Explanation Of The Tao Te Ching Part Fifty Eight 

“When the country is ruled with a light hand 
The people are simple. 
When the country is ruled with severity, 
The people are cunning. 

Happiness is rooted in misery. 
Misery lurks beneath happiness. 
Who knows what the future holds? 
There is no honesty. 
Honesty becomes dishonest. 
Goodness becomes witchcraft. 
Man’s bewitchment lasts for a long time. 

Therefore the sage is sharp but not cutting, 
Pointed but not piercing, 
Straightforward but not unrestrained, 
Brilliant but not blinding.”

As I said in previous chapters, the more rules and laws we make only makes it worse and confusing. It’s important to govern with a light touch coupled with wisdom. Without too much interference and manipulation people won’t have desires for things they don’t need and won’t need to become cunning and devious to find ways to survive or accumulate things they don’t need.

We can’t have happiness without there being misery. Desire detaches us from the present and gives anxiety for the future. Honesty can only exist with dishonesty as its roots in the same way that goodness becomes a societal ‘award’ for the accolade of others and becomes a compulsive and bewitching road forward.

Therefore the right balance is important, each energy can negate the other and create a way that is neither one thing or the other, opening that important portal to the infinite ‘way‘ that we can yield into and float in harmony with nature.