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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 16 Arriving at emptiness is reaching an extreme. Guarding what's at neither extreme requires diligence. All living things, side by side, appear suddenly; Resting, as though waiting to return to something. Nature and Dao go round and round, each one reverting to where they began. That is called being quiet and calm. It's correctly described as returning to destiny. Returning to destiny constantly. This knowledge is always obvious. Ignorance of it will always cause recklessness. Recklessness will cause sudden calamities. This knowledge will always allow endurance; Endurance, then equanimity; Equanimity, then sovereignty; Sovereignty, then naturalness; Naturalness, then connection to Dao; Connection to Dao, then the disappearance of the body isn't at jeopardy. Commentary: 16 ~ Destiny -Arriving at emptiness is reaching an extreme. -Guarding what's at neither extreme requires diligence. When confronted with the idea of destiny or fate, it might seem that everything that happens is totally our of our control. We might just want to throw our hands up in the air, empty ourselves of any responsibility and emotions, and become numb observers of life. This kind of attitude is going to an extreme, isn't it? The other extreme that could be taken is to think we have the ability to change anything we want to by denying that destiny or fate exist. Can't there be a happy medium between the two? Being able to recognize the things we can change as opposed to those we can't requires us to take a realistic look at the tools we've been given in life - and learning how to best use them. -All living things, side by side, appear suddenly; -Resting, as though waiting to return to something. We burst forth into this life the same way any other creature does. We each may have different shapes and forms, but essentially we're the same: living creatures who are sustained by our environment. After we're born, we all spend this time together waiting..............for what? -Nature and Dao go round and round, each one reverting to where they began. -That is called being quiet and calm. -It's correctly described as returning to destiny. -Returning to destiny constantly. By observing the natural rotation of the planets and the seasons, we can see that things are always revolving. They usually end up turning full circle and returning repeatedly to where they started. There's a sense of calmness in knowing that without any effort the natural universe progresses. These natural movements can be called Destiny. If a planet went out of orbit, it wouldn't survive. If the seasons didn't change, life wouldn't survive. -This knowledge is always obvious. -Ignorance of it will always cause recklessness. -Recklessness will cause sudden calamities. It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to see that destiny plays a part in all our lives. We may not know WHY something is happening to us, but we usually find a way to adapt. However, if we ignore the hand of cards destiny has dealt us we can cause all sorts of unnatural calamities to occur. For example: If you have bad eyesight and you decide to fly an airplane even though you can't read the dials, you'll probably crash the plane. -This knowledge will always allow endurance; -Endurance, then equanimity; -Equanimity, then sovereignty; -Sovereignty, then naturalness; -Naturalness, then connection to Dao; -Connection to Dao, then the disappearance of the body isn't at jeopardy. So, how can we work with destiny instead of against it? Once we accept that some things will happen to us no matter how careful we might be to avoid them, we can adapt and endure them. Once we see that we're actually able to endure, we don't have such harsh judgments about whether something that happens to us is good or bad. Once we've given up on seeing any occurrence as good or bad, we've taken the drivers seat in our lives by realizing we have the ability to determine what we'll do with what comes our way. Once we've corrected our attitudes, we can move with the natural assurance of the heavens that change so easily from night to day. Once we move like the heavens, we find that we've connected to Dao. From then on the ride becomes easy. By connecting to Dao, we don't have to worry about losing our bodies before our time is up. Dao Is Open Site Map \| BY: Nina \| Guodian Laozi \| DDJ Concordance \| Comparisons \| From the DIO Forum \| BY: Bao Pu \| By: Joshua \| Who was Laozi \| \| Return Home \| Laozi's Dao De Jing \| Your Dao De Jing \| Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) \| Links \| Meditation \| Dao (Tao) is Open Forum \| Book List \| Other Stuff \|