Hear the Tao in all directions;
Hold fast to Tao and you know the whole world.
See Tao's splendour alone;
You cannot grasp the world beyond this light.
Endless and unspoiled, there is no end.
So can the seeker of the Tao be,
He knows without looking.
other readings further drafts from the same generation
deeper strata where the meaning thins
the original
1. Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes
place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees
the Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), the
less he knows.
2. Therefore the sages got their knowledge without travelling; gave
their (right) names to things without seeing them; and accomplished
their ends without any purpose of doing so.