Daodejing Part Seven

LYRICS: Heaven lasts, the Earth remains, They seek no joy, they take no gains. They give their gifts, but ask no due, So time itself keeps passing through. Calm they stay, their pulse is mild, Forever old, forever wild. Heaven lasts, for it does not live, Earth endures, for it does not give Only to self — it gives to all, And thus, it never falls. The Sage steps back and walks behind, And still the path will him find. He seeks no crown, he claims no throne, Yet all return to call him home. He holds no self, he fears no loss, His heart as open as the moss. Heaven lasts, for it does not live, Earth endures, for it does not give Only to self — it gives to all, And thus, it never falls. He loves the world, yet none to own, And finds himself through the unknown. The gods will guard, the people praise, For he has gone the selfless ways. By letting go, his soul can stay — In every dawn, in every day. Heaven lasts — its calm will stay, Earth endures — the same soft way. He who forgets himself to see, Becomes the heart of all that be. Heaven lasts, for it does not live, Earth endures, for it does not give Only to self — it gives to all, And thus, it never falls. DAODEJING PART SEVEN Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long Is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure. Therefore the sage puts his own person last, And yet it is found in the foremost place; He treats his person as if it were foreign to him, And yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, That therefore such ends are realised?