Chapter 12 — Checking desire檢慾

爽，差失也，失口之用，故謂之爽。夫耳目口心，皆順其性也，不以順性命，反以傷自然，故曰盲、聾、爽、狂也。

Shuang (爽) means to go astray and lose; the mouth loses its use, and so it is called shuang. Ears, eyes, mouth, and heart all follow their own nature. One does not follow nature and life but instead harms what is so of itself, and that is why it says blinded, deafened, dulled, and maddened.

貪淫好色，則傷精失明也。

Greed and lust, a fondness for colors, harm the vital essence (精) and lose the eye's brightness.

好聽五音，則和氣去心，不能聽無聲之聲。

If one loves to listen to the five tones, the harmonious qi (氣) departs from the heart, and one can no longer hear the soundless sound.

爽，亡也。人嗜於五味於口，則口亡，言失於道也。

To cast away is to lose. When a person relishes the five flavors with his mouth, the mouth is lost — that is to say, he loses the Way.

人精神好安靜，馳騁呼吸，精神散亡，故發狂也。

A person's spirit loves stillness; when he races a horse and his breathing grows hurried, the spirit scatters and is gone, and so he goes mad.

難得之貨，塞人正路，故令人行妨也。

Goods hard to come by block a person's straight road, and so they spoil a person's conduct.

妨，傷也。難得之貨，謂金銀珠玉，心貪意欲，不知饜足，則行傷身辱也。

To spoil is to harm. Goods hard to come by means gold, silver, pearls, and jade. When the heart is greedy and the will covetous, never knowing when it has enough, conduct is harmed and the body disgraced.

為腹者以物養己，為目者以物役己，故聖人不為目也。

To be for the belly is to use things to nourish oneself; to be for the eye is to use things to drive oneself. That is why the sage is not for the eye.

守五性，去六情，節志氣，養神明。

He guards the five natures (性), casts off the six passions (情), restrains his will and vital energy, and so nourishes his spiritual light (神明).

目不妄視，妄視洩精於外。

The eye does not look as it pleases. To look as it pleases is to let the vital essence leak away outside.

去彼目之妄視，取此腹之養性。

He leaves behind that looking as the eye pleases, and takes up this nourishing of the nature by the belly.