Tao Te Ching Part Twelve 

“The five colors blind the eye.
The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavors dull the taste.”

The excitement and distraction of the senses outward creates the desires that solidifies the identity that society gives us. It’s important to be able to ‘seal the senses’ and turn them inward to understand who and what we really are. This is an important part of our mindfulness training.

“Racing and hunting madden the mind.
Precious things lead one astray.”

‘Racing and hunting” stimulate our survival instincts and base energies. The ‘fight or flight’ instinct is powered by adrenaline short term and when that’s expired, if we can’t turn it off leads to long term fatigue and illness. This is a common illness in our modern times.

“Therefore the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees.
He lets go of that and chooses this.”

The wise person uses their mindfulness to be able to discern when they are subject to these base desires and instincts. By sealing the senses and turning them inwards they learn to educate and alchemise their energy to give them insight and wisdom and understand what emotions and thoughts to let go and what ones to choose.