Chapter 16

致虛極，守靜篤。萬物並作，吾以觀其復。夫物芸芸，各歸其根。歸根曰靜，靜曰覆命。覆命曰常，知常曰明。不知常，妄作兇。知常容，容乃公，公乃王，王乃天，天乃道，道乃久，歿身不殆。 
 Translation 
 Attain the utmost emptiness;
hold fast to perfect stillness.
The myriad beings arise together —
I observe their return. 
 All things flourish in profusion,
yet each returns to its root.
Returning to the root is called stillness;
stillness is called restoring the mandate of life. 
 Restoring the mandate is called the constant;
knowing the constant is called illumination.
Not knowing the constant,
one acts blindly and invites calamity. 
 Knowing the constant, one contains all;
containing all, one becomes impartial;
impartial, one becomes sovereign;
sovereign, one aligns with Heaven;
aligned with Heaven, one aligns with the Dao;
aligned with the Dao, one endures —
the body may perish, but one is never imperiled. 
 Word Notes 
 
 篤 — "sincerity" : Utmost sincerity; wholehearted commitment. 
 復 — "return" : To go back, to return to the origin. 
 芸芸 — "profuse" : Abundant, teeming in great number. 
 殆 — "peril" : Danger, jeopardy. 
 
 Chapter Explanation 
 "Attain the utmost emptiness" means bringing emptiness to its extreme. "Hold fast to perfect stillness" means guarding stillness with utmost sincerity. Although the myriad beings arise together , I do not follow along with their arising — I observe their cyclical return. When the myriad beings arise, their leaves grow and flowers bloom in great profusion, yet in the end each returns to its root . Having returned to the root, this is called stillness . Stillness is called restoring the mandate of life . Restoring the mandate of life is called the constant . Knowing the constant is called illumination . Not knowing the constant , one acts blindly and invites calamity . Knowing the constant , one does not follow the transformations of things but contains all . To contain all is to be impartial and without self-interest . To be impartial and without self-interest is to be fit to serve as sovereign of all under Heaven . The sovereign aligns with Heaven . Heaven aligns with Dao . Dao endures forever . Even after the body perishes, one is never imperiled — one exists for all eternity. 
 Discourse 
 This chapter teaches that the great Dao takes emptiness as its constant state and existence as its change. Stillness is its constant state; movement is its change. What exists and moves must eventually return to non-existence and non-movement. Therefore, by holding fast to the constant Dao, even though the myriad affairs and beings of all under Heaven swirl in turmoil and confusion, I simply contain existence within emptiness and meet movement with stillness. I do not see their existence; I do not see their movement. I see only the unchanging constant Dao of all antiquity. Since I do not see their change, I am not swept along with things into change. I persist through all ages. Even though the body may perish, I still endure. Otherwise, if one follows along with the turmoil and confusion of things, one plunges into the whirlpool of fortune — how could one not be imperiled?