no one knew her origin, no one knows her end.
Peng Tsu obtained it and was able to live from the time of Shun to that of the Five Lords.
Fu Yueh obtained it and was able to become the Prime Minister of Wu Ting,
so he controlled all under Heaven.
Then, riding upon one constellation, he climbed upon another and soared to the Milky Way to dwell as a star.
Nan Po Tzu Kuei said to Nu Chu, ‘Master, you are old, yet your appearance is one of youthfulness. Why is this?’
The reply came, ‘I have studied the Tao.’
‘Can I study how to obtain the Tao?’
The reply was, ‘Definitely not! Most definitely not! You are not the kind of man who could do this.
‘Now there was Pu Liang Yi, who had the genius of a sage but not the Tao. I have the Tao, but not the genius. I wanted to teach him in order that he might become a sage. It seemed as if teaching the Tao to a man of genius would be easy. But no! I taught him for three days and he was able to ignore worldly matters. Having dispensed with worldly matters, I continued to teach him for seven days, so that he was able to ignore all external matters. Having disposed of all external matters, I continued to teach him for nine days, whereupon he could observe his own being as irrelevant. Having discerned his own self as irrelevant, he saw with true clarity. Having seen with true clarity, he could see by the One. Seeing by the One, he could ignore both past and present. Having ignored both past and present he was able to enter where there is neither death nor birth. The end of life is not death, and the coming to birth is not life. He could follow anything, he could receive anything. To him, all was being destroyed, all was being built. This is known as Tranquillity in Struggle. Tranquillity in Struggle means perfection.’
Na Po Tzu Kuei said, ‘Master, where did you learn this?’
‘I learned it through the medium of the spirit of writing; writing learned it from the offspring of continuous study; continuous study learned it from clarity of vision; clarity of vision heard it from quiet agreement; quiet agreement from being used; being used from great enjoyment; great enjoyment from deepest mystery; deepest mystery from absorption in mystery; absorption in mystery from the ultimate.’
The Masters, Ssu, Yu, Li and Lai, said one to another, ‘Anyone who can conceive of nothingness as his head, life as his back and death as his tail and who knows that death and birth, being and no-being, are one and the same – one like this shall be our friend.’ The four men smiled and agreed in their hearts and therefore became friends.
Shortly after, Master Yu fell ill. Master Ssu went to visit him and Yu said, ‘How great is the Maker of All! He has made me deformed. My back is like a hunchback’s, and all my organs are on top while my chin is lost in my navel and my shoulders rise up above my head and my topknot points to Heaven!’ His yin and yang were in disarray. However, his heart was calm and he was not worried. He limped to a well and looked in at his reflection and said, ‘Goodness me! The Maker of All has made me completely deformed!’
‘Do you dislike it?’ asked Master Ssu.
‘Not really, why should I? For example, perhaps my left arm will become a cockerel and then I shall be able to tell the time at night. Maybe, eventually, my right arm will become a crossbow and then I can hunt a bird and eat it. Possibly my bottom will become wheels and my soul will be a horse which I shall climb upon and go for a ride. After all, I wouldn’t then need any other vehicle again! I obtained life because the time was right. I will lose life because it is time. Those who go quietly with the flow of nature are not worried by either joy or sorrow. People like these were considered in the past as having achieved freedom from bondage. Those who cannot free themselves are constrained by things. However, nothing can overcome Heaven – it has always been so. So why should I dislike this?’
Later Master Lai fell ill. Gasping and heaving, he lay close to death. His wife and children were mourning around him. Master Li came to see him and Master Lai said, ‘Hush, get out! Do you want to disrupt the processes of change?’
Leaning against the doorway Li commented,
‘How great is the Maker of All!
What will you be made into next?
Where will you be sent?
Will you come back as a rat’s liver?
Or will it be as a pest’s arm?’
Master Lai said,
‘When a mother and father tell a child to go somewhere,
be that east, west, south or north, the child obeys.
Yin and yang are the mother and father of humanity.
They have brought me close to death
and if I disobey this would be just perversity.
My death is not their problem!
The cosmos gives me form, brings me to birth,
guides me into old age and settles me in death.
If I think my life good, then I must think my death good.
A good craftsman, casting metal,
would not be too pleased with metal that jumped up and said,
“I must be made into a sword like Mo Yeh.”31
Now, given that I have been bold enough
to take on human shape already, if I then said,
“I must be a human, I must be a human!”,
the Maker of All would view me somewhat askance!
If Heaven and Earth are like a furnace and Nature is the craftsman,
then is it possible he could send me anywhere that was not appropriate?
Peacefully we die, calmly we awake.’
Masters Sang Hu, Meng Tzu Fan and Chin Chang, three good friends, said to each other,
‘Who can be together without any being together,
or collaborate with others without
