Tao te Ching Chapter Eight

Thomas Brill and Brian Parks chatting again.
This week we talked about chapter 8 of the Tao te Ching.

1. The highest good is like water;
2. Water is good at benefiting the ten thousand things and yet it [does not] compete [with them].
3. It dwells in places the masses of people detest,
4. Therefore it is close to the Way.

5. In dwelling, the good thing is the land;
6. In the mind, the good thing is depth;
7. In giving, the good thing is [being like] Heaven;
8. In speaking, the good thing is sincerity;
9. In governing, the good thing is order;
10. In affairs, the good thing is ability;
11. In activity, the good thing is timeliness.

12. It is only because it does not compete, that therefore it is without fault.

Here is a link to the audio file for chapter 8 if you are not using iTunes.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/tao4two/TtCCh8.mp3