id="id00099">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.

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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.

When the spring is not used up,
The nine bodily openings[P] are then open [to the flow of Qi].
Then you can span the limits of heaven and earth,
And cover the four seas[Q].

When the center is without doubt or desire,
The outside is without demonic disasters.
Those whose heart/mind is whole and complete in the center :
Their form is whole and complete on the outside,
They do not happen to meet heavenly disasters,
They do not encounter people who cause harm -
We call them sages.

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When people can be properly aligned and still :
Their hair and skin are abundant and smooth,
Their ears and eyes are acute and clear,
Their muscles are supple and their bones are strong.

Then they can support the great circle of heaven,
And walk on the great square of earth.
They are a reflection of great purity,
They see with great clarity.

Respectful* and cautious, they are without error;
Each day they renew their De.
They understand the whole world
Thoroughly out to the four extremes.

They respectfully* develop their fullness;
This is called inner attainment.
However, if they do not return [to their original nature],
This creates errors.

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Always : Dao is
Certainly complete, certainly all-pervasive,
Certainly magnanimous, certainly relaxed,
Certainly hard, certainly strong.

Maintain your virtue and never give up;
To pursue excess disperses and weakens it.
Once you understand the extremes,
Return to Dao and De.

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When your whole and complete heart/mind is in the center,
It can not be hidden or concealed -
It is known in your form's appearance,
It is seen in your skin's color.

When with virtuous Qi you meet people,
They will love you as they would their brothers.
When with wicked Qi you meet people,
They will harm you with their weapons of war.
Because the sound of that which is un-spoken
Travels faster than a clap of thunder.

The form of the heart/mind's Qi
Is brighter than the sun and moon,
More observant than a father or mother.
Rewards are not enough to encourage virtue,
Punishments are not enough to discipline excesses.
Qi's intent is attained, and the world obeys;
The heart/mind's intent becomes settled, and the world listens.

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Because they consolidate[R] Qi like spirits,
The ten thousand creatures are prepared for existence.
Can you consolidate[R] it?
Can you unify it?
Can you foretell bad fortune and good fortune, but without divining?
Can you then stop?
Can you?

How can you never seek it from anyone,
Yet attain it yourself?
Contemplate it, contemplate it, and again repeatedly contemplate it.
Should you contemplate it yet not comprehend it,
Know that ghosts and spirits can comprehend it.
However, it is not comprehended by the power of ghosts and spirits -
But by the utmost of essence's Qi!

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Once the four limbs are properly aligned,
Once blood and Qi are still :
Unify your intent, consolidate[R] your heart/mind;
And the ears and eyes will be restrained
Even though what is remote seems near.

Deep contemplation creates understanding;
Disdain and laxity creates worries;
Cruelty and arrogance creates resentment;
Worries and melancholy create sickness.
Sickness then causes death.

If you contemplate these and do not let go of them,
Inside you will be distressed, outside you will be weak.
Do not neglect[S] to make plans for this,
Or life will leave its dwelling.

Do not eat as if you were starving,
Do not contemplate as if you were indifferent.
When you restrain these appropriately and simultaneously,
That [Dao][T] will naturally arrive.

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Always : at the birth of people -
Heaven produces their essence,
Earth produces their form;
These combine in order to make people.

When these are in harmony then there is life;
No harmony, no life.
Observe the Dao of harmony :
Its essence is not seen,
Its manifestations are not wicked.
When equability and proper alignment completely fill your breast,
And the principles of regulation are in your heart/mind,
This gives long life.

When love and anger lose their proper value,
Then use this plan of action :
Restrain your five desires[U],
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