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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Tao Te Ching · 54 of 81

Chapter 54

What (Tao’s) skilful planter plants Can never be uptorn; What his skilful arms enfold, From him can ne’er be borne. Sons shall bring in lengthening line, Sacrifices to his shrine.

Tao when nursed within one’s self, His vigour will make true; And where the family it rules What riches will accrue! The neighbourhood where it prevails In thriving will abound; And when ’tis seen throughout the state, Good fortune will be found. Employ it the kingdom o’er, And men thrive all around.

In this way the effect will be seen in the person, by the observation of different cases; in the family; in the neighbourhood; in the state; and in the kingdom.

How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thus all under the sky? By this (method of observation).

Asked of Guide

Why does Lao Tzu say cultivating Tao in oneself spreads prosperity outward?

Lao Tzu describes a ripple of effects: when Tao is “nursed within one’s self,” its vigour makes relations, family, neighbourhood, state and kingdom flourish. He treats personal cultivation as a causal root—steady inner Tao produces stable households, then thriving communities, then good fortune for the state.

He supports this by empirical observation: “in this way the effect will be seen” across personal, familial, local and political levels, and he claims knowledge of its universality “By this (method of observation).” This mirrors Chuang Tzu’s image of one who has Tao “like an infant,” whose inner harmony shields and benefits the wider world.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.

Echoes elsewhere

Chuang Tzu · Taoism55. 1. He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tâo) is like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will not seize him; birds of prey will no Cosmic Consciousness · Esotericone takes trouble (with that end) he is not equal to getting as his own all under heaven [166: 90]. He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tâo) is like an infant.*The Sayings of Lao Tzu · Taoismcry without its voice becoming hoarse. This is because the harmony of its bodily system is perfect. Temper your sharpness, disentangle your ideas, moderate your brilliancy, live in Tao, The Great Luminant · Taoismand honour them as such, may be very well; but we have to remember that there is still something But Tao is the vital matter. better, viz:—the ages before the Odes and Annals were