Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind become still. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return. They grow and flourish and then return to the source. Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature. The way of nature is unchanging. Knowing constancy is insight. Not knowing constancy leads to disaster. Knowing constancy, the mind is open. With an open mind, you will be openhearted. Being openhearted, you will act royally. Being royal, you will attain the divine. Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao. Being at one with the Tao is eternal. And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.
Returning to the root Be completely empty. Be perfectly serene. The ten thousand things arise together; in their arising is their return. Now the flower, and flowering sink homeward, returning to the root. The return to the root is peace. Peace: to accept what must be, to know what endures. In that knowledge is wisdom. Without it, ruin, disorder. To know what endures is to be openhearted, magnanimous, regal, blessed, following the Tao, the way that endures forever. The body comes to its ending, but there is nothing to fear.
16. Decay and Renewal Empty the self completely; Embrace perfect peace. The world will rise and move; Watch it return to rest. All the flourishing things Will return to their source. This return is peaceful; It is the flow of nature, An eternal decay and renewal. Accepting this brings enlightenment, Ignoring this brings misery. Who accepts nature's flow becomes all-cherishing; Being all-cherishing he becomes impartial; Being impartial he becomes magnanimous; Being magnanimous he becomes natural; Being natural he becomes one with the Way; Being one with the Way he becomes immortal: Though his body will decay, the Way will not.