Line by Line - Verse 60, Lines 2-4

Let the kingdom be governed according to the Tao, and the manes of the departed will not manifest their spiritual energy. It is not that those manes have not that spiritual energy, but it will not be employed to hurt men.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Approach the universe with Tao,
And evil is not powerful,
But its power will not be used to harm others.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Using the Tao to manage the world
Its demons have no power
Not only do its demons have no power
Its gods do not harm people
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

When you're in touch with Tao,
you don't need to worry
about misfortune.
You can't make it go away, of course,
but you can keep it
from harming other people.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

At the time I am writing this post, I have just begun reading The Secret of the Golden Flower (T’ai I Chin Hua Tsung Chih) translated into German by Richard Wilhelm and then translated into English by Cary F. Baynes. In one of the footnotes in the introductory section, Baynes points out that, in Chinese philosophy, the word, demon, doesn't carry the same evil connotation as it does in the western word. It merely refers to the spiritual essence of someone who has died.

If Baynes is correct in his assertion -- he may or may not be -- then these two lines might take on a different tone. If we remove the concept of evil from the equation, these lines simply would denote that the dead cannot harm the living.

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