Daodejing Chapter 35: grasp the great image

Grasp the great image,
All-under-heaven will come,
Safe from harm,
In peace and tranquillity.
Music and fine food
Entice the passerby to stop.
Words of the Dao,
Are bland and flavourless.
When you look for it,
You cannot see it.
When you listen for it,
You cannot hear it.
But when you use it,
You cannot exhaust it.

「執大象，下下往；往而不害，安平泰。樂與餌，過客止。道之出言，淡兮其無味。視之不足見，聽之不足聞，用之不足既。」

A wise leader who embraces the Dao will win the hearts and minds of the people and make them feel happy and safe. Even though the Dao does not offer people temporary delights and distractions like “music and fine food,” it is the source of permanent tranquillity and contentment. It does not matter that you cannot taste, see, or hear it, because it provides an inexhaustible supply of energy and enlightenment to draw from.

The “great image” refers to the Dao. See Chapter 21, in which Laozi describes the Dao as: “Shadowy and indistinct. Indistinct and shadowy. Within it is an image, Shadowy and indistinct.”

A wise ruler who follows the way will win the hearts of the people and make them feel happy and safe. Even though the way does not offer people temporary delights and distractions like “music and good food”, it is the source of long-term contentment.

Note
I took this image at Longhu (Dragon Tiger) Mountain, a famous Daoist site about ten miles south of Yingtan in Jiangxi Province. A great place to visit!