The Moon Pool

western slope

  Of the Werewolf Mountain scale its peak, on which

  The witches and shamans hold the yearly sabbath!

  34

  The World's Disorder

  There is great disorder in the world

  And the guilt of it is because

  Of that fondness for knowledge.

  Thus, it is that all men know

  To seek for the knowledge

  That they have not attained to;

  And do not know to seek for that

  Which they already have in themselves;

  And that they know to condemn

  What they do not approve in others,

  And do not know to condemn

  What they have allowed in themselves --

  It is this which causes the world's disorder.

  It is just as though above

  The brightness of the sun and moon

  Were darkened; as though beneath

  The productive vigour of the hills

  And streams were dried up; as if

  In the mid the operation of four seasons

  Were brought to an end, in which case

  There wouldn't be a single wriggling insect,

  Nor a plant that grows up,

  Which would not lose its appropriate nature.

  Great indeed is disorder produced

  In the world by the love of knowledge.

  From the olden times it has been so.

  The plain and honest-minded men are neglected

  While the plausible representations

  Of the restless spirits are received with pleasure;

  The quiet and unexciting methods

  Of doing-no-ado is put away while pleasure

  Taken in all ideas wordily expressed. Hence,

  Each candidate for the high-ranking office

  Should mark it well that it is garrulity of speech

  Which puts the world in disarray and disorder.

  35

  WWW or the Way to Win the World

  To win the world means to take the subtlest influence

  Of Heaven and Earth and assist with them the growth

  Of the five cereals for the better nourishment of people.

  It also means to direct the operation of opposite forces,

  So as to secure the comfort of all the human beings.

  How should one proceed to accomplish these objectives?

  According to governing the world, the vapours of clouds

  Before they were collected, would descend in rain;

  The herbs and trees would shed their leaves

  Before they became yellow; the light of the sun and moon

  Would hasten to extinction at sunset and at dawn. . .

  The mind is that of a flatterer with one’s plausible words --

  It’s not fit that should be told as the way to win the world.

  36

  Cultivation of Life

  Once I went to seek an interview with a recluse

  Who resided in his solitary hut with thatch walls

  And straw roof, and who spread in it a mat of hay --

  Ascetic life he lived. I found him lying down

  With his head to the south. With an air

  Of deferential submission, I stepped forth

  On my knees, twice bowed low with my face

  To the ground, and asked him a question, I said,

  “I have heard that you, sir, are well acquainted

  With the best way of life; so, I venture to ask

  How one should rule the body, in order that

  It may continue for a long time?” In a while

  He quietly replied: “The bodily essence

  Is always surrounded with the deepest obscurity;

  Its highest reach is in darkness and silence;

  There is nothing to be seen and nothing to be heard.

  When it holds the spirit in stillness, then

  The body itself will become perfectly correct.

  Therefore, you must be still, you must be pure,

  Not subjecting your body to toil, not agitating

  Your vital force, then you may live for long.

  When your eyes see nothing, and your ears hear nothing,

  And your mind knows nothing -- your spirit

  Will keep your body well, and the body will be in health.

  Watch over what is within yourself, shut up all channels

  And links that connect you with what is external to you

  Because much knowledge is unsaved and puts obstacles

  In your way to the Summit of the Supreme Brilliance

  Where you come to the source of the bright

  And expanding element; you will enter the Gate

  Of the Deepest Obscurity where you come to the source

  Of the darkness and repressing element. There Heaven

  And Earth have their controllers; there the entities

  Of Yin and Yang have their Sanctuaries.

  Watch over and keep your body whole and all things

  Will of themselves then give it their vigour.

  Once you maintain the original unity of the elements,

  You will dwell in the harmony of them. In this way

  You have to cultivate your Self for one hundred years,

  And your bodily shape will undergo then no decay.”

  Upon hearing this, I bowed low twice with my head

  To the very ground and said, “We have an example

  Of what is called Heaven, but. . .” In no time

  He interrupted me, saying, “I know, you want to ask

  About the external manifestations of life. Come out,

  And I will show you the heavenly way of life,

  Which is something inexhaustible, and yet

  People think it has an end; it is something unfathomable

  And yet people think its extremity can be reached.

  He who attains to it, if he is in a high position,

  Will be one of Heaven's sons, and in a lower region,

  Will be an ever-youthful Prince. One who fails

  In attaining it, in one's highest attainment

  Will see the light, but will descend to be of the earth.

  From of old, all things are produced from Earth

  And they all return to the ash and ground. Therefore,

  I will leave you alone in order you enter the Gate

  Of the Unending State to enjoy yourself wandering

  In the Dale of Illimitable. You will blend your light

  With that of the sun and the moon, and endure

  While Heaven and Earth endure. If you agree with this

  And adopt my conception for good, you will become

  Integral with it forever; if you keep far apart from it,

  Still, you will be unconscious of it; for you,

  It may all die, and you will stay alone, of your own.

  That is the whole point and profound secret

  Of what is known as the Best Way of Being. . .”

  37

  Equality

  When the sun and moon have come forth,

  If illumination have not been put out,

  Would it not be difficult for them

  To send down their light sufficed to all?

  When the seasonal rains are coming down,

  And if we still keep watering the ground,

  Would not our toil be labour lost

  For all the good it will do?

  Taking a position of responsibility,

  Shall we not be doing so for the sake

  Of fame and the name? But the name

  Is but the guest of our reality;

  So, shall we be playing the part

  Of the guest instead of the host?

  A tailor-bird makes its nest in the thicket,

  But only using one single twig;

  A mole drinks from the great volume

  Of the ground waters, but only taking

  What fills its stomach, and that's it.

/>   When the chief cook is not attending

  To his kitchen, the scullions dare not

  To leave their own stands and pots,

  For taking the place of their boss. . .

  He who does not plant himself

  Deeply enough in the right position,

  Has no chance to get on in life,

  As his place in the world will definitely

  Become indifferent to him,

  Preventing him from success available

  In accord with the Law of Equality.

  38

  A Weekly Cycle

  A seven-day week is designated

  As the five elements

  Plus the sun and moon to intimate

  Tuesday as the day of the superior

  And therefore always warring Mars

  That has a cardinal Fire classification;

  Wednesday, as related to the god

  Or the planet Mercury, representing

  Virtuous waters of the Celestial Lake;

  Thursday, as the giant Jupiter,

  Associated with the flexible, supple

  And everywhere penetrated Wood;

  Friday, as the planet Venus which

  Rises in the early morning to embody

  The spirit of slightly demonic Metal;

  Saturday, as the influential Saturn,

  The kingdom of Earth with its peaks

  High to the sky and immense dales;

  Sunday, as the incomparable sun;

  And Monday, as the mirror-like moon.

  Without doubt, the central part herein

  Pertains to Saturday, which is Sabbath,

  And which have the upper hand to reign

  All the rest elements and celestial bodies,

  Whose influential part in our appointed lot

  And everyday life cannot be ignored.

  39

  Relativity

  One man once teased me, saying:

  “I laugh at the way you compose

  Your poems, sir, like a blind man

  Who sings the praise of the sun!"

  At that, I retorted: “A blind man

  Is mostly diligent and searching;

  So, how can a blind be afraid of

  His bad fortune?” A blind man

  Has no perception of the beauty

  Of graceful and elegant figures,

  Nor a deaf of the sound of tunes.

  But is it only the bodily senses,

  Of which deafness and blindness

  Can be predicated? There is also

  A similar defect in the intelligence;

  And in these poetic lines of mine

  An illustration in itself supplied.

  Yes, eyes are all of the same form,

  I do not know any big difference

  Between them all, yet the blind,

  Alas, have no power of eyesight.

  Ears are also all of the same form;

  I do not know any big difference

  Between them all, yet the deaf,

  Alas, have no power of hearing.

  Minds are all of the same nature,

  I do not know any big difference

  Between them all, yet the mad

  Cannot make the minds of others

  Their own. My good