HARDY PERENNIAL
Old roots nourish fresh flowering.
Ancient ways partner modern ideas.
Timeless wisdom guides timely action.
A rootless plant soon shrivels.
Unfooted buildings totter.
Unsound policies fail.
From hastening ahead, the way is lost.
Resting in Tao, the path becomes clear.
The sage is a navigator.
Old as the stars?
Renewed as dawn.
Fresh as a daisy!
'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' goes some
way towards expressing the concept of 'non-action', an
essential constituent of Tao's philosophy.
'Beware
what you wish for' is another aspect of this, cautioning
against changes which might cause excessive disturbance
or imbalance.
Tao
implies a body of natural principles and tendencies
which are eternal and immutable - though not readily
understandable or explicable!
Developments in harmony with these
tend to progress and flourish, but those in
discord arouse opposition and
become mired in difficulty.