Translation by Sifu John A. Fey
1 living the tao way of life creates resonance and a life that is lived
2 resonance possessed of its own momentum creates
difference
difference possessed of its own momentum creates heaven
man
earth
3 the union of these three produces everything in the
universe
in a continuous wave
that can be embraced and ridden by obliquely drifting within it
4 the ancient child asks
how can you drift with the universal
5 by precisely blending my bodymind's lifeforce
6 the ancient child asks
what must be blended to drift with the universal
7 body must blend with mind mind must blend with will will must blend with lifeforce lifeforce must blend with spirit spirit must blend with engaged movement engaged movement must blend with the void
8 the void is a doorway that sits at the center of the universe
the ancient child asks where is the doorway
10 between the beats of my heart
between the inbreath and the outbreath
between the beats of a drum
between the decision and the initiation
between my intention and my action
between the words on this page
11 drift and fly by standing still teeling the continuity of the universe
12 there is nothing to worry about no matter where life takes you you are not alone and you never have been
13 sometimes drift more and sometimes less sometimes stop and look around sometimes briskly fly from peak to peak
14 an authentic journey cannot be forced
15 it unfolds with jostles and bumps it sways to and fro
16 this is the only way to live
1-2 BODY and MIND: The Taoist concept of resonance refers to an alignment that can best be described musically. Imagine a room filled with tuning forks of different keys. The Tao Source vibrates in the key of C. The Cultivator arranges his life to vibrate at that frequency and the two become, in the parlance of science, a resonant system. The more entrained they become (i.e., support one another), the broader the vibrations become. These broader vibrations create overtones that, eventually, manifest all of the other keys of tuning forks in the room, increasing the resonant system. Soon, the entire room is vibrating harmoniously.
3 HAND: This is a specific cultivation technique in which the Taoist Cultivator strikes a specific meditative posture, adjusts his mental state, opens up to the resonant system of the Tao, and floats within it; that is, he gets lost in it.
4-5 HAND: A specific arrangement of the life-force energy facilitates the technique of Taoist flight.
6-7 HAND and MIND: A specitic cultivation formula. Taoists refer to this as the Six Combinations:
Physical movement that is supported and motivated by specitic mentation,Mentation that is supported and motivated by imagination,Imagination that is supported and motivated by mobilized qi energy,Qi energy that is supported and motivated by spiritual consciousness,Spiritual consciousness that supports and directs physical movement that radically alters the Cultivator's experience of consensus reality,Transformative physical movement that appears, to the Cultivator, to be directed by the Tao Source itself.
The physical movement alters the consciousness further.
8 HAND and MIND: When the Six Combinations have been achieved, the Cultivator is said to be
"drifting in the Great Void." This is also called The Great Achievement.
9-10 HEART and MIND: Other ways of saying this might be: "It is the space between the notes that makes the music," or "It is the space between the bars that keeps the tiger in the cage."
11 HAND: These are specific instructions.
12-16 HAND and BODY: These are meditative instructions, as well as a model for living.