Observations placeholder

Extract from the  Guanzi (管子) : THE INNER ENTERPRISE (Neiye內業) - translation by Robert Eno

All human life must rest upon contentment.
Through cares its guiding lines are lost.
Through anger its source is lost.
When there is care or sadness, joy or sorrow,
the Dao finds no place.

Loves and desires – quiet them!
If you encounter disorder, put it right.
Draw nothing near, push nothing away;
blessings will spontaneously come to stay.

The Dao comes spontaneously,
you may rely upon it to shape your plans.

If you are tranquil you will grasp it;
agitated, you will lose it.
The magical qi within the heart,
now it comes, now departs.

It is so small that there can be nothing within it.
It is so great that there can be nothing outside it.
It is lost through the harm of agitation.

If the heart can grip tranquility,
the Dao will spontaneously fix itself therein.
In he who grasps the Dao
it streams through the lines of his face
and seeps from his hair.
There is no failing within his breast.
With the Dao of moderating desires,
the things of the world cannot harm him