Sideways Karma

Where there is a bowl filled to the brim,
There is one who wishes for less.
Where there is an over-sharpened blade,
There you will find dullness quickly returns.

Boast of your reward;
And, you will awaken your most deadly foe.
Design for approval;
And, you will abandon the watercourse way.

The Sage allows the path before him to unfold;
Thus, he avoids rushing through the doors of defeat.

When the Sage has finished his work;
He withdraws so that which he has worked can continue.