Ideal Individuals

1. Ideal Individuals • Criteria are based on Daoist attitude towards life: • Know the importance of contentment and satisfaction • Do not wish to be full • Do not boast, show off, engage in self-applause, self- aggrandizement • Do not brag of their prowess • Show emptiness • Cultivate Te

2. Know the importance of contentment and satisfaction • Name or person, which is nearer? • Person or property, which is dearer? • Gain or loss, which is drearier [in which is there harm?] • Many loves entail great costs, • Many riches entail heavy losses. • Know contentment and you should not be disgraced; • Know satisfaction and you should not be imperiled; • then you will long endure. (ttc/ddj, 7/44)

3. Those of old who were adept in the Way were subtly profound and mysteriously perceptive, So deep, they could not be recognized Now, because they could not be recognized, One can describe their appearance only with effort: Hesitant, as though crossing a stream in winter; Cautious, as though fearful of their neighbors all around; Solemn, as though guests in someone else’s house; Shrinking, as ice when it melts; Plain, as an unhewn log; Muddled, as turbid waters; Expansive, as a broad valley do not wish to be full

4. If turbid waters are still, • They will gradually become clear; • If something inert is set in motion, • It will gradually come to life • Those who preserved this Way did not wish to be full. • Now, simply because they did not wish to be full, • they could be threadbare and incomplete • [they would regenerate/renew and remain unexhausted]. (ttc/ddj, 59/15)

6. One who does not boast • [He]Who is puffed up cannot stand, • [He]Who is self-absorbed has no distinction, • [He]Who is self-revealing does not shine, • [He]Who is self-assertive has no merit, • [He]Who is self-praising does not last long. • As for the Way, we may say these are • “excess provisions and extra baggage.” • Creation abhors such extravagances. • Therefore, one who aspires to the Way • does not abide in them. (ttc/ddj, 66/24)

7. do not brag • One who assists the ruler of men with the Way • does not use force of arms against all under heaven; • Such a course is likely to boomerang. • A good general fulfills his purpose • And that is all • He does not use force to seize for himself…. • He fulfills his purpose but is not proud; • He fulfills his purpose, but is not boastful; • He fulfills his purpose, but does not brag; • He fulfills his purpose only because he has no other choice. • This is called “fulfilling one’s purpose without using force.” • If something grows old while still in its prime, • This is called “not being in accord with the Way.” • Not being in accord with the Way leads to an early demise. (TTC/ddj, 74/30)

8. show emptiness • Know masculinity, maintain femininity, • and be a ravine for all under heaven. • By being a ravine for all under heaven • Eternal integrity will never desert you. • If eternal integrity never deserts you, • You will return to the state of infancy. • Know you are innocent, remain steadfast when insulted, • and be a valley for all under heaven, • Eternal integrity will suffice. • If eternal integrity suffices, • You will return to the simplicity of the unhewn log. • …. • For great carving does no cutting. (TTC/ddj, 72/28)

9. Empty

10. cultivate Te/De • Cultivated in the person, integrity is true. • Cultivated in the family, integrity is ample. • Cultivated in the village, integrity lasts long. • Cultivated in the state, integrity is abundant. • Cultivated everywhere under heaven, integrity is vast. • Observe other persons through your own person. • Observe other families through your own family. • Observe other villages through your own village. • Observe other states through your own state. • Observe all under heaven through all under heaven. • How do I know the nature of all under heaven? • Through this. • (TTC/ddj, 17/54)