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Those of old skilled as practitioners, |
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subtle, mysterious, profoundly attuned, |
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deep beyond recognition. |
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Precisely because they are beyond recognition, |
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they deliberately adopt a demeanor: |
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Cautious—as if crossing a river in winter; |
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Wary—as if fearing the four neighbors; |
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Solemn—in their bearing; |
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Dissolving—as if ice about to melt. |
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Substantial—as if an uncarved block; |
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Vast—as if a valley; |
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Mixed—as if turbid; |
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Who can still the turbid to make it slowly clear? |
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Who can stir the settled to make it slowly come alive? |
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Those who preserve this Way |
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do not desire to be full. |
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Precisely because they are not full, |
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they can remain shielded from being newly completed. |