55

“Whoever is filled with Virtue is like a new-born child.

Wasps and scorpions will not sting it; snakes and serpents will not bite it; wild animals will not attack it; birds of prey will not swoop down on it.

Its bones are soft, its muscles weak, and yet its grip is firm.

It does not know of male and female union and yet its organ stirs; its vital energy is at its height.

It cries throughout the day and yet is never hoarse; its harmony is at its height.

To know harmony is to know the eternal.

To know the eternal is to know enlightenment.

To speed the growth of life is an omen of disaster; to control the breath by will-power is to overstrain it; to grow too much is to decay.

All this is against the Dao and whatever is against the Dao soon dies.”

– Translated by Tom Chilcott, 2005, Chapter 55

Photo by Rose McEntire 2015