Verse Fifty Two

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From: jimclatfelter
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008

Verse Fifty Two
Witter Bynner, 1944

The source of life
Is as a mother.
Be fond of both mother and children but know the mother dearer
And you outlive death.
Curb your tongue and senses
And you are beyond trouble,
Let them loose
And you are beyond help.
Discover that nothing is too small for clear vision,
Too insignificant for tender strength
Use outlook
And insight,
Use them both
And you are immune:
For you have witnessed eternity.

Verse Fifty Two
Brian Browne Walker, 1996

The origin and mother of everything in the world is Tao.
Know the mother and you can know the children.
Having known the children, return to their source and hold on to her. Abiding by the mother, you are free from danger,
even when your body dies.
Don't live for your senses.
Close your mouth, close all the body's openings,
and reside in the original unity.
In this way you can pass your life in peace and contentment.
Open your mouth, increase your activities,
start making distinctions between things,
and you'll toil forever without hope.
See the subtle and be illuminated.
Abide in gentleness and be strong.
Use your light, and return to insight.
Don't expose yourself to trouble.
This is following Tao.

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From: simon
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008

Quote:
Use outlook
And insight,
Use them both
And you are immune:
For you have witnessed eternity.

Are you sure, Jim, that Lao Tzu never attended a workshop?

Quote:
Discover that nothing is too small for clear vision,
Too insignificant for tender strength

This is beautiful, "tender strength" sums it up wonderfully

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From: jimclatfelter
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008

Hi Simon,

Maybe Lao Tzu gave workshops. Lao Tzu is the legendary author of the Tao Te Ching. Who knows who the real authors were? It's likely the book comes from a group source, maybe a group that had developed ways of demonstrating insight and outlook through direct experience. Meditation? Experiments? It seems entirely possible.

I like how he repeats the mother and children theme of verse one. The mother is the inlook, the ground and source. The children are the manifestations. He tells us to love the mother first. If we do, we are free from danger even when we die. Great metaphors that jibe perfectly with headless seeing.

Jim

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