Introduction

I found remarkable discrepancies in this verse when cross-comparing the multiple translations and commentaries. I think that has as much to do with trying to force-fit a philosophical instead of practical perspective onto the text as it does the complicated language. There are also multiple allusions that, rendered very literally, make the whole thing sound like gibberish. One of my favorites is “knead the breath and make it soft, can you be like a newborn infant?” A newborn is an allusion to Lead, and Lead is an allusion to Unity before Duality. Clear, right? Another line says, “the heavenly gates open and shut, can it become like a woman?”

… ya, that metaphor didn’t age well. But the teaching it alludes to is exceptionally profound.

Structurally, this verse presents a series of imperatives followed by questions. The result is an elegant step-by-step primer for Daoist meditation.

Perhaps more than any other verse, this demonstrates how Weaving the Way is an instruction manual. Like any other instruction manual, it must be used in conjunction with what it describes: a way of meditative living. Otherwise, half of its meaning is lost.

Translation

Sustain the unity of Yang and Yin,
Can it be separated?

Caress and soften the breath,
   Can it be pure and united?

Wash the profound mirror,
   Can it be spotless?

Love “people” and regulate “nations,”
Can it be effortless?

The flow of sensation,
   Can it be purely received?

Universal comprehending,
  Can it be without a filter?

Give life to all being,
   Give life but do not possess.

Nourish and do not rule,
   This is called “mysterious function.”

Commentary

Sustain the unity of Yang and Yin,
Can it be separated?

The verse opens with the meta-principle of the meditation method – to see into the Dao. Posing the challenge of “sustaining” the unity of yang and yin calls us to contemplate their harmony. In harmonizing the extremes, we see their interdependence. By uncovering their interdependence, we recognize their common source. Seeing the interplay of yang and yin as the natural law of the Dao, we recognize unity consciousness. Within unity consciousness, we realize that yang and yin were never separate and can never be separated.

Such an over-arching purpose frames our experience in a way that sustains practice over time. It also provides a container for any mystical experiences that may arise while inviting us to investigate our reality. Sitting down to look and see, “What is true?” is the essential spirit of any meditation practice.

However, it’s not very practical. It’s like providing a telescope to examine the cosmos but not telling us how to remove the lens caps or focus it on what we want to see. And so the verse continues…

Caress and soften the breath,
Can it be pure and united?

Surprise, surprise—we begin with the breath. What I love about the instructions here is their openness and gentleness. Caress and soften, a loving, easy relaxation into the breath. There’s no need for control, no desire to restrict or manipulate. The most natural breath that can be breathed is called for here. We are invited to love the experience of breathing.

That may sound a bit much, but sitting with my breath has shown me how intensely fascinating it can be. The whole body is involved in a sultry ebb and flow, delicious waves sweeping up and down the spine. Even the skull breathes. At some point we stop thinking about the breath and start purely experiencing it as a unified whole. The entire body relaxes, heavy like Lead and perfectly still. We “empty out” into the Dao.

How purely can we experience the breath? Just how united can we be? This practice brings us exactly right here beautifully, but then what?

Wash the profound mirror,
Can it be spotless?

Suddenly, as we become so ultimately still, there is an illumination—a perfect mirror at the base of our experience within which all conscious experience arises—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, thoughts, and emotions. Everything is reflected in this profound mirror of awareness.

Can we wash this mirror and ensure that we are directly experiencing what is? Is it possible for the reflection to be perfect?

Spoiler alert: Yes!

Awareness only reflects what is. In that reflection, we can see the meaning we add to things. When perfectly relaxed, we notice even the slightest contraction of meaning-making and recognize it as distinct from the object of perception itself. Part of the not-so-secret-secret is that this mirror is already spotless. However, caressing and softening the breath enough so that we aren’t fogging it up requires a legitimate effort.

Once we are familiar with the profound mirror mind, so what? Is that it, check out and watch the world float by? Not according to this verse!

Love “people” and regulate “nations,”
Can it be effortless?

We start noticing all sorts of things as we caress our breath and gaze upon the reflection. There are identities and sub-identities. Whole nations of perceptions interact within the space illuminated in the perfect mirror. As Walt Witman famously said,

“Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”

Wherever we encounter these phenomena, our job is to carry the lightest touch. We see all the ways we’ve been in the past, our habits, our regrets, our fears. All these “people” are us! We must treat them with love. To come into the meditative space without loving each past, present and future identity we hold within dooms us to frustration, pain, and suffering. Yet, within the context of that love is the obligation to regulate. These identity, story, and sensation interactions make up “nations.” These nations require the regulation of a benevolent dictator to remain in harmony. Without such loving strength of will and character, we are easily led astray by the competing factions we hold within.

What is the key to such an effortless approach to our internal experience?

The flow of sensation,
Can it be purely received?

An absolute commitment to radical acceptance and willful surrender. If you come to Open Door Zen with me on Sundays, you’ll recognize these three phrases as the closing instructions during our qigong practice.

Throughout our lives, we develop infinite preferences for and against our experiences. We are just a walking tuning fork, turning away from what we dislike and toward what we like. This persistent judgment is necessary and valuable, but it destroys our sovereignty when conducted unconsciously. We become driven by reactive processes instead of consciously choosing our responses. We cannot lovingly regulate the persons and nations within if we cannot delay our gratification and tolerate our discomfort.

Pure receptivity as the basis for activity is the ultimate foundation for meditative living. Remarkable clarity arises as we deepen and mature in our practice. Spiritual narcissism is an ugly phenomenon—ugly enough that the following lines carry a subtle admonishment to anyone who thinks they “get it.”

Universal comprehending,
Can it be absent of wisdom?

Having softened and emptied our mind to create a perfect mirror, we see the total activity of our consciousness. Through an absolute commitment to radical acceptance and willful surrender, we embody loving strength in harmonizing the multitude of perceptions within. In such a way, sensation flows smoothly through us, and we can respond instead of react. Over time, this manifests as a deep self-knowledge, which translates into profound other-knowledge. From a place of profound clarity, we understand that our comprehension of the world around us is vast.

This direct experience is beyond the intellect and beyond what can be rationally grasped. Not because it can’t be understood or skillfully communicated but because it is so infinitely vast. What is experienced in a moment would take 100,000 words to convey. It’s simply impossible, rationally, to keep up with the stream of immediacy. Yet it is precisely wisdom – not conventional but transcendent.

At the same time, can we experience this without letting it “go to our heads”? Is it possible to remember what was said above? For all our vast awareness, our intellect can only grasp a tiny portion of it. Can we remain centered in the persistent curiosity of the ignorant and hungry to learn? Here is a place where Confucious and Laozi agree. According to the Analects, Confucius said, “Wherever three people walk, there must be my teacher also.”

This attitude of humility is essential to deepening our meditation. Inquiring into the Unity of Yang and Yin is not a light affair that is easily understood. Look! Look! This spirit of humility in the face of the incomprehensible Dao is not unique to this verse. Yet, recognizing its essential nature for our practice has not previously been so emphasized.

Give life to all being,
Give life but do not possess.
Nourish and do not rule,

The perfect mirror reflects all that is when it’s here and doesn’t cling to it when it leaves. We master this important life attitude in meditation. Things arise, and they fall away. Add nothing and take nothing away. Our emptied-out being is the “embryo of existence,” while the capacity to be aware “gives birth to all things” (see verse 1).

Further, as we practice this meditation method, we discover that it is far more effective to nourish what we want than rule over what we don’t like. So often, meditators try to impose stillness or concentration on the mind. This rarely (if ever) works. Rigidly enforcing our will on ourselves is the opposite of our current practice. As with giving life without possessing, this is a life skill we can master in meditation.

Over time, the predominant attitude is to nourish what we want more of and allow what we want less of to fade away. The idea of ruling rigidly over life stops making sense. The sages consistently echo such a profound spiritual truth through the ages.

Where becoming is enfolded in being and being is incessantly becoming; this is meditative mind. Naturally inhabiting such a mind in all we do is to accord with the Dao and to weave the way.

This is called “mysterious function.”

This meditation technique and its subsequent impacts on our lives is called “mysterious function.”

Enjoy attuning to it!