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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 56 One who understands won't be willing to use words; One who uses words won't be willing to understand. Shut off your dissipation. Seal up your door. Harmonize with your brightness. Adapt to the dust in your life. Blunt your sharpness. Untangle your disorder. This is correctly described as the mystery of putting the pieces together. Therefore, What can't be obtained and held closely also can't be obtained and cast off. What can't be obtained and used for profit also can't be obtained and used for harm. What can't be obtained and valued also can't be obtained and cheapened. Therefore every action in the world is precious. Commentary: 56 ~ Meditation and contemplation Very rarely during their busy lives do people take the time out to be alone with themselves. It seems like we're always being called upon to make some decision, give an opinion or tend to tasks that involve using our intellect. Even in moments when we do have time to relax, we feel a compulsion to stay active in some way. We fill our vacation time with activity and spend our quiet moments reading newspapers or watching television. It's no wonder life seems unsettled and frantic. Here are some ideas for meditation and contemplation as well as the benefits that arise from those practices. -One who understands won't be willing to use words; -One who uses words won't be willing to understand. The most intense understandings we discover within ourselves are very hard to communicate to others. When we try to put those feelings into words, we find they're somehow lacking so we might try to elaborate on them to the point that we can eventually confuse even ourselves. Some of the sensations we can experience during quiet times of meditation are really so personal that there's no way to express them. By trying to form those sensations into words it's easy to lose the essence of the messages we received. -Shut off your dissipation. -Seal up your door. When you first start a meditation practice, it might seem that your thoughts are running all over the place. You're not used to NOT thinking, and it seems like a strange and alien thing do do. Gently rein your thoughts back in by telling yourself that there's absolutely nothing you have to do for the time you've allotted for your meditation. You don't have to solve any of those nagging problems you deal with the rest of the time. Close off a little door in your mind to seal out any consciousness of what's going on in the rest of the world. -Harmonize with your brightness. -Adapt to the dust in your life. You'll find a sense of calmness, and along with that peace appears a bright light of reassurance that everything is just as it's meant to be. It's okay to let go of the obstacles and just merge with the glow that's within you. You know that the obstacles and confusion will still be there after you've finished meditating, but don't let that bother you for the time being. If you can truly connect with your own brightness in these moments, you'll be able to carry that glow with you through any trials your daily life might bring. -Blunt your sharpness. -Untangle your disorder. Try to forget all your severe opinions about yourself and others. Let go of the idea that you might know what you or any other person SHOULD be doing, and that you have to be a stern task master. Let everything become soft and blurred rather than harsh and glaring. Release the tension in your body and muscles. As you release that physical tension, you'll find that your mind will release its tension as well. What was once a gnarled mass of tangles eventually becomes more clear and smooth. -This is correctly described as the mystery of putting the pieces together. Meditation isn't a method for escaping from the trials of life, but by softening the harshness of an overly critical and confused mind all the pieces of life seem to fit together more smoothly without jabbing against each other. It's mysterious how that can happen, especially when we've been so used to the idea that we have to work diligently on solving problems. -Therefore, -What can't be obtained and held closely also can't be obtained and cast off. -What can't be obtained and used for profit also can't be obtained and used for harm. -What can't be obtained and valued also can't be obtained and cheapened. As energy and thoughts freely flow in and out of you, there's a realization that there's no need to obtain anything. Meditation doesn't have a goal - it's a process. Whatever experiences you have during meditation don't need to be held on to so tightly that you feel disappointed if you don't have the same experiences during every meditation session. And even those times when you don't feel you've gotten any special messages during meditation, that's no reason to abandon your practices. Sometimes a person might get a sense of power from meditation - opening energy channels can increase sensitivity and psychic abilities. Those powers aren't the goal of meditation and shouldn't be seen as a way to control what happens to you or others. You might feel a sense of superiority with your evolving enlightenment and insights, but that's not something to praise yourself for. Neither is it something to be demeaned. -Therefore every action in the world is precious. What occurs as a gradual process after continuous meditation isn't a seclusion from the rest of the world, but an incredible integration with it. 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