Introduction

Holy Toledo. This one is a doozy.

In the commentaries I tend to reference, some of these lines, and even a couple of characters, had notes for days. The key issue is that this verse’s transition from making an allegorical example to providing a commentary on meditation technique is both subtle and stark.

Essentially, this verse calls for mastering the paradoxical state of alert relaxation, also called willful surrender. Willful surrender is particularly important for maintaining and investigating the organism’s natural function (自然, zìrán) without allowing its fluctuations to generate psychological and emotional disturbances.

Let’s dig in.

Translation

A fully Integrated person
is like a newborn.

Unstung by any poisonous creature,
no predator has yet sunk in their claws.
Fragile bones, soft muscles,
and yet a firm grip.

Aroused, despite ignorance of sex.
Vitality at its fullest.
Howling all day, yet not hoarse.
Harmony at its fullest.

Harmony leads to permanence.
Knowledge of Harmony
leads to Clarity.

Excessive generation is a bad omen.
If the mind directs the breath,
the mind is strengthened.

Strong Phenomena lead to Death,
this is the False Way.

Commentary

A fully Integrated person
is like a newborn.

Unstung by any poisonous creature,
no predator has yet sunk in their claws.
Fragile bones, soft muscles,
and yet a firm grip.

First, notice that Integrated is with a capital “I.” “Fully Integrated” designates a person already mature in Daoist integrity (德, dé). As previously noted, integrity is an active alignment with and expression of the Dao in daily life.

The mature practitioner is like a newborn? How so?

In the first, the mature practitioner abides in the unconditioned, which is a fancy way of saying they remain immediately present. Practically, being immediately present means mindfully distinguishing the impacts of our past from our present situation. We can accomplish this by relegating emotions, memories, and identities to their rightful place as information that enhances our ability to make choices.

Having “not been stung” or otherwise wounded, we remain soft, open, flexible, and vulnerable. Yet, this does not mean abandoning the “firm grip” of our intentional clarity of action.

Aroused, despite ignorance of sex.
Vital Essence at its fullest.

The verse alludes to a newborn male’s ignorance of sex yet spontaneous sexual arousal as an allusion to a person with complete Vital Essence. Vital Essence is one of the Three Treasures of Daoism and refers to the immaterial, energetic substratum of matter. In Daoist thought, people are believed to be born in harmony with the Dao and with no obstructions or depletions of Vital Essence, Breath, or Illumination/Spirit.

Howling all day, yet not hoarse.
Harmony at its fullest.

How does a baby’s ability to cry for a long time indicate a fullness of Harmony? It seems to me that the text is pointing back to the combination of soft and firm as a defining characteristic of natural action (自然, zìrán). Could it be that babies can cry for so long because, even though they’re crying, they aren’t trying to cry? Without forcing the volume, or forcing the emotions, or trying to stop crying, their throats and breathing apparatus function precisely as they should. Since this is the case, they are an example of being in Harmony while being distressed and needing to cry.

This line reaches into my brain, grabs the notion that Harmony is inherently positive, and smashes it. Once again, we are reminded that everything is part of the Dao and has its place in the cosmic web, even so-called negative emotions, things we don’t like to do, destruction, and chaos. Harmonious and natural functioning cannot be qualified as good or bad; it is appropriateness as in expediency, not propriety.

Harmony leads to permanence.
Knowledge of Harmony
leads to Clarity.

Permanence can also be thought of as constancy, evenness, or unchangeability. Ironically, Harmony is nothing but change, yet within natural action, we experience a steadiness and unchangeability that, despite being groundless, is perfectly supportive.

Remember that Clarity is a state of mind that preserves a soft awareness of unity while maintaining the integrity of skillful distinctions.

At this point, a double-reading is necessary to understand the verse overall. Relaxed, inward-oriented alertness in meditation stabilizes the little “m” sensing mind and brings it into still enmeshment with the big “M” Mind. As attention turns within, the microcosmic alchemical cycle of Energetic Breath begins. Holding to this cycle and its progression to the “infant” stage leads to the meditative state of “emptiness.” Such an experience is the esoteric definition of Clarity.

Excessive generation is a bad omen.
If the mind directs the breath,
the mind is strengthened.

These lines state the opposite of the above-mentioned meditation framework, where the mind is yoked to the Mind. Excessive Generation refers to the little “m” mind staying engaged with the senses, producing thoughts and emotions. A free-wheeling that free-associates its way to fantasy land generates a breath appropriate to whatever fantasy land we arrive in. The dysregulated breath reinforces the mind’s sense that the psychological swirl is a valid and accurate present-moment experience. Therefore, the mind’s trajectory is strengthened, and the enmeshment of the Mind with the mind occurs. When this happens, the seeds in our Mind are planted by the mind. This little “m” mind is greedy, craving sense experiences, comfort, status, and fame. It is this way because it is ignorant of deeper spiritual fulfillment. Therefore, the text continues to say,

Strong Phenomena lead to Death,
this is the False Way.

Death is the opposite of Permanence. In other words, allowing our little “m” mind to take over and pollute the big “M” Mind with strong sense desires leads us into the materially-oriented, hedonistic way of living that abandons long-term well-being through The Way and Integrity for short-term gratification. This is the False Way.