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The Right Thing

Hop on and hold tight. Don't let yourself get left behind.

Save your energy and relax. Let yourself be a newborn child.

Wash away your darkest thoughts. Don't let yourself get upset.

Love your neighbour and lend a hand. Don't let yourself judge.

The universe shifts and slides. Let yourself take it all in.

Clear and bright in every direction, don't even let yourself think about how we're created and compelled to give birth but not to own, to motivate but not mother, to parent but not punish.

This one's called Xuande, the strange case of doing the right thing.

Notes

This is probably a pithy primer on the process and epiphany of Daoist meditation.

has something mystical to do with, "Cosmic gates opening and closing," and is, "Letting yourself be made female."

evokes for me a passage in Wenzi that every corner is lit when superiors defer to subordinates. I'm thinking of it as the clarity of purpose of a common effort.

vs is just unbelievably flexible. If I were to apply its lesson in Dao De natural law to Laozi's water buffalo, he raised her but doesn't own her, he guides her but she doesn't need him, he fattens her but not for slaughter.

Vocabulary

zài zǎi
車 159 + 6
load; carry; transport, convey
yíng cuō
火 86 + 13
encampment, barracks; manage
pò bó
鬼 194 + 5
vigor; body; dark part of moon
bào pāo
手 64 + 5
embrace, hold in arms, enfold
一 1 + 0
one; a, an; alone
néng tái
肉 130 + 6
to be able; can, permitted to; ability
wú mó
火 86 + 8
negative, no, not; lack, have no
lí lì
隹 172 + 11
leave, depart; go away; separate; trigram ☲; hexagram ䷝
丿 4 + 4
interrogative or exclamatory final particle
zhuān tuán
寸 41 + 8
monopolize, take sole possession
qì xì
气 84 + 6
air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit
zhì zhuì
至 133 + 3
send, deliver, present; cause
róu
木 75 + 5
soft; gentle, pliant
yīng yìng
女 38 + 14
baby, infant; bother
ér ní
儿 10 + 6
son, child, oneself; final part
水 85 + 11
wash, cleanse, purify; sweep
chú zhù
阜 170 + 7
eliminate, remove, except
xuán xuàn
玄 95 + 0
deep, profound, abstruse; Kangxi radical 95
lǎn làn
見 147 + 14
look at, inspect; perceive
cī zī
疒 104 + 5
flaw, fault, defect; disease
ài
心 61 + 9
love, be fond of, like
mín
氏 83 + 1
people, subjects, citizens
zhì chí
水 85 + 5
govern, regulate, administer
guó
囗 31 + 8
nation, country, nation-state
zhī zhì
矢 111 + 3
know, perceive, comprehend
tiān
大 37 + 1
sky, heaven; god, celestial
mén
門 169 + 0
gate, door, entrance, opening; Kangxi radical 169
kāi qiān
門 169 + 4
open; initiate, begin, start
門 169 + 10
close; whole, entire; all; leaf
wèi
火 86 + 5
do, handle, govern, act; be
隹 172 + 5
female; feminine; gentle, soft
míng mèng
日 72 + 4
bright, light, brilliant; clear
bái bó
白 106 + 0
white; pure, unblemished; bright
囗 31 + 2
four
dá tà
辵 162 + 9
arrive at, reach; intelligent
shēng
生 100 + 0
life, living, lifetime; birth
zhī zhū
丿 4 + 3
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
chù xù
田 102 + 5
livestock, domestic animals
ér néng
而 126 + 0
and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
bù fǒu
一 1 + 3
no, not; un-; negative prefix
yǒu yòu
月 74 + 2
have, own, possess; exist
shì zhì
心 61 + 6
rely on, presume on, trust to
zhǎng cháng
長 168 + 0
long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
zǎi
宀 40 + 7
to slaughter; to rule
shì tí
日 72 + 5
indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
wèi
言 149 + 9
say, tell; call, name; be called
彳 60 + 12
ethics, morality, virtue