23rd Chapter
To talk little is closer to our true nature and Tao.
Fierce winds do not blow all morning; a downpour of rain does not last all day.
Who designed this? The Creator who created heaven and earth!
The nature of creation is constantly in motion, there is nothing that lasts and doesn’t change.
How can we expect that world affairs would stay the same?
Those who follow Tao, Tao will be with them.
Those who follow virtues, virtues will become part of them.
Those who stray away from Tao and virtues, the light of Tao and virtues will go away from them.

If one abides with Tao, Tao’s pleasure will be his pleasure.
If one abides with virtues, virtues will be within him.
If one loses Tao, he will attract others who have lost Tao.
Those who don’t believe this won’t see the truth.
(Where faithfulness is lacking, there is no faith.)

Implications from the Holy Books

He that giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall, assuredly, be with him; and he that placeth his complete trust in God, God shall, verily, protect him from whatsoever may harm him, and shield him from the wickedness of every evil plotter. ……  Place not thy reliance on thy treasures. Put thy whole confidence in the grace of God, thy Lord. Let Him be thy trust in whatever thou doest, and be of them that have submitted themselves to His Will. Let Him be thy helper and enrich thyself with His treasures, for with Him are the treasuries of the heavens and of the earth. He bestoweth them upon whom He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth them. There is none other God but Him, the All-Possessing, the All-Praised. All are but paupers at the door of His mercy; all are helpless before the revelation of His sovereignty, and beseech His favors. —Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 114

O SON OF MAN!
If thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee. —Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, Arabic 7

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