55

He who possesses virtue in abundance resembles a newborn child wasps don’t sting him beasts don’t claw him birds of prey don’t carry him off his bones are weak and his tendons soft yet his grip is firm he hasn’t known the union of sexes yet his penis is stiff so full of essence is he he cries all day yet never gets hoarse his breath is so perfectly balanced knowing how to be balanced we endure knowing how to endure we become wise while those who lengthen their life tempt luck and those who force their breath become strong but once things mature they become old this isn’t the Way what isn’t the Way ends early

WANG P’ANG says, “The nature of Virtue is lasting abundance. But its abundance fades with the onset of thoughts and desires.”

SU CH’E says, “Once we have a mind, we have a body. And once we have a body, we have enemies. If we did not have a mind, we would not have enemies and could not be harmed. The reason a newborn child isn’t harmed is because it has no mind.”

HO-SHANG KUNG says, “A newborn child doesn’t harm anyone, and no one harms it. In an age of perfect peace, Humankind knows neither noble nor base. Even wild beasts do people no harm.”

TE-CH’ING says, “Those who cultivate the Tao should first focus their mind. When their mind doesn’t stray, they become calm. When their mind becomes calm, their breath becomes balanced. When their breath becomes balanced, their essence becomes stable, their spirit becomes serene, and their true nature is restored. Once we know how to breathe, we know how to endure. And once we know how to endure, we know our true nature. If we don’t know our true nature but only know how to nourish our body and lengthen our life, we end up harming our body and destroying our life. A restless mind disturbs the breath. When our breath is disturbed, our essence weakens. And when our essence weakens, our body withers.”

HSUN-TZU says, “Everything must breathe to live. When we know how to breathe, we know how to nurture life and how to endure” (Hsuntzu: 17).

SUNG CH’ANG-HSING says, “The basis of life rests on this breath. If people can nourish the pure and balanced breath within themselves for fifteen minutes, they will discover the principle of Heaven and Earth’s immortality. If they can do this for half an hour, they will enter the gate of eternity. But if they try to extend their life or force their breath, they will create the womb of their own destruction.”

WANG AN-SHIH says, “Life cannot be extended. But people keep trying and thus incur misfortune.”

MOU-TZU says, “Those who attain the Way don’t become active and don’t become strong. They don’t become strong and don’t become old. They don’t become old and don’t become ill. They don’t become ill and don’t decay. Thus, Lao-tzu calls the body a disaster” (Moutzu: 32).

Scientists talk about the Big Bang. No one talks about the Big Breath. The Mawangtui and Kuotien texts compress lines three through five into two lines. In lines thirteen and fourteen, I have followed Huainantzu: 2 and the Huangti Neiching: 69–70 in reading ho (gentle/balanced) as short for ho-ch’i (gentle/balanced breath). Neither the Mawangtui texts nor the Kuotien texts have chih (to know how) at the beginning of line fourteen. But all later editions do, and without it, the line itself is unbalanced. Line fifteen also appears in verse 16, and the last three lines also occur at the end of verse 30 (although my translation of them varies). The Kuotien texts omit the last line.