wood

I.

Relaxing into one’s own structure is to know the wood element. 

To know wood is to know the maximum amount of containment. 

Then all things can grow and flourish. 

Knowing when to stop, one knows relaxation. 

Knowing what is appropriate, the Way is achieved. 

Through non-doing, all is accomplished. 

No need to correct this Great Perfection;

Balance is ceaselessly restoring itself. 

In this way, all knowing returns to the source, but it is not the source itself. 

Just as the self is not the source of the Way, but is moved by it. 

From where does this source originate?

It is Eternal. 

Just as the Eastern Sun rises and returns without ever setting,

The great one knows how to die, to stay dead, and to go on living. 

II.

In order to grow upward, a tree must first take root. 

Without a strong foundation, it will be toppled. 

What rises, must first descend. 

In order to know the creative, one must know the receptive. 

Striving leads to outpacing, and outpacing leads to depletion. 

A tree never outpaces itself, and therefore perseveres. 

Moving from the center, it expands. 

Taking root, it rises. 

Uncontrived, it expresses its essence.