Those who know do not speak;
Those who speak do not know.
Stop up the openings,
Close down the doors,
Rub off the sharp edges.
Unravel all confusion.
Harmonize the light,
Give up contention:
This is called finding the unity of life.
When love and hatred cannot affect you,
Profit and loss cannot touch you,
Praise and blame cannot ruffle you,
You are honored by all the world.
Lao Tzu (c. 604-531 BCE) was a legendary Chinese sage whose collection of verses, the Tao Te Ching, is the basis of Taoism. This passage is published in Easwaran’s spiritual anthologies, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow” and “Timeless Wisdom.” The audio recording is by Eknath Easwaran, who reads earlier translations of two passages by Lao Tzu: “Mother of All Things” and “Finding Unity.”