“The True Man of ancient times knew nothing of loving life, knew nothing of hating death… He came briskly, he went briskly, and that was all…he received something and took pleasure in it; he forgot about it and handed it back again.” This is what I call not using the mind to repel the Way.”
The passage is saying that people should not dwell too much on their life grievances or pleasures. In order to follow The Way, people should just go with the flow. What happens, happens and we must take it in stride/do our best to overcome it. If you are living a very successful life, you should be careful to not be taken over by greed. The same can go for when you are facing hardships. You must remember that these things will pass and that pain won’t last forever. The True Man lived his life and then died and that was it. Nothing incredibly amazing was done, but he wasn’t unsuccessful either. The idea of The True Man is about living life in a happy medium. He “received” his life had a good time and then “handed it back again.” For instance, if someone lets you borrow a book. You read the book, enjoy it, maybe forget about it, and once you are reminded you return the book to its rightful owner.