Carrying the Soul, Embracing One
The Text
载营魄抱一，能无离乎？专气致柔，能如婴儿乎？涤除玄览，能无疵乎？爱民治国，能无为乎？天门开阖，能为雌乎？明白四达，能无知乎？生之畜之，生而不有，为而不恃，长而不宰，是谓玄德。
Can you carry body and soul, embrace the one, and depart from nothing? Can you gather your breath until it is soft as a newborn? Can you polish the mirror of yourself until nothing is left to see? Can you love the people and govern without knowing? Open the gates, be female; understand all, be unknowing. Give birth, nourish, and never claim. This is hidden virtue.
Reading it
Six questions, all of them impossible to answer permanently — that is why they are questions. The chapter treats attention as something polishable, like a mirror, and treats not-claiming as the mark of having actually done the work.
六个问题，都无法永久答对——所以才是问题。注意力像镜子一样可以擦；不据功，是真正做完事情者的记号。
Once this week, do a single task with total attention and no commentary. Notice how long it lasts.
这周做一件事，全神贯注、不加旁白一次。看看能维持多久。