I am not sure about the first part of this chapter but this is what I think it means... Doing things that are dangerous without knowing what will happen next, "leads to death". Doing things that are safe and knowing that it will not be a risk, "leads to life". Meaning that we are free to make our own choices, but there is always a response to our actions. Some can be beneficial but others can lead to consequence unwanted (ex: death). The Way is good at responding to our acting, meaning that if the choice that you make leads to something negative, the consequence of that action will be…