Chapter 70 – Tao Te Ching

1. The Verse (Original)

My words are easy to understandand easy to practice.

Yet no one in the worldseems to understand themor practice them.

My words have an ancient root.My actions have an ancient principle.

Because people do not understand this,they do not understand me.

Those who understand me are few.Those who follow me are rare.

Therefore the sagewears coarse clothing on the outsidewhile holding jade within.

2. The Essence — What Laozi Is Actually Saying

Here Laozi speaks with a strange tenderness.

He says:

“What I’m teaching is simple.So simple it looks too ordinary.So simple people overlook it.”

The Tao is not complicated.It’s not esoteric.It’s not hidden behind mystical puzzles.

It’s humble.Direct.Obvious.

But because it asks us to release ego, to soften our grasp, to trust what is natural and unforced —most people walk right past it, assuming something this quiet can’t be powerful.

Laozi isn’t complaining.He’s just naming how rare it isto value the simple, the soft, the ancient, the inward.

Thus the sage appears simple on the outside— “coarse clothing” —but inside holds a treasureas precious as jade.

The true power is not in appearance, but in essence.

3. Modern Clarity — Slow, Rich, Beginner-Friendly Line-by-Line Commentary

“My words are easy to understand and easy to practice.”

Laozi insists the Tao is accessible.Not academic.Not difficult.Not for a special class of seekers.

It asks only for simplicity, humility, softness, and alignment with nature.

But…

“Yet no one in the world seems to understand them or practice them.”

People resist what asks them to let go.People desire control.People crave certainty, intensity, victory, identity.

The Tao feels too plain.Too un-dramatic.Too gentle.

So most miss it entirely.

“My words have an ancient root.”

The Tao isn’t new.It’s older than humanity.Older than language.Older than heaven and earth.

What he teaches echoes the primordial rhythms of existence.

“My actions have an ancient principle.”

He’s not inventing a philosophy.He’s aligning with a cosmic pattern.

A pattern that has always been here —effortless, quiet, steady.

“Because people do not understand this, they do not understand me.”

If one doesn’t sense the Tao,Laozi himself will seem obscure, strange, even contradictory.

Because he teaches through paradox, humility, and softness —forces the world tends to undervalue.

“Those who understand me are few. Those who follow me are rare.”

True seekers are rare.Not because the path is difficult,but because the ego prefers complexityover simplicity.

It prefers drama over quietness.

“Therefore the sage wears coarse clothing on the outside while holding jade within.”

A perfect closing image:

The sage appears plain, humble, ordinary.No special aura.No showiness.Nothing to prove.

But inside —they carry something precious:

clarity, compassion, spaciousness, harmony.

They don’t flaunt it.They simply live it.

4. IFS-Informed Understanding — The Tao Inside the Psyche

A. “Easy to understand” → Self is naturally simple

Self-energy is not complicated.It’s calm, open, compassionate, clear.

But blended parts find this simplicity suspicious:“Where’s the technique?Where’s the control?Where’s the effort?”

B. “Yet no one seems to practice them” → Parts distrust surrender

Managers want mastery and guarantees.Firefighters want immediate relief.Exiles want protection.

The Tao’s softness can feel unsafe to a system used to vigilance.

So inner resistance arises.

C. “Ancient root” → Self is original, foundational

Self isn’t something you create.It’s what you are underneath the layers of protection and pain.

Ancient.Prior.Innate.

D. “Few understand me” → Few stay unblended long enough

Most people live blended with protectors.Self-led presence is rare not because it’s hard,but because the world rewards speed, certainty, performance.

Stillness, humility, surrender —these are misunderstood by parts that fear losing control.

E. “Coarse clothing, jade within” → The humble appearance of Self

Self does not posture.It does not boast.It does not need to seem wise.

But inside it carries the inner jade:clarity, compassion, confidence, connectedness, courage, creativity, curiosity.

The qualities of Self are understated brilliance —nothing flashy, everything precious.

5. A Soft Invitation — Not Therapy, Just Curiosity

• What parts of me seek complexity instead of simplicity?• Which parts distrust soft, quiet solutions?• Can I sense something ancient and steady beneath all my strategies?• What does my “coarse clothing” look like — the simple outer form of my life?• And what is the “jade within” that I hide or forget I have?

6. Closing — The Tao and IFS Share the Same Gate

Both the Tao and IFS speak of a truth so naturalthat it becomes invisible:

The deepest wisdom is simple.The deepest power is quiet.The deepest clarity is already inside you.

Most overlook itbecause it doesn’t shout,doesn’t force,doesn’t dazzle.

Laozi calls it the Tao.IFS calls it Self.

Both traditions say:

What is most preciousis already within you —ancient, humble, luminousas jade hidden beneath coarse cloth.