Once I went to seek an interview with a recluse

Who resided in his solitary hut with thatch walls

I found him lying down with his head to the south;

With an air of deferential submission,

I stepped forth on my knees, thrice bowed low

With my face to the ground, and asked him,

“I have heard that you, sir, are well acquainted

With the best way of life; so, I venture to ask

How one should rule the body, in order that

It may continue for a long time?” He quietly replied:

“The bodily essence is always surrounded

With the deepest obscurity; its highest reach

Is in darkness and silence; there is nothing to be seen;

Nothing to be heard. When it holds the spirit in stillness,

Then the body itself will become perfectly correct.

Therefore, you must be still; you must be pure;

Not subjecting your body to toil, not agitating

Your vital force, then you may live for long.

When your eyes see nothing, your ears hear nothing,

And your mind knows nothing, your spirit

Will keep your body, and the body will be in health.

Watch over what is within you, shut up the channels

And links that connect you with what is external—

Much knowledge is unsaved and puts obstacles

In your way to the Summit of the Supreme Brilliance

Where you come to the source of the bright

And expanding element; you will enter the Gate

Of the Deepest Obscurity where you come to the source

Of the dark and repressing element. There Heaven

And Earth have their controllers; there the entities

Of Yin and Yang have their Repositories. Watch over

And keep your body whole and all things

Will of themselves give it vigour. Once you maintain

The original unity of these elements, you will dwell

In the harmony of them. In this way you have

To cultivate yourself for one hundred and twenty years,

And your bodily shape will undergo then no decay.”

Upon hearing this, I bowed low thrice with my head

To the very ground and said, “We have an example

Of what is called Heaven. . .” In no time the recluse

Interrupted me, saying, “I know, you want to ask me

About the external manifestations of life. Come out,

And I will show you the heavenly way of life, which

Is something inexhaustible, and yet men all think

It has an end; it is something unfathomable, and yet

Men all think its extreme limit can be reached.

He who attains to it, if he is in a high position,

Will be one of Heaven’s sons, and in a lower region,

Will be an ever-youthful prince. One who fails

In attaining it, in one’s highest attainment

Will see the light, but will descend to be of the earth.

At present all things are produced from Earth

And they all return to the earth. Therefore,

I will leave you alone in order you enter the Gate

Of the Unending to enjoy yourself wandering

In the Dale of Illimitable. You will blend your light

With that of the sun and moon, and endure

While Heaven and Earth endure. If you agree with this

And adopt my conception for good, you will become

Unconsciously integral with it; if you keep

Far apart from it, still, you will be unconscious of it;

For you, it may all die, and you will stay of your own.

That is the whole point and profound secret

Of what is known as ‘the best way of being.’”