Translation by Sifu John A. Fey
1 life and death
favor and disgrace
praise and blame
success and failure
2 all of these conditions confuse and dismay us because
they are the same ailment
they cause ill at ease states and related worries
3 how does this happen
4 when favor is acquired so is the fear of losing
favor acquired
5 if someone thinks that the corporeal body is the
limit of the self
then the fear that is inherent in the body makes
itself known
and is difficult to subdue
6 how can you trust and accept your corporeal limits
in the face of
fear
7 we have fear when a limited self is absorbed in importance
8 if you view the unlimited world as the self then you can be trusted with it
9 because only the person who sees the world as
themselves
and their self as the world
10 will take care of it
1-2 MIND: This is a restatement of the lessons in Chapter Two. The discriminating mind will, through the act of creating opposite extremes, confuse and damage us.
3-4 MIND: The act of creating extremes ultimately engenders a deep-seated fear.
5 HEART: Seeing yourself as a limited being naturally leads to an unreasonable fear of the world around you.
6-7 MIND: Fear is generated when we become self. absorbed and selfindulgent. An exaggerated sense of one's own importance renders you untrustworthy. It also prevents you from accepting the totality of both your personal gifts and deficits.
8-10 HEART: This is a statement of Taoist identification. These stanzas explain how a Taoist must view himself. They also present the idea of Taoist stewardship of the world.