The Three Principle Texts of Daoism translated by ... - Bad Request

that belongs to Earth is dense and tending toconglomeration. When the spirit parts from the body,each of these elements resumes its true nature. That iswhy disembodied spirits are called kuei, which means“returning”, that is, returning to their true dwellingplace:“The region of the Great Void."The Yellow Emperor said: “If my spirit returns throughthe gates whence it came, and my bones go back to thesource from which they sprang, where does the Egocontinue to exist?"notes[1] This passage does not occur in the Tao Tê Ching.[2] A paradoxical way of stating that there is no beginning and no end.Ages of ManBETWEEN his birth and his latter end, man passesthrough four chief stages: infancy, adolescence, old ageand death. In infancy, the vital force is concentrated, thewill is undivided, and the general harmony of the systemis perfect. External objects produce no injuriousimpression, and to the moral nature nothing can beadded. In adolescence, the animal passions are wildlyexuberant, the heart is filled with rising desires andpreoccupations. The man is open to attack by the objects