Lao Tsu #38 Hua Hu Ching

​Thirty-Eight
 
Why scurry about looking for the truth?
It vibrates in every thing and every not-thing, right off
   the tip of your nose.
Can you be still and see it in the mountain? the pine
   tree?  yourself?
 
Don’t imagine that you’ll discover it by accumulating
   more knowledge.
Knowledge creates doubt, and doubt makes you
   ravenous for more knowledge.
You can’t get full eating this way.
The wise person dines on something more subtle:
He eats the understanding that the named was born
   from the unnamed, that all being flows from non-
   being, that the describable world emanates from an
   indescribable source.
He finds this subtle truth inside his own self, and
   becomes completely content.
 
So who can be still and watch the chess game of the
   world?
The foolish are always making impulsive moves, but
   the wise know that victory and defeat are decided by
   something more subtle.
They see that something perfect exists before any move
   is made.
 
This subtle perfection deteriorates when artificial
   actions are taken, so be content not to disturb the
   peace.
Remain quiet.
Discover the harmony in your own being.
Embrace it.
 
If you can do this, you will gain everything, and the
   world will become healthy again.
If you can’t, you will be lost in the shadows forever.