Men's life between Heaven and Earth

Is like a white colt's passing a cleft --

All of a sudden disappearing in its black.

As with a plunge and an effort

Men all come forth -- easily and quietly

They all enter again their primordial position.

By a transformation they live, and

By another transformation they die.

All living beings are made sad by death,

While the humans grieve for it most.

But it is only the removal of an arrow

From its quiver, and the emptying

The natural space of its contents.

There may be some confusion amidst

The yielding to the change, but the celestial

And the earthly souls are taking their leave.

Like the arrows from their tight bow

They fly away to their opposites in direction,

To its well known destination, dust.

That point of transformation is what

Is called the Great Returning Home.