Tao te Ching

The Three Treasures

When most people hear
About the Great Integrity,
They say it is useless folly.
Because it is not like anything
In the world we know,
They also find it inconceivable.

On the contrary!
The Great Integrity has given us
Three treasures to cherish:
The first is love.
The second is moderation.
The third is humility.

If you love,
you will be fearless.
If you are moderate,
You might always sense abundance in life.
If you live in humility,
You will be widely trusted.

But you will not have the capacity to love
If you are fearful.
Even worse, if you are fearless
And without love,
You will always be courting disaster.

If you live in insufficiency,
You have no opportunity to be moderate.
If you live in overabundance,
You not only live immoderately,
But are always courting disaster.

If no one trusts you,
Then compensatory ego,
Will preclude humility.
If everyone trusts you,
And you lack humility,
You will always court disaster.

The three treasures
Are practical guides to the Great Integrity.
The greatest foolishness
Is to live without them.

Verse 67
Translator; Ralph Alan Dale
Photo; Stary Night Nebula