Chapter 15

The infant or child as symbol of the unfallen, undivided spiritual state; return to primordial simplicity.

The metaphor of 'wood that has not been fashioned into anything' represents the uncarved block (Pu) and primordial simplicity.

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

The masters 'do not wish to be full of themselves', reflecting a radical letting-go of self-importance and grasping.

The Buddhist doctrine that all phenomena lack independent self-nature; emptiness as the positive recognition that things arise only in dependence on conditions — distinct from kenoma's mere deficiency.

The masters are described as 'vacant like a valley' and 'not being full', aligning with emptiness as a positive recognition of non-self-nature.

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

[auto] The masters and the Tao are described through negation and emptiness, characterized as beyond knowledge, vacant, and dull.

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

[auto] The Tao and its masters are described as subtle, deep, and eluding men's knowledge, emphasizing concealment.

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] The skilful masters are defined by their direct comprehension of the Tao's mysteries rather than through external instruction.

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

[auto] The author acknowledges the difficulty of describing the indescribable, implying esoteric knowledge reserved for those who comprehend.

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

[auto] The text explicitly advocates for stillness as the method to achieve clarity and rest, stating 'Let it be still'.

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The passage relies heavily on paradoxical logic, such as movement leading to rest and not being full allowing one to seem worn, to convey the nature of the Tao.

Effortless action aligned with the spontaneous flow of the Dao; non-coercive, non-striving conduct that yields results without forcing — the sage acts without acting.

[auto] The passage describes the sage's conduct as effortless stillness and non-striving ('Let it be still', 'not wish to be full'), which is the definition of Wu Wei.