Twenty-Seven


A good walker leaves no tracks.
A good speaker does not slip up.
A good accountant needs no counter.

A good doorsmith uses no bolts or locks,
yet none can open what he closes.
A good binder uses no knots,
yet what he binds cannot be unraveled.

The sage is good at saving souls and rejects no one.
He takes care of all things, and abandons nothing.
This is called “the way of awareness.”

The good man is the ignorant man’s teacher.
The ignorant man is the good man’s lesson.
To not honor the teacher and value the lesson –
no matter how much wisdom one acquires –
is to miss the mark.

This is an essential secret.