Tao Te Ching Part Ten 

“Carrying body and soul and embracing the one,
Can you avoid separation?

Attending fully and becoming supple,
Can you be as a newborn babe?
Washing and cleansing the primal vision,
Can you be without stain?”

A new born baby still belongs to the Tao, it doesn’t know yet that it will be indoctrinated into developing a ‘self’ by society, given a name, and becoming the subject of fear, anger, desire and addiction, separating it from the Tao. The skill is to engage in life and embrace the Tao, retaining that child like sense of wonder, this is washing and cleansing the primal mirror.

“Loving all men and ruling the country,
Can you be without cleverness?”

We desperately need empathic and compassionate leaders and politicians connected to the Tao that can see how everything and everyone are connected, rather than the clever, devious ones that inevitably rise to power.

“Opening and closing the gates of heaven,
Can you play the role of woman?
Understanding and being open to all things,
Are you able to do nothing?
Giving birth and nourishing,
Bearing yet not possessing,
Working yet not taking credit,
Leading yet not dominating,
This is the Primal Virtue.”

The feminine or ‘yin’ role is the one most lacking in society, to accept, love and support without needing recognition, to allow others to be who they should be without trying to influence or possess them. True leadership comes from behind and underneath, helping, supporting and accepting as the Tao does. This really is the ‘primal virtue’.