The Way of the Logos can be translated as The Book of the Way of the Word or The Book of the Word and How It Manifests Itself in Creation or, simply, The Book of the Logos. "Logos" refers to the divine Word made flesh in Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, through whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together.
The Logos is not merely a concept but a living reality—the pattern of perfection, the archetype of the fully realized human being. As Carl Jung discovered through his depth psychology, this archetypal Self toward which we are drawn is identical with the symbolic Christ. The Logos is both the path and the destination, both the truth we seek and the love that transforms us.
Every created thing possesses its own logos—its reason for existing, its qualities, its purpose, its origin, and its ultimate end. When we recognize the logos of each thing—when we treat all creation according to its true nature—the world becomes luminous. Reality reenchants itself.
But humanity faces a fundamental problem. We have forgotten how to see the logos of things. We use people as mere instruments. We treat creation as dead matter to be exploited. We have lost our way in the chaos of infinite possibility, unable to extract habitable order from the overwhelming multiplicity of choices.
The Logos offers the solution. It is the principle by which God extracts order from chaos, the pattern by which fragmented multiplicity resolves into unified meaning. The Logos is truth embedded in love—and love is superordinate.
People often misunderstand the way of the Logos, seeing it as passivity or weakness. But embodying the Logos is the most powerful act possible. The world transforms around those who embody perfection, even partially.
This book follows the structure of the ancient Tao Te Ching but reinterprets its wisdom through the lens of Christian theology. Where Lao-tzu spoke of the Tao, we speak of the Logos. Where he described the Master, we describe the disciple of Christ who has embodied the divine pattern.
As you read, remember: these are not abstract philosophical propositions but phenomenological descriptions of lived reality. When you orient yourself toward the highest good, you will experience it as "appropriate significance"—a sense that you are exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you should be doing.
The Logos that can be spoken is not the eternal Logos.
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Thinking and perceiving is the origin of particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery of Christ. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. This source is called God.
Whose Word hovers over the face of the deep. Extracting good order out of unformed potential.
This is called the Logos.
When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner, and the upper as the lower and the lower as the upper and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male shall not be male, and the female shall not be female then you will enter the kingdom.
Like a screen on which the movie of two characters facing a landscape appears. From the characters' perspective, he sees a distant landscape.
From the screen's point of view, the inner experience of the characters and the outer experience of the landscape are the same—the screen.
There is no distance between the inner and the outer, the upper and the lower, the male or the female.
There is nothing to the movie other than the screen.
This is the way of the Logos.
See with the eyes of God.
If you overesteem great men, people become powerless. If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal.
The Teacher leads by emptying people's minds of untruths and filling their hearts with the Holy Spirit, by humbling their ambition and strengthening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything they think they know, everything they falsely desire, and creates clarity in those who think that they are wise.
Practice doing not-doing in the way of the Logos, and everything will fall into place.
The Logos is like a wellspring: used but never used up.
It is hidden but always present.
It was with God before the foundation of the world.
The apparent distinction arises only in the dream of form.
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
The Logos extracts order from chaos; it gives birth to both saints and sinners, calling all to redemption.
The Teacher welcomes both the righteous and the wicked, seeing the image of God in each.
The Logos is like a bellows: empty yet infinitely meaningful. The more you seek it, the more you uncover its cosmic pattern; the more you embody it, the more the world transforms around you.
Hold to the center.
Abide in Christ.
The world is not a flat, neutral space; it is hierarchical, full of patterns of ascent and descent, union and division, light and darkness.
The Logos is called the pattern of self-emptying love: empty yet inexhaustible, it gives birth to infinite worlds.
It is always present within you. You can embody it right now.
Aim high and speak truth.
Find your faith in good aim and true speech.
Incarnate this pattern as deeply as possible.
The Logos is infinite, eternal. Why is it eternal? It was never born; thus it can never die.
Why is it infinite? It has no desires for itself; thus it is present for all beings.
The Teacher stays behind; that is why he is ahead. He is highly involved and detached from all things; that is why he is one with them.
Because he has lost his life for the sake of the Logos, he has found it.
Love is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it is like the Logos.
In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple truth. In conflict, be merciful and generous.
In governing, seek justice and don't try to control. In work, embody your logos.
In family life, be completely present.
When you recognize the logos of each thing and treat it according to its true nature, everybody will respect you.
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.
Seek His kingdom and righteousness and all these other things will be given to you. The only path to the Logos.
Can you coax your spirit from its wandering and keep to the primal unity in Christ? Can you let your body become supple as a newborn child's? Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light?
Can you love people and lead them without imposing your will? Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting the Holy Spirit guide? Can you surrender your ego to the cross and thus understand all things?
Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, speaking truth with no agenda, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.
This is embodying the Logos.
We join beams together to build a church, but it is the center space that makes it sacred. We shape clay into a chalice, but it is the emptiness inside that holds the wine of communion. We hammer planks for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.
We work with form, but spaciousness is what we use.
Each thing has its logos— its purpose, its reason for being. Honor the logos of all things.
Colors blind the eye. Sounds deafen the ear. Flavors numb the taste. Thoughts weaken the mind. Desires wither the heart.
The Teacher observes the world but trusts his inner vision. Being in the world but not of it, He allows things to come and go, recognizing the logos in each. His heart is open as the sky.
Success is as dangerous as failure. Control is as hollow as fear.
What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure? Whether you go up the ladder or down it, your position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground, oriented toward the Logos, you will always keep your balance.
What does it mean that control is as hollow as fear? Control and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, when we see ourselves in Christ, what do we have to fear?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
See the world as God sees it. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as your self; then you can care for all things according to the Logos.
Look, and it can't be seen. Listen, and it can't be heard. Reach, and it can't be grasped.
Seamless, unnamable, it returns to the realm of knowing.
The formless behind all forms, image without an image, subtle, beyond all conception.
Approach it and there is no beginning; follow it and there is no end.
You can't know it, but you can be it, embodied in your own life. Just realize where you come from: this is the essence of wisdom.
The ancient saints were profound and subtle. Their wisdom was unfathomable. There is no way to describe it; all we can describe is their appearance.
They were careful as someone crossing an iced-over stream. Alert as a warrior in enemy territory. Courteous as a guest. Fluid as melting ice. Shapable as a block of wood. Receptive as a valley. Clear as a glass of water.
Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain alert and unmoving till the right action arises by itself?
The Teacher doesn't seek fulfillment. Not seeking, not expecting, he is present, and can welcome all things.
He seeks the Kingdom in all situations.
Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace in God.
Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return. Each apparent being in the universe returns to the common source
Returning to the source is serenity. If you don't realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.
Immersed in the wonder of the Logos, you can deal with whatever life brings you, and when death comes, you are ready— prepared for resurrection and new creation.
When the Teacher governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists. Next best is a leader who is loved. Next, one who is feared. The worst is one who is despised.
If you don't trust the people, you make them untrustworthy. If you don't believe in the people, they lose belief in themselves.
The Teacher doesn't talk, he acts. He embodies the Logos. When his work is done, the people say, "Amazing: we did it, all by ourselves!"
The world transforms around those who abide in the eternal now.
When the great Logos is forgotten, sin and rebellion appear. When the body's intelligence declines, cleverness and knowledge step forth. When there is no peace in the family, filial piety begins. When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born.
These are symptoms of disconnection from their purpose.
Throw away false holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier. Throw away self-righteous morality and justice, and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit as ultimate goods, and there won't be any thieves.
If these three aren't enough, just stay at the center and embody the Logos: recognize the purpose and nature of all things, treat everything according to its logos, and let all things take their course.
Stop thinking, and end your problems.
What difference is there between yes and no?
What difference is there between success and failure?
Must you value what others value, avoid what others avoid? How ridiculous!
Other people are excited, as though they were at a parade.
I alone observe without evaluation.
Other people have what they need; I am alone with the great Aloneness.
I alone drift about, like someone without a home, yet homed in heaven.
I am like an idiot, my mind is so empty.
Other people blabber; I alone am silent.
Other people seek knowledge; I alone am still.
Other people worry about the future; I alone don't know.
I am like a wave on the ocean, I blow as aimless as the wind.
I am different from ordinary people.
I am in a state of not knowing.
I am that I abide in the practice of the presence of God.
I draw life from the Logos.
I am that I am.
The Teacher keeps his mind always at one with the Logos; that is what gives him his presence.
The Logos is ungraspable. How can his mind be at one with it? Because he has disidentified from his thinking.
The Logos is unfathomable. How can it make him present? Because he lets it work through him.
Since before time and space were, the Logos is. It is beyond is and is not.
How do I know this is true? I look inside myself and see Christ.
If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn, let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything, give everything up.
The Teacher, by residing in the Logos, sets an example for all beings.
Because he doesn't display himself, people can see his light. Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words.
Because he doesn't know who he is apart from Christ, people recognize themselves in him.
Because he has no goal in mind, everything he does succeeds.
When the ancient Teacher said, "If you want to be given everything, give everything up," they weren't using empty phrases.
Only in being lived by the Logos can you be truly yourself.
Become the burning bush. Set yourself ablaze in the presence of God.
This is the paradox: you must die to live, lose to gain, surrender to conquer.
Express yourself completely, then keep quiet. Be like the forces of nature: when it blows, there is only wind; when it rains, there is only rain; when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.
If you open yourself to the Logos, you are at one with the Logos and you can embody it completely.
If you open yourself to insight, you are at one with insight and you can use it completely. If you open yourself to loss, you are at one with loss and you can accept it completely.
Open yourself to the Logos, then trust your natural responses; and everything will fall into place.
The world will transform around you.
He who stands on tiptoe doesn't stand firm. He who rushes ahead doesn't go far.
He who tries to shine dims his own light. He who defines himself can't know who he really is.
He who has power over others can't empower himself. He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures.
If you want to accord with the Logos, offer your work in love, as unto God.
Recognize the logos in your work, then release it to fulfill its purpose.
There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Spacious. Luminous. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally aware.
It vibrates within itself and creates the universe. I call it the Logos.
It became flesh and dwelt upon us.
It flows through all things, inside and outside, and returns to the origin of all things.
The Logos is great. The universe is great. Earth is great. Humanity is great.
These are the four great powers in the universe.
Humanity follows the earth.
Earth follows the universe.
The universe follows the Logos.
The Logos follows only God.
Each thing has its place in the hierarchy, its logos that connects it to the whole.
The heavy is the root of the light. The unmoved is the source of all movement.
Thus the Teacher travels all day without leaving home.
However splendid the views, he stays serenely in his center, abiding in the presence of God.
Why should the lord of the country flit about like a fool? If you let yourself be blown to and fro, you lose touch with your root. If you let restlessness move you, you lose touch with who you are.
Practice abiding in the presence of the Logos.
A good pilgrim has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is.
Thus the Teacher is available to all people and doesn't reject anyone. He is ready to use all situations and doesn't waste anything. This is called embodying the Logos.
There is no saint without a past.
And no sinner without a future.
If you don't understand this, you will get lost, however intelligent you are. It is the great secret.
He recognizes the logos in all people— even the logos of the criminal points toward God, though distorted by sin.
Be a pattern for the world. If you are a pattern for the world, the Logos will be strong inside you, and there will be nothing you can't do.
Accept the world as it is. If you accept the world, the Logos will be luminous inside you, and you will live from the center.
The world is formed from the void, like utensils from a block of wood. The Teacher knows the utensils, yet keeps to the block— the logos from which all particular forms emerge.
Do you want to improve the world? I don't think it can be done.
The world is sacred. It has its own logos, given by God. It can't be improved by human scheming. 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 Teacher sees things as they are, recognizing the logos in each season, without trying to control them. He lets them go their own way and abides in the practice of the presence of God.
Whoever relies on the Logos in governing men doesn't try to force issues or defeat enemies by force of arms. For every force there is a counterforce. Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.
The Teacher does his job and then stops. He understands that the universe has its own logos, its own purpose, and that trying to dominate events goes against the grain of reality.
Because he believes in himself as embodied in Christ, he doesn't try to convince others. Because he is content with himself, he doesn't need others' approval. Because he accepts himself, the whole world accepts him.
Weapons are the tools of violence; all decent men detest them.
Weapons are the tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint. Love is his highest value.
If the love has been shattered, how can he be content? His enemies are not demons, but image bearers of the One.
He doesn't wish them harm. Nor does he rejoice in victory. How could he rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of himself?
He enters a battle gravely, with sorrow and with great compassion, as if he were attending his own funeral.
The Logos can't be perceived directly. Smaller than an electron, it contains uncountable galaxies.
If powerful men and women could remain centered in the Logos, all things would be in harmony. The world would become a paradise. All people would be at peace, and the law would be written in their hearts.
When you have names and forms, know that they are provisional— particular expressions of the universal Logos. When you have institutions, know where their functions should end.
Knowing when to stop, you can avoid any danger.
All things point to and end in their logos.
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.
Like a character in a movie approaching his death, who suddenly realizes his life is taking place on a screen. In fact, there was nothing to the movie but the screen.
Trust wholeheartedly in the eternal, and you will endure forever.
If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. Each thing has enough when it fulfills its logos.
The great Logos flows everywhere. All things arise from it. It pours itself into its work, yet it makes no claim.
It nourishes infinite worlds, yet it doesn't hold on to them. Since it is merged with all things and hidden in their hearts, it can be called humble.
Since all things vanish into it and it alone endures, it can be called great. It isn't aware of its greatness; thus it is truly great.
The Logos is the purpose in all things.
In it you find pure meaning.
She who is centered in the Logos can go where she wishes, without danger. She perceives the universal harmony, the logos connecting all things, even amid great pain, because she has found peace in her heart.
Everyone who asks receives; and he that seeks shall find; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.
When you use it, it is inexhaustible.
If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand. If you want to get rid of something, you must first allow it to flourish. If you want to take something, you must first allow it to be given.
This is called the subtle perception of the way things are— understanding the logos of each thing.
The soft overcomes the hard. The slow overcomes the fast. Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.
God never does anything, yet through the Logos all things are done.
If powerful men and women could center themselves in it, the whole world would be transformed by itself, in its natural rhythms. People would be content with their simple, everyday lives, in harmony, and free of false desire.
When there is no desire to violate the logos of things, all things are at peace.
The Teacher doesn't try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful. The ordinary man keeps reaching for power; thus he never has enough.
The Teacher does nothing, yet he leaves nothing undone. The ordinary man is always doing things, yet many more are left to be done.
The kind man does something, yet something remains undone. The just man does something and leaves many things to be done. The moral man does something, and when no one responds, he rolls up his sleeves and uses force.
When the Logos is lost, there is chaos.
Therefore, the Teacher concerns himself with the depths and not the surface, with the fruit and not the flower. He dwells in the logos of reality and lets all illusions go.
In harmony with the Logos, the sky is clear and spacious, the earth is solid and full, all creatures flourish together, content with the way they are, each fulfilling its logos, endlessly repeating themselves, endlessly renewed.
When man interferes with the Logos, when he violates the logos of things, the sky becomes filthy, the earth becomes depleted, the equilibrium crumbles, creatures become extinct.
The Teacher views the parts with compassion because he understands the whole. His constant practice is humility. He doesn't glitter like a jewel but lets himself be shaped by the Logos, as rugged and common as a stone.
His death is the salvation of mankind.
Return is the movement of the Logos. Yielding is the way of the Logos.
All things are born through The Word— the formless Logos from which all forms emerge.
When a superior man hears of the Logos, he immediately begins to embody it. When an average man hears of the Logos, he half believes it, half doubts it. When a foolish man hears of the Logos, he laughs out loud.
If he didn't laugh, it wouldn't be the Logos.
Thus it is said: The path into the light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long, true power seems weak, true purity seems tarnished, true steadfastness seems changeable, true clarity seems obscure, the greatest art seems unsophisticated, the greatest love seems indifferent, the greatest wisdom seems childish.
The Logos can't be seen or held. Yet it nourishes and completes all things, giving each its purpose and meaning.
The Logos gives birth to One. One gives birth to Two. Two gives birth to Three. Three gives birth to all things.
All things have their backs to the yin and stand facing the yang. When yin and yang combine, all things achieve harmony— each fulfilling its logos in relation to all others.
Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Teacher makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.
All things form a hierarchy of logos, each thing's purpose connected to the whole.
Like a ladder leading toward the heavens.
The gentlest thing in the world overcomes the hardest thing in the world. That which has no substance enters where there is no space.
This shows the value of non-action— of embodying the Logos rather than forcing outcomes.
Teaching without words, performing without actions, transmuting sin into eternal life, thus defeating death: that is the Teacher's way.
Fame or integrity: which is more important? Money or happiness: which is more valuable? Success or failure: which is more destructive?
If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself.
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, that you are fulfilling your logos, the whole world belongs to you.
True perfection seems imperfect, yet it is perfectly itself. True fullness seems empty, yet it is fully present.
True straightness seems crooked. True wisdom seems foolish. True art seems artless.
The Teacher allows things to happen. She shapes events as they come. She steps out of the way and lets the Logos speak for itself.
She is one with unity and multiplicity. She recognizes and honors the logos in all things.
When a country is in harmony with self-sacrificing love, the factories make trucks and tractors. When a country goes counter to the Logos, warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.
There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself from imagined threats, no greater misfortune than having an enemy.
The order is created from self-sacrificing love is good or very good.
The order created from fear is death and chaos.
Whoever can see through all fear, recognizing the logos even in enemies, will always be safe.
Without opening your door, you can open your heart to the world. Without looking out your window, you can see the essence of the Logos.
The more you know intellectually, the less you understand experientially.
The Teacher arrives without leaving, sees the light without looking, achieves without doing a thing.
He perceives the logos directly, through contemplation rather than analysis.
In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Logos, every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action—doing not-doing.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
This is the practice of the presence of Logos.
This is the triple surrender:
The surrender into God by accepting the now as it appears in the form of what is.
The surrender of surrenderer.
The surrender of the surrendering.
True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It can't be gained by interfering with the logos of things.
The Teacher has no mind of his own. He works with the mind of the people.
He is good to people who are good. He is also good to people who aren't good. This is true goodness— recognizing the image of God in all.
He trusts people who are trustworthy. He also trusts people who aren't trustworthy. This is true trust— believing in the potential of all to fulfill their logos.
The Teacher's mind is like space. People don't understand him. They look to him and wait. He treats them like his own children, seeing the divine seed in each.
The Teacher gives himself up to whatever the moment brings. He knows that he is going to die, and he has nothing left to hold on to: no illusions in his mind, no resistances in his body.
He doesn't think about his actions; they flow from the core of his being— from the Logos. He holds nothing back from life; therefore he is ready for death, and for resurrection beyond death.
Every being in the universe was loved into existence.
The Logos gives birth to all beings, nourishes them, maintains them, cares for them, comforts them, protects them, takes them back to itself, creating without possessing, acting without expecting, guiding without interfering.
That is why love of the Logos is in the very nature of things.
Each thing, following its logos, participates in the love of God.
In the beginning was the Logos. All things issue from it; all things return to it.
To find the origin, trace back the manifestations. When you recognize the children and find the father, you will be free of sorrow.
If you close your mind in judgments and traffic with desires, your heart will be troubled. If you keep your mind from judging and aren't led by the senses, your heart will find peace.
With your eyes see 10,000 things. With your heart see only the One.
Seeing into darkness is clarity. Knowing how to yield is strength. Use your own light and return to the source of light.
This is called the practice of the presence of Logos.
Follow the Logos back to its source.
The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths. Be aware when things are out of balance, when the logos of things is being violated.
Stay centered within the Logos.
When rich speculators prosper while farmers lose their land; when government officials spend money on weapons instead of cures; when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible while the poor have nowhere to turn— all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Logos.
It violates doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with the Logos.
Whoever is planted in the Logos will not be rooted up. Whoever embraces the Logos will not slip away.
His name will be held in honor from generation to generation.
Let the Logos be present in your life and you will become genuine. Let it be present in your family and your family will flourish. Let it be present in your country and your country will be an example to all countries in the world. Let it be present in the universe and the universe will sing.
How do I know this is true? By looking inside myself and seeing Christ— the Logos embodied.
He who is in harmony with the Logos is like a newborn child. Its bones are soft, but its grip is powerful.
It doesn't know about the union of male and female, yet its penis can stand erect, so intense is its vital power. It can scream its head off all day, yet it never becomes hoarse, so complete is its harmony.
The Teacher's power is like this. He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus, he is never disappointed.
He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old.
He is like a child who naturally abides in the Kingdom without trying.
Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know.
Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust.
This is the primal identity— union with the Logos while preserving your distinct personhood.
Be like the Logos. It can't be approached or withdrawn from, benefited or harmed, honored or brought into disgrace.
It gives itself up continually. That is why it endures.
If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Logos. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, aim at the highest Good, speak the truth, and the world will govern itself.
The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. The more weapons you have, the less secure people will be. The more subsidies you have, the less self-reliant people will be.
Therefore the Teacher says: I let go of the law, and people become honest. I let go of economics, and people become prosperous. I let go of religion as mere rules, and people become serene. I let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes common as grass.
When you stop violating the logos of things, they flourish naturally.
If a country is governed with tolerance, the people are comfortable and honest. If a country is governed with repression, the people are depressed and crafty.
When the will to power is in charge, the higher the ideals, the lower the results. Try to make people happy, and you lay the groundwork for misery. Try to make people moral, and you lay the groundwork for vice.
Thus the Teacher is content to serve as an example and not to impose his will. He is pointed, but doesn't pierce. Straightforward, but paradoxical. Radiant, but easy on the eyes.
He embodies the Logos and invites others to seek first the Kingdom.
For governing a country well there is nothing better than moderation.
The mark of a moderate man is freedom from his own ideas. Tolerant like the sky, all-pervading like sunlight, firm like a mountain, supple like a tree in the wind, he has no destination in view and makes use of anything life happens to bring his way.
Nothing is impossible for him. Because he has let go, he can care for the people's welfare as a mother cares for her child.
He recognizes the logos in all situations and responds appropriately.
The student sees only the finite.
The teacher sees only the infinite.
The student looks at the world and sees 10,000 things.
The teacher look sees only the One.
When a country obtains great power, it becomes like the sea: all streams run downward into it. The more powerful it grows, the greater the need for humility.
Humility means trusting the Logos, thus never needing to be defensive.
A great nation is like a great man: When he makes a mistake, he realizes it. Having realized it, he admits it. Having admitted it, he corrects it. He considers those who point out his faults as his most benevolent teachers. He thinks of his enemy as the shadow that he himself casts.
If a nation is centered in the Logos, if it nourishes its own people and doesn't meddle in the affairs of others, it will be a light to all nations in the world.
The world transforms around those who embody perfection, even partially.
The Logos is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge.
Honors can be bought with fine words, respect can be won with good deeds; but the Logos is beyond all value, and no one can achieve it— only embody it.
Thus, when a new leader is chosen, don't offer to help him with your wealth or your expertise. Offer instead to teach him about the Logos— how to recognize the logos in all things.
Why did the ancient Teachers esteem the Logos? Because, being one with the Logos, when you seek, you find; and when you make a mistake, you are forgiven. That is why everybody loves it.
Act without doing; work without effort. Think of the small as large and the few as many.
Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts.
The Teacher never reaches for the great; thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it. She doesn't cling to her own comfort; thus problems are no problem for her.
What is rooted is easy to nourish. What is recent is easy to correct. What is brittle is easy to break. What is small is easy to scatter.
Prevent trouble before it arises. Put things in order before they exist. The giant pine tree grows from a tiny sprout. The journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath your feet.
Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.
Therefore the Teacher takes action by letting things take their course. He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning. He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose.
What he learns is to unlearn. He simply reminds people of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing but the Logos. Thus he can care for all things.
The ancient Teachers didn't try to educate the people, but kindly taught them to not-know— to empty themselves of false ideas so they could perceive the logos directly.
When they think that they know the answers, people are difficult to guide. When they know that they don't know, people can find their own way.
If you want to learn how to govern, avoid being clever or rich. The simplest pattern is the clearest. Content with an ordinary life, you can show all people the way back to their own true nature— their own logos in the Logos.
All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.
If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.
The Teacher is above the people, and no one feels oppressed. She goes ahead of the people, and no one feels manipulated.
The whole world is grateful to her. Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her.
She has emptied herself and become a vessel for the Logos.
The student sees the world out there.
The Teacher sees the world in himself.
The student gets lost in experience.
The Teacher lets experience get lost in him.
Remain at the center.
The best athlete wants his opponent at his best. The best general enters the mind of his enemy. The best businessman serves the communal good. The best leader follows the will of the people.
All of them embody the virtue of non-competition. Not that they don't love to compete, but they do it in the spirit of play. In this they are like children and in harmony with the Logos.
They recognize their enemies as themselves and honor it.
The creative potential within is the image of God.
The creative impulse within is the Logos.
Do you have the courage to obey?
My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice. Yet your intellect will never grasp them, and if you try to practice them without the Spirit, you'll fail.
My teachings are older than the world. How can you grasp their meaning?
If you want to know me, look inside your heart. Look for Christ—the Logos embodied.
Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health.
The Teacher is her own physician. She has healed herself of all knowing. Thus she is truly whole.
She perceives the logos directly, without the filter of concepts.
The Logos can die and resurrect.
Follow the God that knows its way out of a grave.
The Logos is always at ease. It overcomes without competing, answers without speaking a word, arrives without being summoned, accomplishes without a plan.
It created the intelligibility of every macromolecule in your body.
Each thing is held in its proper place by the Logos.
If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you aren't afraid of dying, because you trust in resurrection, there is nothing you can't achieve.
Trying to control the future is like trying to take the master carpenter's place. When you handle the master carpenter's tools, chances are that you'll cut yourself.
Let the Logos shape events. Honor the logos of each situation.
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
The Logos moves over the face of the deep.
It walks on water.
Step out in faith with your attention set upon it.
Follow it and it will transform you.
Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.
This is the logos of nature itself.
As it acts in the world, the Logos is like the bending of a bow. The top is bent downward; the bottom is bent up. It adjusts excess and deficiency so that there is perfect balance.
It takes from what is too much and gives to what isn't enough.
Those who try to control, who use force to protect their power, go against the direction of the Logos. They take from those who don't have enough and give to those who have far too much.
The Teacher can keep giving because there is no end to his wealth. He acts without expectation, succeeds without taking credit, and doesn't think that he is better than anyone else.
He recognizes the logos in all things and helps each fulfill its purpose.
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.
The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice.
Therefore the Teacher remains serene in the midst of sorrow. Evil cannot enter his heart. Because he has given up helping, he is people's greatest help.
True words seem paradoxical.
He sees the logos even in suffering and trusts the pattern.
Failure is an opportunity. If you blame someone else, there is no end to the blame.
Therefore the Teacher fulfills her own obligations and corrects her own mistakes. She does what she needs to do and demands nothing of others.
She recognizes that each person must fulfill their own logos.
You will know them by their fruits
Self-sacrificing love is the pattern that produces good or very good fruit.
The farther away from God a people get the closer they are to God forsakenness
The crucified Logos awaits them there with open arms.
Open your heart and receive Him.
True words aren't eloquent; eloquent words aren't true. Wise men don't need to prove their point; men who need to prove their point aren't wise.
The Teacher has no possessions. The more he does for others, the happier he is. The more he gives to others, the wealthier he is.
The Logos nourishes by not forcing. By not dominating, the Teacher leads.
He serves the will of God without imposing his will.
To the Teacher
The world is known by him
It arises in him
And it is made of him.
He is in everything and everything is in him.
There is only God and his eternal Word.
Knowing is knowing only knowing.
The Logos shrouds itself in time and proclaims itself in eternity.
The universe is the song of the Logos.
And silence is its prayer.
The Logos is the isness of all things and the amness of all selves.
Although there are no things
And there are no selves
There is only the Logos
cloaked in the veil of 10,000 things
When viewed through thinking and perceiving