Sacred Books of the East Vol. 40: Taoism Vol. 2

The phrase Thien Zän, which I have translated here 'Heaven-endowed Men,' is common to the three religions of China; but the meaning of it is very different in each. See the Confucian and the Tâoist significations of it in the Khang-hsî Thesaurus, under the phrase. Here it means 'the men possessed by the Tâo;--Tâo-Zän of the highest class.' In a Buddhist treatise the meaning would be 'Ye, devas and men.'} 2. The Heaven-honoured One says, 'Sincerity is the first step towards (the knowledge of) the Tâo; it is by silence that that knowledge is maintained; it is with gentleness that (the Tâo) is employed. The employment of sincerity looks like stupidity; the employment of silence looks like difficulty of utterance; the employment of gentleness looks like want of ability. But having attained to this, you may {p. 267} forget all bodily form; you may forget your personality; you may forget that you are forgetting.'{fr. 2_1} {fn. 2_1. 'All this,' says Lî Hsî-yüeh, 'is the achievement of vacuity, an illustration of the freedom from purpose which is characteristic of the Tâo.' Compare par. 14 in the sixth Book of Kwang-dze.} 3. 'He who has taken the first steps towards (the knowledge of) the Tâo knows where to stop; he who maintains the Tâo in himself knows how to be diligently vigilant; he who employs It knows what is most subtle. 'When one knows what is most subtle, the light of intelligence grows (around him); when he can know how to be diligently vigilant, his sage wisdom becomes complete; when he knows where to stop, he is grandly composed and restful.