This is a simple lesson, but a demanding one.  Lao Tzu reminds us that we have been handed the treasure of a personal embodiment, as one of the 10,000 things.

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     And yet it seems not to be enough. We feel we must take it further, fill it with praise, comfort, and even riches. We forget that, in the final analysis, what is dearest to us is that we have come into being. And, that this gift is a temporary one. 

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     Note the character 身shēn in this lesson. It has the meanings of  “body,” “person,” “life,” and “trunk.” There is nothing mysterious about 身shēn. It refers to our physical being, our individual existence—the shape we see in the mirror each morning.

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