Can you keep your crescent soul from wandering
can you make your breath as soft as a baby’s
can you wipe your dark mirror free of dust
can you serve and govern without effort
can you be the female at Heaven’s Gate
can you light the world without knowledge
can you give birth and nurture
but give birth without possessing
raise without controlling
this is Dark Virtue
Lao-tzu’s Tao Teching
Interpreted by Red Pine
Hold fast to the Power of the One
It will unify the body
and merge it with the spirit
It will cleanse the vision
and reveal the world as flawless
It will focus the life-force
and make one supple as a newborn
As you love the people and rule the state
can you be free of self-interest?
As the gates of Heaven open and close
can you remain steadfast as a mother bird
who sit§ with her nest?
As your wisdom reaches the four corners of the world
can you keep the innocence of a beginner?
Know this Primal Power
that guides without forcing
that serves without seeking
that brings forth and sustains life
yet does not own or possess it
One who holds this Power
brings Tao to this very Earth
He can triumph over a raging fire
or the freeze of winter weather
Yet when he comes to rule the world
it’s with the gentleness of a feather
Lao-tzu’s Tao Teching
Interpreted by Jonathan Star
Lao-tzu’s Tao Teching
Interpreted by Jonathan Star
The Chinese say that the hun, or bright, ethereal, yang soul, governs the upper body and the ph or dark, earthly, yin soul, concerns itself with the lower body. Here, Lao-tzu mentions only the darker soul. But the word p’o also refers to the dark of the moon, and the opening phrase can also be read as referring to the first day of the new moon. Either way, dark of the soul or dark of the moon, Taoist commentators say the first line refers to the protection of our vital essence, of which semen and vaginal fluid, sweat and saliva are the most common examples, and the depletion of which injures the health and leads to early death.
HSUAN-TSUNG says, “The first transformation of life is called p’o. When the p’o becomes active and bright, it’s called hun.”
WANG PANG says, “Life requires three things: vital essence, breath, and spirit’
CHIAO HUNG Says, “The mind knows right and wrong. Breath makes no distinction. If we concentrate our breath and don t let the mind interfere with it, it remains soft and pure. Who else but a child can do this?”
CHUANG-TZU says, “The sage’s mind is so still, it can mirror Heaven and Earth and reflect the ten thousand things” (Chuangtzu:13.1).
WU CH’ENG says, “Our spirit dwells in our eyes. When the eyes see something, the spirit chases it. When we close our eyes and look within, everything is dark. But within the dark, we still see something. There is still dust. Only by putting an end to delusions can we get rid of the dust.”
WANG AN-SHIN says, “The best way to serve is by not serving. The best way to govern is by not governing. Hence, Lao-tzu says, `without effort’ Those who govern without effort act without effort make use of the efforts of others. As for Heaven’s Gate, this is the gate through which all creatures enter and leave. When it is open, it is active. When it is closed, it is still. Activity and stillness represent the male and the female. Just as stillness overcomes activity, the female overcomes the male. (The images of young women were often carved on either side of the entrance to ancient, subterranean tombs.)
SU CH’E says, “What lights up the world is the mind. There is nothing the mind does not know. And yet no one can know the mind. The mind is one. If someone knew it, there would be two. Going from one to two is the origin of all delusion’
LAO-TZU says, “The Way begets them / Virtue keeps them’ (Taoteching: 51).
WANG PI says, “If we don’t obstruct their source, things come into existence on their own. If we don’t suppress their nature, things mature by themselves. Virtue is present, but its owner is unknown. It comes from the mysterious depths. Hence, we call it `dark:”
The first line has had numerous interpretations, to which I have added yet another. Most commentators agree that the character tsai should be placed at the beginning of this verse, instead of at the end of the previous verse, where it would function as equivalent to a punctuation mark indicating a rhetorical question. Tsai normally means “carry,” but it can also mean “newly,” as in the phrases are the most common examples, tsai-sheng-p’o, “newly born dark moon/soul, or as Lao-tzu uses it here, tsai-ying-p’o, “newly lit dark moon/soul.” In lines four and six, a number of editions invert “effort” and “knowledge.’ I have followed the edition of Ho-shang Kung and the arguments of Lo Chen-yu and Kao Heng in preferring the arrangement here. After line eight, most editions add wei-er pu-shih, “develop without depending, which also appears in a similar sequence in verses a and 51 in some editions. I have followed the Mawangtui texts in omitting this line. This verse, which expresses Lao-tzu’s yogic regimen more than any other in the Taoteching, is absent from the Kuotien texts.
[1 ] Chinese held the view that there were two souls: hun, the bright, spiritual, yang soul, which is associated with the upper body; and p’o, the dark, physical, earthly, yin soul, which is associated with the lower body. (In this passage only p’o is mentioned, but this can imply both the physical (p’o) and spiritual (hun) souls.) Po is variously translated as: “physical soul,” “bodily soul,” “animal nature,” and “dark of the soul.” Implied meanings are “vitality,” “sexual fluid” (which must be protected), “senses,” “instincts,” and “crescent moon” (Pine), Po can also refer to the darkness of the moon,
[2] Tsai ying p’o pao yi ndng wu li: “Can you keep the spirit and embrace the One without departing from them?” (Chan); “Carrying vitality and consciousness, embracing them as one, can you keep them from parting?” (Cleary); “In keeping the spirit and the vital soul together, are you able to maintain their perfect harmony?” (Wu); “In managing your instincts and embracing Oneness, can you be undivided?” (Wing); “By causing the reason-mind-soul and the human-mind-soul to be united (at the Middle), it is possible to prevent their dissolution.” (Tze); “Can you hold fast your crescent soul and not let it wander?” (Pine)
[3] Hsuan Ian: “Mystic vision” (Yutang) (Blakney) (Lin), “Mysterious Vision” (Cheng), “inner vision” (Wu), “Primal vision” (Feng),”profound insight” (Chan), “the abstruse reflections [of his mind]” (Ku), “vision of the Mystery” (Waley), “hidden perception” (Chan), “the channels of deep perception” (Mears), “secret seeing” (Wilhelm), “mind of phantasms” (Medhurst), “the dark look” (Erkes), “mirror of the dark” (Chen), “Mysterious mirror (i.e., the mind)” (Lau), “secret mirror” (Duy), “dark mirror” (Chung); “insight” (Wing), “eye of the heart” (Chalmers), “Mystical Mirror”—the imaging line that divides the conscious from the so-called unconscious (Ould)
[4] Wu chih: Refers to the state of a beginner: innocence, openness, and humility. It is a state in which one is not burdened, limited, or closed off (to his true nature) by his own knowledge. Zen calls this state “beginner’s mind.” It is a state of unlimited possibilities and infinite potential.
[5]Tien men k ai ho: “The opening and closing of Heaven’s gate” represents a pair of opposites, possibly gain and loss, ups and downs of life, good fate and bad fate, or attraction and aversion—all in the realm of the senses.
[6]Neng wei tz’u hu: “Playing the role, or acting the part of the female” refers to a state of holding to one’s one nature (represented by the bird’s nest), or the steadfast devotion to one’s duty (as a mother bird who never abandons the hatchlings in her nest). Feminine can also be interpreted as being patient, passive, humble, and content where you are—all Taoist virtues. This line can also be interpreted as: Can you accept what life offers you? Can you stay centered? Can you remain steadfast in your duty? Can you stay calm within yourself? Can you remain content in your place?
[6a] “Like the Ocean when it is calm and placid, the wise man is tranquil, poised, deep in knowledge. The brimful ocean does not overflow nor do the rivers dry up; similarly the wise man, his heart united with God, remains calm and unchanged amidst the opposites of life.”—Shrimad Bhagavatam
[7]Hsuan te: “Profound Teh ” (Cheng), “Mysterious Te” (LaFargue), “profound Teh, which is Tao in manifestation,” (Au),”profoundest virtue of TAO” (Wei-Tao), “mystic attainment” (Chung), “Deepest Truth” (Janwu), “secret Life” (Wilhelm), “mysterious integrity” (Mair), “Mystic Virtue” (Yutang) (Wei), “profound and secret virtue” (Chan), “profound virtue” (Lin), “dark virtue” (Chen), “hidden Virtue” (Wu), “Primal Virtue” (Feng), “Mysterious Power” (Waley), “Subtle Powers” (Wing), “the abyss of energy”
(Medhurst)
NOTE: Much of this verse relates to the mystical practice of integrating opposites into unity by holding the boundless point where the pairs of opposites meet. Lines 1-3 relate to the breath and the still-point between the breathing in and breathing out. Lines 4-6 relate to the soul and the integration of physical and spiritual souls. Lines 7-10 relate to the mind and integration of the heart and mind and/or the conscious and unconscious mind.
NOTE: Line 10:66-10:69 is also found at the end of verse 51. Some commentators have omitted this line here, believing it was erroneously inserted.
玄
鑒
