I<\/p>\n
Laozi says:<\/p>\n
The great Dao is without form
\nit gives birth and nurtures Heaven & Earth<\/p>\n
The great Dao is without feelings
\nit moves and guides the sun & moon<\/p>\n
The great Dao is without name
\nit raises and nourishes the ten-thousand beings<\/p>\n
I do not know its name
\nforced to name it, call it Dao<\/p>\n
Within the Dao
\nthere is clarity, there is obscurity<\/p>\n
Within the Dao
\nthere is movement,\u00a0there is\u00a0stillness<\/p>\n
Heaven is clarity, Earth is obscurity
\nHeaven is movement, Earth is stillness<\/p>\n
Male is clarity, female is obscurity
\nmale is movement, female is stillness<\/p>\n
Descending from the beginning, flowing toward\u00a0the end
\nthe ten-thousand beings are born<\/p>\n
Clarity is the source of obscurity
\nmovement is the root of stillness<\/p>\n
If we can be constantly clear & still
\nHeaven & Earth completely return<\/p>\n
II<\/p>\n
The human\u00a0spirit tends toward\u00a0clarity
\nbut\u00a0emotions disturb it<\/p>\n
The human heart-mind tends toward stillness
\nbut desires tether it<\/p>\n
If we can constantly banish desires
\nthen the heart-mind will become still naturally<\/p>\n
If we can clear & still the heart-mind
\nthen the spirit will become clear naturally<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Six Desires will not arise
\nthe Three Poisons will be destroyed<\/p>\n
Whoever cannot accomplish this
\nhas not yet cleared & stilled\u00a0the heart-mind
\nhas not yet banished desires<\/p>\n
If we can banish desires
\ninternally observing the heart-mind
\nthere is no heart-mind<\/p>\n
Externally observing form
\nthere is no form<\/p>\n
Remotely observing things
\nthere are no things<\/p>\n
When we awaken to these three
\nonly then do we perceive emptiness<\/p>\n
III<\/p>\n
Observing emptiness with emptiness
\nemptiness is actually not empty<\/p>\n
Emptiness does not actually exist
\nit is not nothing, yet it is nothing<\/p>\n
It is both not nothing and nothing
\nthese deep waters are constantly silent<\/p>\n
When silence is actually not silence
\nhow can desires arise?<\/p>\n
When desires do not arise
\nthis is true stillness<\/p>\n
True stillness yields to things
\ntrue constancy attains true nature<\/p>\n
Constantly yielding, constantly still
\nthis is constant clarity, constant stillness<\/p>\n
IV<\/p>\n
With such clarity & stillness
\nwe gradually enter the true Dao<\/p>\n
When we enter the true Dao
\nthis is called attaining the Dao<\/p>\n
Although this is called attaining the Dao
\nactually there is nothing to attain<\/p>\n
Serving to transform all living things
\nthis is called attaining the Dao<\/p>\n
Those who can awaken to this
\ncan transmit the sacred Dao<\/p>\n
V<\/p>\n
Laozi says:<\/p>\n
The superior adept does not contend
\nthe inferior adept tends to contend<\/p>\n
Superior De is not De
\ninferior De grasps De<\/p>\n
Those who hold attachments
\nare not imbued with Dao-De<\/p>\n
All living things do not attain the true Dao
\nbecause they have deviant heart-minds<\/p>\n
\u00a0When\u00a0the heart-mind is deviant
\nthen we\u00a0startle the spirit<\/p>\n
When we startle the spirit
\nthen we cling to the ten-thousand things<\/p>\n
When we cling to the ten-thousand things
\nthen we generate craving and seeking<\/p>\n
When we generate craving and seeking
\nthen we have troubles and frustrations<\/p>\n
Troubles, frustrations, deviations, and aspirations
\ncause anxiety and suffering in body & heart-mind<\/p>\n
VI<\/p>\n
Then we meet with obscurity & defilement
\ndrifting on the waves of life & death<\/p>\n
Constantly drowning in the ocean of suffering
\nforever losing the true Dao<\/p>\n
The Dao of true constancy
\nthose who awaken to it will attain our true self<\/p>\n
Attaining and awakening to the Dao
\nwe have constant clarity & stillness<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Translation by Nameless Stream (\u7121\u540d\u5ddd)<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
Related: Clear & Calm: A Look at “Qing-Jing”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I Laozi says: The great Dao is without form it gives birth and nurtures Heaven & Earth The great Dao is without feelings it moves and guides the sun & moon The great Dao is without name it raises and nourishes the ten-thousand beings I do not know its name forced to name it, call … Continue reading “Clarity & Stillness Scripture (Q\u012bng J\u012bng J\u012bng, \u6e05\u975c\u7d93)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1112"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1118,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions\/1118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}