chesed, Justice as Geburah, Convention as Tiphereth.  Thus Kether alone is "safe"; even Chokmah-Binah risks fall unless it keeps Silence.

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3. This repeats the doctrine of the danger of Binah.  The attack on Tipereth is to be regarded as a reference to the "Fall", death of Hiram at high noon, etc. etc.

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4. That is, if his road be towards the Tao.  In our language, he adores Nuit; but the Perfect Man, when he needs to manifest, is on the opposite curve.  Cf. the Book Of Lies; "The Brothers of the A A are Women; the Aspirants to A A are Men."

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