Those who look down upon the world, will surely take hold and try to change things. But this is a plan I've seen fail again and again. The world is the Way's own vessel. It is Perfection manifest. It cannot be changed. It cannot be improved. For those who go on tampering, it's ruined. For those who try to grasp, it's gone. Allow your life to unfold naturally. Know that it too is a vessel of perfection. Just as you breathe in and breathe out, so, sometimes you're ahead and other times behind.
Sometimes you're strong and other times weak. Sometimes you're joined and other times alone. To the Sage, all of life is but a movement toward perfection. So what need has he for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme?
Nothing in this world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for attacking the hard and strong, none can triumph so easily. It is weak, yet none can equal it. It is soft, yet none can damage it. It is yielding, yet none can wear it away. Everyone knows that the soft overcomes the hard and the yielding triumphs over the rigid. Why then so little faith? Why can no one practice it? So the Sages say - "fulfill even the lowest position, love even the weakest creature." Then you will be called "Lord of every offering," "King of all below Heaven."