Tao Te Ching – Chapter Fifty-Three
Written by Lao-tzu – From a translation by S. Mitchell
The great Way is easy,
yet people prefer the side paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centred within the Tao.
When rich speculators prosper,
while farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money,
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible,
while the poor have nowhere to turn,
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao.
How I Read This Chapter
The Way is simple,
but we so often look for shortcuts,
or distractions.
The world goes off course,
when it chases profit over people,
when it forgets balance and care.
The same happens within me,
when I drift from what matters.
To walk with the Tao,
is to return again and again,
to centre,
to simplicity,
to service,
to truth.
What This Means To Me
This chapter reminds me of how often I’ve left the path – even when I knew where it was.
“The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths.” That was me. I knew, deep down, what a good life looked like. What integrity felt like. What truth sounded like. But I constantly veered off. I’d follow whatever promised quick comfort or escape. I’d justify bad decisions, chase approval, drown in distractions. I wasn’t choosing the hard road – I was avoiding the honest one.
Addiction was the ultimate side path. A detour that looked easier, shinier, numbing. But it took me further and further from who I was. I got lost in a maze of noise, resentment, and chaos. And at some point, I forgot that the real Way had ever existed.
Recovery brought me back. Slowly. Gently. It showed me that the Way isn’t about perfection or complexity – it’s about alignment. And the beautiful truth? It is easy. Not in the sense of “effortless,” but in the sense of natural. When I’m honest, when I show up, when I surrender and serve – I feel peace. I don’t have to force it. I just have to stay close to it.
But like the Tao says, I must stay aware when things are out of balance. That’s one of the gifts of sobriety: I can feel imbalance now. I know when I’m overreaching, when I’m letting ego take the wheel, when I’ve drifted from spiritual connection. I used try to push through that dis-ease by numbing it. Now I listen. Because I know imbalance is a signal, not a failure. It’s an invitation to come home.
The second half of this chapter zooms out to the world: When greed is rewarded and the vulnerable are ignored, something has gone wrong. It’s not just about governments and classes – it’s about human priorities. When the strong forget the weak, when the powerful lose compassion, when systems exploit instead of serve – that’s the same imbalance the Tao warns about. And I see the echo of it in myself. When I put self above service, pride above humility, outcome above process – I repeat the same pattern in miniature.
This is why I try to live the Steps in every area of life – not just to stay sober, but to stay awake. Step Ten helps me see when things tilt. Step Eleven brings me back to centre. Step Twelve reminds me why I walk this path at all: not for myself alone, but for others too.
“It is not in keeping with the Tao.” That line is both a warning and a compass. When something feels off – within me or around me – I can pause and ask: Is this in harmony? Is this rooted in love? Is this in keeping with the Way?
If not, I don’t need to shame myself. I just need to return. Because the Way never moved. I did. And the Way is always ready to welcome me back.
