Becoming as a child

"The disciple groaned...
Just tell me the first elements
I will be satisfied...

Lao Tzu replied....
Can you be like an infant
That cries all day
Without getting a sore throat
Or clenches his fist all day
Without getting a sore hand
Or gazes all day
Without getting eyestrain?
You want the first elements?
The infant has them
Free from care, unaware of self,
He acts without reflection,
Stays where he is put, does not know why,
Does not figure things out,
Just goes along with them,
Is part of the current.
These are the first elements!

The disciple asked:
Is this perfection?

Lao replied: Not at all.
It is only the beginning.
This melts the ice.
This enables you
To unlearn.
So that you can be led by Tao,
Be the child of Tao."

Thomas Merton
The Way of Chuang Tzu