26 - POWER OF THE HEAVY

Heavy is the root of light.

Still is the master of moving.

So wise souls make their daily march

with the heavy baggage wagon.

Only when safe

in a solid, quiet house

do they lay care aside.

How can a lord of ten thousand chariots

let his own person

weigh less in the balance than his land?

Lightness will lose him his foundation,

movement will lose him his mastery.

UKLG: I take heaviness to be the root matters of daily life, the baggage we bodily beings have to carry, such as food, drink, shelter, safety. If you go charging too far ahead of the baggage wagon you may be cut off from it; if you treat your body as unimportant you risk insanity or inanity.

The first two lines would make a nice motto for the practice of T’ai Chi.