← The Dao De Jing
Chapter 16
Reaching the Utmost Emptiness
致虚极也
The Text
致虚极也，守静笃也。万物并作，吾以观其复也。夫物芸芸，各复归其根。
Reach the utmost emptiness; hold fast to stillness. The ten thousand things rise together, and I watch them return. Things flourish, then each returns to its root.
Reading it
The instruction is not to empty the mind but to keep it empty enough that things can return to it. Return is the key word in the chapter — the pattern, not the stillness, is the point.
此处的指令不是把脑子清空，而是让它空到东西回得来。全章的关键字是「复」——是那个节律，不是那份静。
Practice for the week
Sit for ten minutes with nothing to accomplish. Notice what returns on its own.
坐十分钟，不为什么。看有什么自己回来。