the short of it:
Remember where you came from, so you can decide where you are going.
52. Going home to the Origin.
That which was the beginning of the world may be regarded as the Mother of the world. Having once known the Mother, you may next know the child. And if, knowing the child, you still keep the Mother, though your body perish, you will be in no danger.
Shut the lips and close the portals (of eyes and ears), and as long as you live you will have no trouble; but open your lips and meddle with things, and as long as you live you will not get out of trouble.
To see the small beginnings of things is called clearness. To keep tenderness, I pronounce strength. Use the light to (guide you) home to its own brightness, and do not give yourself up to calamity. This I call practicing eternal (Tau).
52. ‘Returning to the Source.’
52.1 (The Tao) which originated all under the sky is to be considered as the mother of them all.
52.2 When the mother is found, we know what her children should be. When one knows that [they are their] mother’s child, and proceeds to guard (the qualities of) the mother that belong to [them], to the end of [their] life [they] will be free from all peril.
52.3 Let [them] keep [their] mouth closed, and shut up the portals (of [their] nostrils), and all [their] life [they] will be exempt from laborious exertion. Let [them] keep [their] mouth open, and (spend [their] breath) in the promotion of [their] affairs, and all [their] life there will be no safety for [them].
52.4 The perception of what is small is (the secret of) clear-sightedness; the guarding of what is soft and tender is (the secret of) strength.
52.5
Who uses well [their] light, Reverting to its (source so) bright, Will from [their] body ward all blight, And hides the unchanging from [people’s] sight.
52. Returning To the Origin.
52.1 When the world takes its beginning, Reason becomes the world’s mother.
52.2 As one knows [their] mother, so she in turn knows her child; as she quickens her child, so [they in turn keep to their] mother, and to the end of life [they are] not in danger. Who closes [their] mouth, and shuts [their] sense-gates, in the end of life [they] will encounter no trouble; but who opens [their] mouth and meddles with affairs, in the end of life [they] cannot be saved.
52.3 Who beholds [their] smallness is called enlightened. Who preserves [their] tenderness is called strong. Who uses Reason’s light and returns home to its enlightenment does not surrender [their] person to perdition. This is called practicing the eternal.
The Long of It:
Everything comes from the same place and returns to the same place. Remember this, stay close to it, and thrive.
-TB
