Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
- We begin by using a simile to say that the Tao is like drawing a bow.
- If the arrow is pointed too low, you have to raise the bow to compensate, and vice versa.
- Everything has to be perfectly balanced in order for it to hit its mark.
- The Tao naturally balances everything.
- When something becomes excessive, it reduces it.
- When something is reduced, it fills it up again.
- Unfortunately, people sometimes act against this idea.
- They reward excess with more excess and deficiency with more deficiency.
- You could apply this concept to that whole "rich get richer, while the poor get poorer" idea.
- People who have the Tao give whenever they have an excess of anything.
- And, of course, they never brag about anything they give.
- They give humbly and expect nothing in return.