Translation by Sifu John A. Fey
1 is there any difference in saying yes
loudly and with force and saying yes
softly with smiling eyes
2 between those words
3 whispers weighed whispered whole
4 resides the same smoothed hub of assent that is my heart
5 who are you
I am the ancient child
6 what some say is good magnificent correct
others will say is bad decadent flawed
8 know that I refuse this stultifying jest
9 and say that each day which is a beginning for you is an end for another
10 but to me at least
a thing cannot be correct
11 if indeed it is not flawed
12 am I to be compelled by false evidence and looming reality
13 when that which men truly fear is merely
themselves seen in each other
14 the next step is natural pervasive
take and put comfort in your soul
15 bodyminds at ease playing in the fires of sacrifice and growth
16 singing of success and good fortune brings nourishment to the wanderer yourself
as new growth in the spring
17 l pretend that I am floating solemnly and alone engineering quietude allowing tranquillity
18 my thoughts as grains of sand released from the hand of my mind to fall alone and restful
each thought finding its own place of stillness
19 | must form a balance between the world of man about me
and the world of man inside of me
20 if they gather then I am alone
21 if they are abundant then I am desolate
22 if they are bereft
then i bring them together in joy
23 if the white thought is exhausted then I bring them self-assurance
24 patiently I move
seeking rest for each moment in space and time conforming to the gifts of the moment like the water to the shoreline helping the families within and without
to join purposes and grasp and listen and
comprehend
25 l stand alone
26 for even in a crowd
my simple way is innocently direct and elemental
and unique
by that I am singular
rendered aimless and complete
as I absorb the earth's yellow center and lifeforce
1-2 HEART: This is a backhanded injunction for the Cultivator to give himself over to the Taoist lifestyle. In answer to the stated question, "Is there any difference?," the answer is, "No." No matter what the intent, the affirmative is the same.
3 HAND: The English words "weighed" and "whole" were chosen, in part, because their sounds reflect the mystic Taoist sounds that the Cultivator makes in order to stimulate his heart (hway) and his spirit (ho).
4 HAND: Softly aspirating those sounds from stanza
3 balance the heart and the shen (spirit) of the Cultivator. The heart-spirit is "the smoothed hub of assent" to the Tao.
5 HEART: It is a fundamental Taoist concept that, if you are a Taoist, you ultimately have the ability to channel the spirit and personality of Lao-tzu.
6-11 MIND and HEART: These stanzas detail the dichotomy and the interplay of yin and yang. They put forth the Taoist concept of the perfection of imperfection.
12 MIND: "False evidence" in this case is someone else's reasoning or someone else's truth. This reasoning and truth can engender only fear in the Cultivator.
"Looming reality" is the result of falling
under the sway of the false evidence.
13 MIND: This is a Taoist way of saying, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
14-15 HAND: The Taoist soul is a vital part of the self and is the Cultivator's emissary to the Tao Source of Life.
16 MIND: This is a definition of fundamental Taoist optimism.
17 HAND: These are instructions in the first stage of a Taoist meditation.
18 HAND: This is the second stage of that same meditation in which the Cultivator practices non-attachment to thought.
19-22 HAND and BODY: This is the third stage of the meditation. It is also an injunction of how to behave toward others.
23 HAND and BODY: In esoteric Taoist physiology, white is the color associated with the lungs.
"White thought in this instance is excessive thinking or unbridled intellectual speculation that destroys the life-force energy of the lungs and eventually that of the kidneys.
24 HAND: "The families" in this instance are the Cultivator's inner and outer worlds. These are instructions to the Cultivator to engage in mindful activity in order to bridge those worlds.
25 HAND: This is Taoist meditation instruction: find a spot in nature and, simply, stand alone.
26 HAND: These are specific qigong instructions. The Taoist Cultivator standing alone actively imagines that he is absorbing the earth's life-force directly into his bodymind. The life-force is envisioned as being yellow, which is the color associated with the spleen and with
"the center" in Chinese Five Element Theory.