10 - Cultivating the Way

Taking the soul and animus to embrace into one, can you keep them from separating? Mastering the breath into softness, can you be as if a baby? Clearing and eliminating in your tranquil observing [meditation], can you be flawless? Loving the people and governing the state, can you be without cunning? Opening the heavenly gate [tianmen], could you be femaleness [soft/quiet]? Understanding [all] in the 4 directions, can you be unobstructed by knowledge? It births, it nurtures, [allows] life but does not own it, Acts but does not presume, [nurtures] growth but does not control. This is the mysterious force [Xuande].

載營魄抱一，能無離乎？ 專氣致柔，能嬰兒乎？ 滌除玄覽，能無疵乎？ 愛民治國，能無知乎？ 天門開闔，能為雌乎？ 明白四達，能無知乎？ 生之、畜之，生而不有， 為而不恃，長而不宰， 是謂玄德。

This obscure chapter has 7 topics, which can be understood in a general manner and an esoteric manner. From a general perspective:

1. Synchronizing mind and body (reason with desires) for success. Literally, this is synchronizing the spiritual/mental soul (hun 魂) with the animal/bodily soul (po 魄) - in other words, one's mind (reason, emotions) with one's body (desires, impulses).
2. Breathwork (for calm and health), as in breathing like a baby (diaphragmic breathing). Babies naturally breathe using abdominal breathing, which is simple to practice: breathe deeply so that inhaling causes the abdomen to expand (as opposed to the shoulders rising).
3. Mental clarity by observing and removing static. By default, our minds are full of thoughts and emotions, constantly whirling around - the first step to control this is to simply be aware and observe the mind, as if you are an observer you, separate from the observed you; the 3rd-person perspective helps one become more objective and perceptive of oneself.
4. Merging desires with objectives (correct mindset leads to correct actions). Generally, the best way to succeed in something is to really desire it - which helps to focus the mind, emotions, and body to the same goal; conversely, if one is not focused in that way to an objective, success is unlikely as well.
5. Opening the senses (including the mind) via softness and stillness. In a general sense, this is referring to, for example, how a relaxed state of mind is more conducive to learning new, complex ideas.
6. Wisdom being increased by paring away the dross (incorrect or distracting knowledge). Knowledge is a process of addition, while wisdom is a process of subtraction; the latter does not mean the complete absense of knowledge, but it does include the ability to identify knowledge that is delusionary or harmful.
7. Non-action (wuwei) as high virtue (xuande) (see prior chapters).

From a cultivation perspective, the same topics take on further meanings:

1. Merging the mental and physical bodies (jing, qi, shen (精氣神) 3 energetic bodies, known as the 3 treasures (三寶) of Daoism)
2. Breathwork also involves energy training and practice (e.g. qigong). Breath is deeply linked with energy due to its role in generating energy (e.g. through respiration), which leads to breath's role in leading the energy in practice.
3. Meditation (e.g. similar to Buddhist vipassana). Practicing this separately helps one to build the skill in isolation first. The fundamental practice is to simply close your eyes and sit in quiet stillness - and pay attention to only the mind. This functions by stopping sensory inputs and focusing to direct attention.
4. Mindset serves as base for all cultivation practice.
5. Out-of-body work (e.g. astral projection through tianmen point above the forehead).
6. Wisdom or "intuition" (悟性) allows advanced practitioners to seemingly invent new techniques and methods out of thin air.
7. Non-action applied in practice.

Generally, this chapter more explicitly alludes to specific Daoist cultivation methods than other chapters, from basic practices (breathwork) to very advanced practices (astral practice). Cultivation is the heart of Daoist practice.