Translation

Do without doing,
Be involved without being involved.
Taste without tasting.
Make the great small and the many few,
Respond to resentment using kindness.
Plan difficulty from its easy.
Do the great from its small.
All difficulties under heaven must arise from the easy
All that is great under heaven must arise from the small
Accordingly, the wise man, in the end, doesn’t support greatness,
For this reason he is able to accomplish greatness.
The man that lightly promises, certainly few trust.
The excessively easy, certainly excessively difficult.
Accordingly, the wise man, akin of difficulty,
For this reason, in the end, without difficulty.

do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) nothing (without; not) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support),

matter (affair; thing; involvement) nothing (without; not) matter (affair; thing; involvement) ,

taste (flavor; smell; interest) nothing (without; not) taste (flavor; smell; interest).

big (large; great; major) small (little; petty; minor) many (much; more; excessive; too much) few (little, lack),

report (announce; newspaper) resentment (blame; complain) use (take; so as to_and; as well as) virtue (moral character; kindness, heart).

picture (drawing; plan; attempt; intent) hard to come by (rare) at (in) his (its; their; they; that) easy (amiable),

do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) big (large; great; major) at (in) his (its; their; they; that) thin (in small particles; fine; careful).

land under heaven difficult (hard; troublesome; put sb. into a difficult position) matter (affair; thing; involvement) certainly (must) do (make; rise; get up; write; compose; become) at (in) easy (amiable).

land under heaven big (large; great; major) matter (affair; thing; involvement) certainly (must) do (make; rise; get up; write; compose; become) at (in) thin (in small particles; fine; careful).

<grm> is (<formal> this; that) use (take; according to_and; as well as) sage (wise man) end (death; eventually; after all; whole; all) no (not) stand for (<prep> support: for object, cause or purpose) big (large; great; major),

reason (cause; on purpose; hence) can (be able to) accomplish (become; result) his (its; their; they; that) big (large; great; major)?

husband (man) light (softly) promise (yes) certainly (must) few (scant; tasteless; widowed) true (trust; faith; believe).

much (more; too many; excessive) easy (amiable) certainly (must) much (more; too many; excessive) difficult (hard; troublesome; put sb. into a difficult position)?

<grm> is (<formal> this; that) use (take; according to_and; as well as) sage (wise man) just as (like; still; as if) difficult (hard; troublesome; put sb. into a difficult position)

reason (cause; on purpose; hence) end (death; eventually; after all; whole; all) nothing (without; not) difficult (hard; troublesome; put sb. into a difficult position) already (indeed; really; how).

Original

为无为，
事无事，
味无味。
大小多少，
报怨以德。
图难于其易，
为大于其细。
天下难事必作于易。
天下大事必作于细。
是以圣人
终不为大，
故能成其大。
夫轻诺必寡信。
多易必多难。
是以圣人
犹难之，
故终无难矣。

Commentary, February 2011

I see various ways to consider the idea of Doing that which consists in taking no action; and Laying plans for the accomplishment of the difficult. At first glance they may even seem contradictory—apparently doing nothing on one hand and yet lay plans on the other. These virtues and do good to him who has done you an injury (respond to resentment using kindness) may also appear to be moral prescriptions. Are they?

I’d say they are, if that is what you want to see. There is more to this than meets the eye though. I find do without doing useful because life usually sorts itself out better when I don’t jump in right away and meddle. This is another way of counseling patience. In action it is timeliness that matters also speaks to patient action that is timed to maximize efficiency (benefit/cost).

Respond to resentment using kindness sure sounds like a moral prescription. Christ echoed this view:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

I find this impossible to pull off sincerely. Feeling resentment is a symptom of foiled expectations. On the other hand, if I know contentment (i.e., have zero expectations) I naturally feel kindness within, and so respond to others kindly. This parallels the Bhagavad Gita:

A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.

We tend to ignore the deeper how’s and why’s, and instead tout moral ideals to fix societal ills. I suspect this is no more effective than the ’snake oil’ remedies of old. We only think they work; history proves otherwise. Only through deeper understanding do we have any hope of fixing pretty much anything. Buddha hit the nail on the head—he fleshed out the basic how’s and why’s (Four Noble Truths) and then proposed Right Understanding as a first step to fixing things. These Truths are utterly clear, yet usually fall on deaf ears⁽¹⁾. Doesn’t this prove that we simply understand what we already know, and we simply know what we already need and fear (desire)? It is all very humbling!

The habit of considering things excessively easy is probably a normal symptom of youthful naïveté. Certainly, youth lacks the experiences that prods the more mature to consider consequences down the road. Not surprisingly, youth can encounter excessively difficult⁽²⁾. As chapter 16 puts it, Woe to him who willfully innovates while ignorant of the constant. Fortunately, as the years go by, wisdom deepen. On the other hand, there are enough old-yet-foolish, and young-yet-wise. Nevertheless, every person grows wiser and more mature as they age, relative to where they started. After all circumstances bring [all of] them to maturity.

Ah, too bad that hard won wisdom has to go the grave with us. Yep, and the next generation gets to learn it all over again. Looking back on things I’ve read, like the Tao Te Ching, I recall how uplifting the spiritual ideals sounded, and I longed to incorporate them in my life. Decades later, rather than incorporating them in me, I am becoming them naturally—It happens to us naturally. There is an important distinction. The spiritual ideas are universal and reflect maturity. The only way one becomes mature is through circumstances and time. The ‘teachings’ don’t teach, they are merely commentary on the experience. They are biographical universals, not models that we can shoehorn our lives into—That is why I know the benefit of resorting to no action. The teaching that uses no words, the benefit of resorting to no action, these are beyond the understanding of all but a very few in the world.

⁽¹⁾ During my years on East Asia I noticed how unaware most Buddhists there were of Buddha’s core view. Of course, the same is true in the West. People obviously prefer the bypath of form and overlook the foundation of function. Again, proofing that our needs and fears (desire) determine what we see (understand)? That’s enough to make anyone who realizes this tentative, as if fording a river in winter!

⁽²⁾ Considering something excessively easy or difficult can often be a projection of one’s own needs and fears, having nothing to do with age. Those emotions form our imagined sense of what lies down the road.