Introduction

I found remarkable discrepancies in this verse when cross-comparing the multiple translations and commentaries. I think that has as much to do with trying to force-fit a philosophical instead of practical perspective onto the text as it does the complicated language. There are also multiple allusions that, rendered very literally, make the whole thing sound like gibberish. One of my favorites is “knead the breath and make it soft, can you be like a newborn infant?” A newborn is an allusion to Lead, and Lead is an allusion to Unity before Duality. Clear, right? Another line says, “the heavenly gates open and shut, can it become like a woman?”

… ya, that metaphor didn’t age well. But the teaching it alludes to is exceptionally profound. 

Structurally, this verse poses a series of imperative statements followed by inquiries. The result is an elegant step-by-step primer for Daoist meditation. 

Perhaps more than any other verse, this demonstrates how Weaving the Virtuous Way is an instruction manual. Like any other instruction manual, it must be used in conjunction with what it describes: a way of meditative living. Otherwise, half of its meaning is lost. 

Translation

Sustain the unity of Yang and Yin,
  Can it be separated?

Caress and soften the breath,
   Can it be pure and united?

Wash the profound mirror,
   Can it be spotless?

Love “people” and regulate “nations,”
   Can it be effortless?

The flow of sensation,
   Can it be purely received?

Universal comprehending,
  Can it be without a filter?

Give life to all being,
   Give life but do not possess.

Nourish and do not rule,
   This is called “mysterious function.” 

Commentary

Sustain the unity of Yang and Yin, 
  Can it be separated?

The verse opens with the meta-principle of the meditation method - to see into the Dao. Posing the challenge of “sustaining” the unity of yang and yin calls us to contemplate their harmony. In harmonizing the extremes, we see their interdependence. By uncovering their interdependence, we recognize their common source. Seeing the interplay of yang and yin as the natural law of the Dao, we recognize unity consciousness. Within unity consciousness, we realize that yang and yin were never separate and can never be separated.