The Sacred Chao Te Ching

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

A suggestion for illustration, if that's the road you decide to go down:

Art Brut style—use a traditional medium BUT strictly use your non-dominant hand to create it, giving it a loose, childlike quality.


If you decide to forgo illustration, I highly recommend reading at least the first half of "The Elements of Typographic Style" by Robert Bringhurst.

Also, if you had to choose three adjectives that will come through in the aesthetic of the book what would they be? Once you nail these down, the graphic design becomes much easier to discuss and evaluate your efforts against.


Another thing to keep in mind is that the CTC has a Creative Commons license. Should anyone be displeased with how someone put the book together, you can make your own damn version provided you respect the details of the license.

[LMNO]

Incidentally,  these are my favorite chapters:

Chapter 2
When the people of the world all know Order as Order,
there arises the recognition of Disorder.
When they know there is such a thing as Illusion,
there arises the idea of Reality.

Therefore Order and Disorder produce each other,
Reality and Illusion trick each other,
Authority and Freedom define each other,
Love and Hate fuck each other.

So the wise spags look for balance,
and stick their wrench into the Machine™.

They organize, but they do not Order.
They break apart, but they do not Disorder.
They act, but they Keep Their Fucking Mouths Shut.
And so are able to act again.

Chapter 12
What is Seen distracts from what Is Not;
What is Heard diverts from what Can Not;
What is Believed subverts what Should Not.
The Cell walls we have built
comfort us into ignorance.

But the wise spag does not confuse the meal with the menu,
nor the map with the territory;
Both are approximations.

Chapter 14
We cannot see it, for it blinds us.
We cannot hear it, for it deafens us.
We do not know it exists, for we have built it.

When not seen, we forget it is there.
When not remembered, it binds our choices.
Because it is unnoticed, it is inescapable.
There is neither shape nor form,
but it is as immovable as Iron.

Fight it, and there shall be no victory.
Run from it, and you shall die tired.
So the wise spag moves it,
brick by brick,
and sees a new sunrise every day.

Chapter 17
People who are asleep want Authority to make decisions.
They want an Authority they agree with.
They do not want to be told "no,"
they do not want to be given responsibility.

Authority lacks trust, and will not be trusted.
The wise spag accomplishes their task
and keeps their mouth shut,
so as not to get caught.

Chapter 19
Abandon blind faith and pseudointellectual bullshit,
the people will benefit.
Abandon absolute morality,
the people won't try to kill the Other.
Abandon intellectual copyright,
and there will be nothing to steal.

People will always be distracted by their imagination:
Religion; Territory; Morals; Politics.

Chapter 22
Newton's Third Law is no Illusion:
Each thing contains its opposite.
In Order, there is Disorder.
In Hate, there is Love.
Every human houses a monkey.
Each Machine™ has its self-destruct switch.
Revolutions have Reactionaries as offspring.

So the wise spags stay on their toes,
and avoid labels.
Does not the old saying,
"Think outside the box"
imply that a box exists in the first place?
There is no box.

Chapter 25
There is Something that exists,
beyond the Illusions of Order and Disorder.
It is all things, and unknowable in full.
We only see small parts of It,
but are convinced what we see is the entire Universe.

For lack of a better name, I call It "Chaos".
At dinner parties, I claim It is everything Possible and Impossible.
When asked why not call It "god",
I point out that their head is too fucking small.
Because we create the Illusions in which we live,
we are more creative than Chaos.

Because we believe in the Illusions we create,
our heads are too fucking small.
In this way, we reflect our creations.

Chapter 30
If you're going to do some Covert Ops in the name of Discordia,
keep your head down, and Keep Your Fucking Mouth Shut.
A mowhawk is as good as a target during Police Action.

The wise spags toss a wrench into the Machine™,
and then walk away.
They strike against Authority, but don't put it on the Internet.
They subvert the paradigm, but don't stick around to watch.
They mindfuck the people, but don't pat themselves on the back.

If two people know a thing, it is not a secret.
Getting away with it means staying away from it.

Chapter 33
Those who question others are wise.
Those who questions themselves are enlightened.
Those who revolt against the masses seek attention.
Those who revolt against their own biases are brave.
Those who accept through faith are blind.
Those who reject the unproven are foolish.

Chapter 48
If Order and Disorder are illusions,
then turning one into the other
is simple as changing your mind.*
But we tense our muscles, furrow our brows
and plug away at life.
Meanwhile, our Lady laughs at the silly Cabbages
trying too hard to be spontaneous.


*Please note that changing your mind is not simple.

Chapter 61
A successful cabal is like a dust cloud,
arriving from nowhere,
ungraspable,
and fading into nothingness.
The tallest blade of grass gets cut,
while the crab grass creeps unharmed.
Keep your head down.
Keep your fucking mouth shut.

Thus by concentrating on goals
without playing ego games,
much can be accomplished.
If all you want to do
is brag about how cool you are,
you might want learn to play the guitar, instead.

Chapter 63
Don't impose Order.
Don't escalate Disorder.
Unless the situation demands it, of course.
Learn to sabotage the Machine™ without getting caught.

Walk through the crowd unnoticed,
while slipping firecrackers into their pockets.
Become the faceless walking Glitch
who makes everyone's day just a little bit stranger.

The wise spags don't seek recognition,
and so leave a wake behind them wherever they go.
Being an attention whore
is like a magnet for batons
when the riots start.

Chapter 70
These teachings are stupid.

Especially this chapter. It's probably the dumbest one.

Chapter 80
In a place where information is suppressed
and curiosity stifled,
the people will be uncaring, unwise, and not free.
They will rely on tradition as their guides;
They will not make observations,
or try new things,
or experiment,
or play.
They will be suspicious of outsiders
just as they are with new ideas.
Their minds will be as stagnant
as the pond where they dump their garbage.
They are surely as dead as they can be,
though they still draw breath.

Chapter 81
Words are not experiences.
Experiences have no words.

Reading about Laughter
is not the same as laughing.

These Orderly letters only approximate
the spinning Chaos of life.

The Disorder around you
has yet to find a pattern.

Now get out there
and make something happen.