Do you want to improve the world?
I don't think it can be done.*

The world is sacred.**
It can't be improved.
If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.
If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.

There is a time for being ahead,
a time for being behind;
a time for being in motion,
a time for being at rest;
a time for being vigorous,
a time for being exhausted;
a time for being safe,
a time for being in danger.

The Master sees things as they are,
without trying to control them.
She lets them go their own way,
and resides at the center of the circle.

^{---
(*) EMILY DICKINSON says:
Who ponders this tremendous scene —
this whole Experiment of Green —
as if it were his own!"
---
(**) HO-SHANG-KUNG [an ancient commentator] says:
"Spiritual things like peace and rest.
They cannot be governed by activity."}

One who desires to take the world
        and act upon it,
I see that it cannot be done.

The world is a spirit vessel
Which cannot be acted upon.*
One who acts on it fails.
One who holds onto it loses.

Therefore things either move forward
        or follow behind;
They blow hot or blow cold;
They are strong or weak;
They get on or they get off.

Therefore the sage gets rid of over-doing,
Gets rid of extravagances,
Gets rid of excesses.

^{---
(*) ELLEN M. CHEN says:
"Not only is the natural world a spirit vessel with a sacred life rhythm coming from Tao, every creature, as the preceding chapter points out, is also a vessel of Tao not to be tampered with by unholy acts of human deseration. Our role is to conserve the earth, not to dominate it or mutilate it."}

Trying to govern the world with force
I see this not succeeding
the world is a spiritual thing
it can't be forced
to force it is to harm it
to control it is to lose it
sometimes things lead
sometimes they follow
sometimes blow hot
sometimes blow cold
sometimes expand
sometimes collapse
therefore the sage avoids extremes
avoids extravagance
avoids excess

(1) yes, this (2) being so (3) sagely (4) people (5) let go (6) much (7) let go (8) extravagance (9) let go (10) affluence

^---

Those that would gain what is under heaven by tampering with it —

I have seen that they do not succeed.

For that which is under heaven is like a holy vessel, dangerous to tamper with.

Those that tamper with it, harm it.

Those that grab at it, lose it.*

For among the creatures of the world some go in front, some follow;

Some blow hot when others would be blowing cold.

Some are feeling vigorous just when others are worn out.

Therefore the Sage “discards the absolute, the all-inclusive, the extreme”.

^{---
(*) URSULA K. LE GUIN says:
"To lose the sense of the sacredness of the world
is a mortal loss. To injure our world by excesses
of greed and ingenuity is to endanger our
own sacredness."}

If someone wants to rule the world, and goes about trying to do so,
I foresee that they will simply not succeed.
The world is a sacred vessel,
and it is not something that can be ruled.
Those who would rule it ruin it;
Those who would control it lose it.

In the way of things:       Some move ahead while others follow behind;       Some breathe to warm themselves while other breathe to cool themselves down;       Some are strong while others are disadvantaged;       Some accumulate while others collapse. It is for this reason that the sages eschew the excessive, the superlative, and the extravagant. ---

(1) if (2) desire (3) to take over (4) heaven (5) below (6) then (7) acting on (8) the same (9) we (10) see (11) it is (12) not (13) obtained (14) so (15) heaven (16) below (17) a spirit (18) vessel (19) not (20) able to be (21) acted upon (22) either