Explanation Of The Tao Te Ching Part Fifty Seven

“Rule a nation with justice. 
Wage war with surprise moves. 
Become master of the universe without striving. 
How do I know that this is so? 
Because of this! 

The more laws and restrictions there are, 
The poorer people become. 
The sharper men’s weapons, 
The more trouble in the land. 
The more ingenious and clever men are, 
The more strange things happen. 
The more rules and regulations, 
The more thieves and robbers. 

Therefore the sage says: 
I take no action and people are reformed. 
I enjoy peace and people become honest. 
I do nothing and people become rich. 
I have no desires and people return to the good and simple life.”

The beginning of this chapter at first glance would seem at odds with Taoist philosophy but as we look deeper the wisdom arises. This first paragraph is ‘laying out the stall’ and then the rest explains the statement.

Insight and wisdom are indefinable, we know from experience that the more laws we make the more mistakes justice makes and the more confused the public become. We don’t need more laws, we need wise judges.

The more contrived our education and justice systems are, the more we move away from nature and our ‘innate understanding’ of it – and the public look for outward direction from the wrong people instead of honing that inner understanding.

The truth is that we need to be able to see ‘the bottom line’, when we are able to live simply and with humility, in harmony with nature we will never take more than we need and will realise the concept of ‘dependent origination’, peace and contentment are as contagious as violence and unhappiness, by our own thoughts and actions we either spread one or the other.