Tranquil Nature

Tranquil Nature

Attain complete vacuity.

Maintain Steadfast quietude.

All things come into being,

And I see thereby their return.

All things flourish,

But each one returns to its root.

This return to its root means tranquility.

It is called returning to its destiny.

Number 16

In The Way of Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu advocates for a return to tranquility, which he believes is the original state of nature. Thus to be with nature, we must be in synch with inactivity. One of the metaphors he uses for returning to nature is returning to the state of the infant, which he believes to be the ideal being (Number 55).

Few people remain in an infant state forever. As we grow, we become more active. Is this inactivity unnatural? Lao Tzu seems to think so. Why is it that being inactive is more natural than activity? Tzu seems to argue that inactivity came first and thus, due to the Chinese understanding of cyclical time, we should seek to revert to this state of inactivity. Is the sole purpose of becoming active so that we can then know inactivity (as illustrated in 16)? If so, what is the purpose of going through the process of reversion? Is there some sort of cleansing or purification that comes along with understanding the Tao and applying it? If so, what are the benefits of reversion?