If you give up learning, troubles end.
How much difference is there
beween yes and no?
And is there a difference
between lovely and ugly?
If we can’t stop fearing
those things people fear,
it’s pure confusion, never-ending confusion.
People all radiate such joy,
happily offering a sacrificial ox
or climbing a tower in spring.
But I go nowhere and reveal nothing,
like a newborn child who has yet to smile,
aimless and worn out
as if the way home were lost.
People all have enough and more.
But I’m abandoned and destitute,
an absolute simpleton, this mind of mine so utterly
muddled and blank.
Others are bright and clear:
I’m dark and murky.
Others are confident and effective:
I’m pensive and withdrawn,
uneasy as boundless seas
or perennial mountain winds.
People all have a purpose in life,
but I’m inept, thoroughly useless and backward.
I’ll never be like other people:
I keep to the nurturing mother.