The Way Does Nothing, Yet Nothing Is Left Undone
The Text
道常无为而无不为。侯王若能守之，万物将自化。化而欲作，吾将镇之以无名之朴。镇之以无名之朴，夫将不欲。不欲以静，天下将自定。
The way does nothing, yet nothing is left undone. If lords and kings could hold to it, all things would transform of themselves. Transformed and still wanting to stir, I would press them down with the nameless uncarved block. The nameless uncarved block — pressed down, desire would cease. Ceasing in stillness, the world settles of itself.
Reading it
The one-line summary of the whole book. Wu wei is not inaction but the absence of interference with what transforms on its own. The uncarved block is the antidote to the second stir — the surplus wanting that appears after the actual need is met.
全书的一句话总纲。无为不是不动，而是不去干扰那些自己会转化的过程。「无名之朴」是针对第二次起的欲——真正的需要满足之后多出来的那份想。
Find one process already working well around you and leave it completely alone for a week.
找出一个已经运转良好的流程，整整一周完全不去碰它。