Chapter 10

Can you coax your mind from its wandering
and keep to the original oneness?
Can you let your body become
supple as a newborn child's?

Buddhism and Taoism would agree that "from the outset, your nature is pure." If there's a "fall," it's after an individual is born. But it's more like coming off of balance, off of the still-point. If we stop resisting, we naturally come back to that still point. Note that this passage precludes any idea that the mere fact of being flesh and blood is itself somehow "bad".

Can you cleanse your inner vision
until you see nothing but the light?
Can you love people and lead them
without imposing your will?

Can we see what's really there, and not what we think should be there? Can we see the light even when things are at their darkest? Can you see people for what they are and provide tasks that they can do naturally and joyfully, without resentment?

Can you deal with the most vital matters
by letting events take their course?
Can you step back from your own mind
and thus understand all things?

Do nothing and nothing is left undone. Can you wait for the empty spaces to show you where to step? Watch your thoughts. Where do they refuse to go? What can you learn there?

Giving birth and nourishing,
having without possessing,
acting with no expectations,
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.

Do what needs to be done. Fill the empty spaces. An expectation leaves an empty space in you; trying to control forces you inside where you cannot see the empty spaces.

Sorry for the break in updates; first a bad cold, then a supremely busy week, and to cap it all off, stomach problems. Hoping to be back to regular posting again now.