Hilary Barrett on 57:
"Subtly penetrating means becoming part of something, or someone. It describes all-pervading influences, like the wind shaping the landscape. You penetrate subtly by feeling your way into things, yielding gently to their nature. You shift your own ideas and expectations, and come to understand the situation from inside, on its own terms.
And so, as you allow things to shape you, you also reach a place where you can shape them. The old Chinese character for 'Subtly Penetrating' shows a stand bearing the official seals a ruler would bestow on those he trusted. Someone who bows down and accepts a seal is submitting to the order of things, entering in and receiving his place within it. Then his seal, sign of personal authenticity, endows him with influence and the power to 'make his mark'."
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