Tao Te Ching · 63 of 81 · tr. James Legge
Chapter 63
(It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting; to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great, and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness. (The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they are easy, and does things that would become great while they are small. All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small. Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest things. He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; he who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult. Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so never has any difficulties.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The Tao is described through negation (without acting, without trouble, without flavor) rather than positive attributes.
All passages →Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The instruction to act without thinking or feeling trouble aligns with the practice of radical letting-go of will and grasping.
All passages →Inner Silencepraxis
The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.
Acting without thinking of acting implies a state of mental stillness and receptivity during conduct.
All passages →Opposites Transcendedanthropology
The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.
The sage transcends binary oppositions by treating injury with kindness and viewing small beginnings as the source of great things.
All passages →Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
[auto] The text relies heavily on paradoxical statements such as acting without acting, considering small as great, and recompensing injury with kindness to convey wisdom.
All passages →Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics
Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.
The warning that he who lightly promises keeps little faith critiques outward actions lacking inner substance.
All passages →Wu Weipraxis
Effortless action aligned with the spontaneous flow of the Dao; non-coercive, non-striving conduct that yields results without forcing — the sage acts without acting.
[auto] The passage explicitly defines the way of the Tao as acting without thinking of acting and conducting affairs without feeling trouble, which is the precise definition of wu wei.
All passages →Related passages · 15 of 16 parallels
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