THE TAO REQUIRES SOCIALLY RESPONSIBILITY AND SELF-CULTIVATION

Thomas Cleary, trans. & ed., The Way of the World: Readings in Chinese Philosophy (Boston & London: Shambahala, 2009) (From Chapter 1, "Inner Work from Guanzi":"With a dignified mien, / be cautious and respectful, / and vitality will reach stability. / When you attain this / and do not abandon it, / your ears and eyes / will not be promiscuous / and your mind will not have other aims. / With the right attitude inside, / everything is in proportion." Id. at 17. "If you keeping longing for something, / you become inwardly suffocated / and outwardly emaciated. / If you don't figure out / what to do about this soon, / your life will leave its abode." Id. at  20. From Chapter 4, "Purifying the Mind from Guanzi": "Permanent stasis is impossible, / anarchy is impractical; / adapt to changes to decide things, / know the times to formulate measures." Id. at 36. From Chapter 7, ""The Fisherman and the Woodcutter, Shao Yong": "The woodcutter asked the fisherman, 'What people call talent has both benefit and harm--how is that?' The fisherman said, 'Talent is one thing, benefit and harm diverge. There are those whose talents are balanced, and those whose talents are unbalanced. Those whose talents are balanced benefit other people, and this extends to themselves. Those whose talents are imbalanced benefit themselves but harm others in the process.'' Id. at 73. From Chapter 9, "Huang Shi's Slik Text, Zhang Shangying": "Those who work on good plans have no bad events; those who don't think far ahead will have troubles near at hand." Id. at 83. From Chapter 10, "Wenshi's Classic on Reality, Officer Xi": "Don't try to figure out others by your own mind, try to figure them out by their minds. Those who know how to to this can thereby manage affairs, can thereby practice virtue, can thereby consistently keep to the Way, can thereby socialize with others, can thereby forget self." Id. at 107. "It is a universal pattern that if small things aren't controlled they get big, and if big things aren't controlled they get unmanageable. So those who can control a state of mind can thereby develop virtue; those who can forget a state of mind can thereby conform to the Way." Id. at 107. "Don't take small matters lightly; a small gap can sink a ship. Don't take small things lightly; a little poison can kill you. Don't take small people lightly; small people ruin countries." Id. at 115. From the backcover: "The dynamic relationship between the individual and society has been a central concern of Taoism from its ancient beginnings.... This anthology presents a wide range of texts revealing the processes of integrating personal spirituality with social responsibility central to Taoist tradition across the centuries and throughout the schools. There are wealth of approaches to life in the world presented here, but at the heart of each is an understanding that even a mystic must be socially responsible and that self-cultivation is primarily preparation for anyone called to lead.").