Respectfully* empty its dwelling[M],
And essence will naturally arrive.
This essence - consider it and contemplate it,
Rather than study ways to regulate it.
Keeping a serious appearance, and an attitude of awe and respect*,
Essence will arrive and settle.
When you attain it and never let go of it,
Your ears and eyes will be restrained,
Your heart/mind will have no other plans.
With a properly aligned heart/mind located in the center,
The ten thousand creatures attain their proper value.
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Dao fills the world
Every place the citizens are located,
But the citizens can not understand this!
With the liberation of one word[J] :
Your head can observe what is in heaven,
Your lowest extreme is on earth,
And your coils fill the nine provinces.[N]
What does it mean to be liberated by it?
You will reside in a calm heart/mind.
I regulate my heart/mind and my senses are then regulated;
I calm my heart/mind and my senses are then calm.
That which regulates them is the heart/mind!
That which calms them is the heart/mind!
The heart/mind thus contains a heart/mind;
The center of the heart/mind also has a heart/mind!
In that heart/mind of the heart/mind :
Thought thus comes before words;
After thought comes form;
After form comes words;
After words comes manifestation;
After manifestation comes regulation.
Without regulation, there will certainly be confusion;
Confusion, then death.
—————————————————————————————————————
Where essence exists, there is naturally life -
Outside you, calmness flourishes;
It collects inside you, thus acting as a primal spring.
Like a vast lake[O], it is harmonious and equable.
It thus becomes a fountainhead of Qi.
As long as the fountainhead does not dry up,
The four limbs are then strong.