Wen Tzu - Verse 10, Part II

from Verse Ten

So no weapon is sharper than will, no brigand is greater than yin and yang. The great brigand is concealed in the body and speaks not of good measure; the middling brigand hides in the mountains, the small brigand retreats into the midst of the populace. Therefore it is said that when the people have a lot of cunning and cleverness, then strange things arise in profusion; when an abundance of laws and imperatives are promulgated, there are many thieves and bandits. Get rid of all that, and calamities will not arise. Thus to govern a nation by cunning is detrimental to the nation, not to govern a nation by cunning is beneficial to the nation.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Throughout the writings attributed to the mythic Lao Tzu, we find these references that link together the idea of governing with the concepts of cunning and cleverness. When encountered, we need to remember that the text is addressing two levels simultaneously: the collective and the individual. The collective, of course, has to do with governing others, while the individual is about how we govern ourselves.

In either case, much of human life concerns attempting to hatch schemes to bypass the flow and rhythms of existence. We try to cheat death, receive without giving, and manipulate others and nature to meet our own selfish ends. While we may see short-term benefits to our actions, the laws of nature always win out in the end.

People who live a life of Tao don't need to waste time and energy scheming to get what is not theirs. When we try to steal what is not ours, we wind up with nothing. When we claim nothing, then everything is ours.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.