Translation by Sifu John A. Fey
1 authentic knowledge is intuitive knowledge authentic knowledge is directly experienced
2 it is easy to enter the tao source and way of life through higher intuition
3 all you have to do is enter a sacred precinct
pick up your life and bodymind adjust it to the moment in space and time play and create in the moment be happy and content with whatever occurs
4 revel with your creation rest with your creation rejoice with your creation
5 when timeworn ritual feels new
you will see exactly where you are going and be able to walk the magnificent path in freedom measures slowly and deliberately
6 it is easy to get sidetracked and lost in the wilderness it happens all the time but
the worst thing you can do is worry too much about it
smile
correct the course
bring yourself back to the great road and walk slowly and deliberately
nothing else will solve the problem of getting lost
imposed order and rigid ritual are too clean and won't produce anything of substance or
beauty
10 magic coats with secret symbols cannot nullity anger, violence, or confusion at the center of a lost man
an authentic life cannot be stolen talse spirit is not the tao way of life
12 when order is imposed and ritual defiled when anger, violence, and confusion are purposefully disguised
when you feed the stomach but not the soul when you boast, brag, and push yourself on the
world
13 you get further and further away from the tao source and way of life
indeed
you are its enemy
Taoist Masters will freely rearrange the chapter order during the direct transmission to fit the needs of the student and the occasion. Invariably, the stanzas in Chapter Fifty-three follow the exposition of illumination in the previous chapter. They serve as a reminder to the Cultivator that the illumination experience is the beginning of the mystic life and not the end. From this point on, the newly awakened Taoist must learn to "return to the Universal, follow the Eternal, and live like the Immortals.
1 HEART: This is a reminder to always experience life mystically.
2 HEART: Higher intuition is superior to reason and discipline.
3 HAND and MIND: These are instructions tor actively engaging in "Tao Making."
4 MIND: This describes how you should feel about your process of Tao Making.
5 MIND and HAND: When the demands of everyday life take on a freshness and clarity, your intuition will mystically reveal the eventual results of your actions. "Walk[ing] ... in freedom measures" has several meanings, including:
a.Mindfulness and deliberateness,
b. A mystic joining with the ordinary resulting in it becoming extraordinary,
c. A secret Taoist Qigong activity.
6 MIND: Wilderness: the consensual world.
7-8 HAND: Be mindful and deliberate. Live lite without hurries or worry.
9-10 MIND: This is a criticism of Confucius. Imposed rules of behavior, participating in grand rituals, wearing magic charms, and behaving according to societal dictates cannot change a man's heart.
11 MIND: "Stealing a life" means patterning your behavior after someone else. Each individual must find his or her own way.
12-13 BODY: These stanzas speak directly about the Grand Social functions of the time. Confucians believed that spiritual merit could be cultivated by engaging in polite behavior and standardized proper conduct at these functions. Taoists of the time believed that social occasions were actually warfare in disguise.