Shallow understanding is lazy and wandering

 

True depth of understanding is wide and steady,

Shallow understanding is lazy and wandering,

Words of wisdom are precise and clear,

Foolish words are petty and mean.

When we sleep, our spirits roam the earth,

when awake our bodies are alert,

whatever we encounter capture us,

day by day our hearts are struggling.

Often simple,

often deep,

often intimate.

Minor troubles make them unsettled, anxious,

Major troubles are plain and simple.

They fly off like an arrow,

convinced that they know right from wrong;

it is like one who makes a sacred promise,

standing sure and true and on their way to victory.

They give way, like autumn and winter,

decaying away with the ebb and flow of each day;

it is like a stream of water, it cannot be brought back;

they stagnate, because they are like old blocked drains,

brought on by old age,

which make their minds closed as if near death

and there is nothing which can draw their hearts into the power of the yang-

the life-giving light.

Joy and anger,

sadness and delight,

hope and disappointment;

faithlessness and certainty,

forcefulness and sloth,

eagerness and reticence,

like notes from an empty reed,

or mushrooms growing in dampness,

day and night follow each other before our eyes and we have no idea why.

Enough, enough! Morning and night exist,

Without us, they have no purpose.