When my time was ripe I said

To the warden of the Gates of Heaven,

'The true man walks under water

Without encountering any obstruction

And treads on fire without being burned

And walks on high above all things

Without any fear. Let me ask you, Sir,

How come that he attains to do such feats?'

The warden replied, 'It's by his keeping

Of the original vigour of life;

It's not to be described as an achievement

Of his skill or daring. The point is that

Whatever has form, semblance, sound

And colour is a tangible thing; so, how can

One thing come to be different from another?'

Then he briskly added, 'Take the case

Of a drunken man falling by chance

From his staircase -- though he may

Suffer injury of that, he will not die.

His bones and joints are the same

As those of other men, but the injury

Which he receives is different because

His spirit is entire. He knew nothing

About his getting on the staircase and

Knew nothing about his falling from it.

'The clue is that any thought of death

Or life, or of any alarm or affright,

Does not enter his heart, and hence

He encounters the mortal danger

Without any shrinking from it.

Completely under the influence of wine

He has drunk, it is thus with him --

How much more would it be so if he were

Under the influence of Heaven's will!

'For this reason, the sagely minded man

Is kept hidden in the heavenly part

Of his constitution, not in the lower part

And so, nothing can injure him too much.'