Tao Te Ching

Chapter 51
[Original text]

Born to die [1].There are three out of ten people who are alive[2]; three out of ten people who are dead;Husband why?With its thickness to survive [3].

Gai Wen said that those who are good at maintaining their health [5] will not encounter a [6] tiger when traveling on land, and will not be attacked by [7] armored soldiers when they enter the army;Husband why?With its immortality.

【Note】

[1] Birth and death: Birth and death, extended to the inevitable death after leaving existence.

[2] Acts: people like this.

[3] Three out of ten: Three out of ten.

[4] Thickness of life: too much support and excess nutrition.Here it means that the desire to survive is too strong, which leads to ills.

[5] Health preservation: health preservation, here refers to the maintenance of life.

[6] 兕 (sì): A one-horned beast like a rhinoceros, here generally refers to wild beasts.

[7] Been: contacted, suffered.

【Analysis】

A person is born from birth, and finally dies in the earth.About three-tenths of people live long lives in the world; about three-tenths of people live short-lived; three-tenths of people live but act in the place of death.Why is this?It is because these people protect their own lives in pursuit of longevity, so that they pursue extravagant material comforts excessively, thus ruining and shortening their supposedly long life.

I heard that those who are really good at preserving life will not encounter wild animals such as tigers and rhinos when they walk freely on land, and will not be injured by weapons when they enter the battle team; beasts such as rhinos are of no use to him Horns, beasts like tigers have nowhere to use their claws on him, and weapons have nowhere to use their sharp blades on him.Why is this?Because he didn't enter the zone of death at all, and he didn't have any fatal weaknesses.

Lao Tzu believes that death can be divided into two types, one is overnutrition due to wanting to maintain life, which leads to shortening of life, and the other is entering a dangerous death place and causing casualties.People in the world compete for interests in order to preserve life, but the idea of ​​"Tao" is non-competition and quiet inaction. If you don't fight, you will not be too prosperous, and if you do nothing, you will stay away from death. To preserve life in this way is the correct way to follow nature.

【Explanation by Famous Artists】

Mr. He Shang:
Birth means that lust comes out of the five internal organs, the soul is fixed and the soul is quiet, so it is born.Entering death means that lust enters the mind, exhausts the mind, and leads to death.It is said that life and death each have thirteen, which is called nine orifices and four passes.In its birth, the eyes do not see in vain, the ears do not hear in vain, the nose does not smell in vain, the mouth does not speak in vain, the tongue does not taste in vain, the hands do not hold in vain, the feet do not move in vain, and the essence does not exert in vain.The same is true of his death.People's survival is the opposite of thirteen deaths.Ask why the dead place is moved?Those who say that the reason why people move to death are because they seek life too much, violate the way and disobey the sky, and act recklessly and lose discipline.

Take photos and raise them.Avoid it naturally, don't do harm.Not good at fighting to kill.For those who preserve health, there is no way to hurt tigers, and no way to strengthen weapons.Ask Sihu Bingjia why he didn't harm him?Because it does not commit the death of the thirteenth.It is said that the gods will protect it, and this thing dare not harm it.

(End of this chapter)