Introduction

It’s one of the oddest things about humans: the more we care, the harder we try in ineffective ways. Situations often unlock themselves the moment we relax, yet we go through countless iterations of that and still don’t adopt relaxing into something as the norm. 

This verse utilizes a form of logic that’s getting more familiar: for something to be true, so must its opposite be. 

In this case, some fascinating psycho-spiritual truths are laid out for us. Combined, they point us to the timeless realization that “yielding is superior to coercion.” When said out loud, it’s kind of a “duh” moment. However, we tend to forget that at the most critical points of our lives. 

I felt my Zen teacher shouting throughout the commentary, so I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that much of the language here echoes what Jun Po taught me: eternal gratitude, JP. 

Translation

Spread things out first
  to facilitate bringing them together.

Strengthening
  enables softening.

To abandon something
  you have to join with it first.

Give it away lovingly
  so that you can take it.

This is called “veiled wisdom.”
  Yielding is superior to coercion.

Fish can’t leave the water.
  A nation’s best tools
    can’t be shown to others. 

Commentary

Spread things out first
  to facilitate bringing them together.

To collect yourself can only mean that your “self” is dispersed. You must first exhale to inhale life and vibrancy into your system. To focus on something, you must have previously spread out your vision.

We will revisit this position several more times to drive the point home. However, this one line says it all. There can be no contraction without expansion. Movement is only possible where there is distance between the extremes. Whichever state you’re looking for, you were already in it previously. All we’re doing is remembering and returning to what some part of us already knows. 

Returning to the specific practicalities of this stanza, the instructions to “spread out” before “bringing together” are critical to the majority of meditative and embodiment techniques. Relaxing, or “warming up,” at the beginning of a period of focused action is a well-established best practice across the board.