Tao Te Ching, Chapter 76 [Original]
Man is weak in life and strong in death, and the life of plants and trees is brittle, and his death is withered.
Therefore the strong are dead, and the weak are alive.
If the soldier is strong, it will be destroyed, and if the wood is strong, it will be broken. Where the strong are below, the weak are above.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 76 and the Month of Equilibrium ^06
2. It is one's own energy state that determines life and death.
Original text: "The life of plants and trees is also brittle, and their death is withered." ”
"Dry" means that it has lost its moisture and is no longer soft, and "槁" means that it is lifeless and indifferent.
This sentence means that plants and trees are essentially the same as people, and their life is also a combination of energy, which is also born from the gathering of yin and yang qi - when the harmony is there, it will flourish and be flexible, and when the harmony is exhausted, it will also wither and wither, so it is called "the life of plants and trees is also soft and brittle, and its death is also withered".
Softness and brittleness and withering are both physical phenomena, which are the ways that nature is giving us to express the way of life and the way of cultivation in the three phases of matter:
First, the solid state:
When solid, the body is the most visible and strong, such as ice.
However, solid state is also the easiest to incorporate impurities and can hurt people the most, so it is also the most susceptible to injury and damage.
Second, the liquid state:
Solid absorption energy can be upgraded to a liquid state, for example, ice absorption energy will turn into water.
The liquid state is still tangible, but as soon as the energy is high, the nature is much weaker, so although it is tangible, it is amorphous, and can be adjusted freely with the outside world.
At the same time, in the liquid state, many impurities can be precipitated and separated as long as they are stationed. As a result, although the form is weak, the clarity is greatly improved, and although it is not easy to hurt, it is also not easily damaged, and it can moisten the surroundings silently.
Thirdly, gaseous:
Liquid reabsorption energy can be upgraded to gaseous, e.g. water absorbs energy and becomes water vapour.
In the gaseous state, as the energy level rises again, the particles are smaller and can no longer be seen by the naked eye, but at this time, the nature is weaker, the texture is purer, and the degree of freedom is higher - the gaseous particles can unconsciously wander in various objects, supporting the survival and development of more substances.
Since the energy level of the gaseous state is much higher than that of other states, it cannot be damaged by lower dimensions. For the low dimension, an invisible, intangible, and ubiquitous opponent, what can be done with it?
The so-called "the life of plants and trees is also brittle, and their death is also withered", the reason is very simple, that is, plants and trees are the same as people, if the solid body does not have the movement of life, it will not be able to push the operation of water, so the external description will immediately wither.
Therefore, to judge whether a life is dying or rebirthing, we only need to look at whether its state is brittle or withered.
Therefore, plants, trees, and people, like people, all life is a combination of energy.
The higher the energy level, the softer the manifest state, the higher the degree of freedom of form, and the more vitality of condensation.
By understanding the natural expression, we can realize:
Whether it is to survive or die, it is not external objects that can determine all this, but one's own energy state.
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- Tao Te Ching and Meditation ~ Chapter 76 (I): Weak at the Soft Side - Light Up the Seven Lamps 7: Deli Lamp
- Tao Te Ching and Meditation ~ Chapter 76 (II): Maintaining gratitude in the face of adversity is a highly evolved consciousness
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