Translation by Sifu John A. Fey
1 as a matter of course
2 if you decide that something is beautiful then something else immediately becomes ugly without you realizing it
3 if you enter a thought shape that dictates the parameters of
what is a condition of health
then the parameters of a condition of unhealthy come forward
4 you create death when you decide what constitutes life
you create difficulties when you create ease you create long when you decide what is short you create a low tone when you sing a high one
5 were you aware of the power of your own lifeforce
6 when looking to the left different tones create harmony
7 whether you are truly clever or merely awake manage your affairs without actions and rely on fluid thinking rather than stagnant thought
8 adapt to conditions that present themselves and remember that specialization is not the useful way
9 continuously create instead of acquiring and enjoy what you create
10 you are important only if it is not important to you
1 MIND: This stanza begins a discussion of the discriminating mind, which is the mind that generates the illusion of our separateness from the wonders of the Tao Source and Way of Life. Lao-tzu recognized that the subtle inner workings of our neurology falsely render our experience of life as something that occurs outside of our bodymind. The phrase "as a matter of course" also implies the inevitability of group-think or consensus reality and how the actions and behaviors of others around you also contribute to this illusion of
separateness.
2-4 HEART and MIND: The Taoist mindset holds that we are active participants in our experience of the world around us, and we must be aware of that fact.
That we enter thoughts and wear them like a coat is o core Taoist belief. These thoughts-as-things shape and change our bodyminds to fit the reality that they represent. They affect us even to the point of reorganizing our biology. This ability is, fundamentally, a creative act in which we don't so much believe what we see as much as we see what we already believe. This result is a differentiated experience of the world in which we look at things through the lens of conflict and opposition. To learn how to step back from this dynamic and witness the inner workings of the bodymind is a core Taoist practice and is fundamental to Taoist meditation.
5.HEART and HAND: Life-force energy, or qi, is the agent of change. The tone of this stanza is questioning. This is a self-reflective meditative technique in which the Taoist sits quietly, asks the question of himself, and bathes in the interrogative.
6. HAND: This refers to the intuition. Engaging the intuitive mind through meditation and learning to hear it is of primary importance to the Cultivator, because it is through the intuition that the Tao speaks to the Taoist. Your intuition must run the show, so to speak, if a harmonious life is to be led.
7. BODY and HAND: "Truly clever" refers to the intellect while "merely awake" refers to the illuminated mind. To manage without actions is, among other things, an injunction to avoid purposefully imposing too many rules on one's behavior.
8.BODY: Live a relaxed lifestyle that changes and adapts to whatever life throws at you. Specialization in this case refers to becoming habitual in only one way of living and reacting to life. 9.BODY: These are Taoist life instructions.
10.MIND: Regard all Taoist cultivation as the single most important thing in the universe your very survival depends on it-while at the same time holding it casually, almost to the point of disregarding it altogether.