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

Learning MagicLAO CH'ÊNG TZU went to learn magic from thevenerable Yin Wên. After a period of three years, havingobtained no communication, he humbly askedpermission to go home. Yin Wên bowed, and led himinto the inner apartment. There, having dismissed hisattendants, he spoke to him as follows: “Long ago, whenLao Tzu was setting out on his journey to the West, headdressed me and said: “All that has the breath of life,all that possesses bodily form, is mere illusion. The pointat which creation begins, the change effected by theDual Principles—these are called respectively Life andDeath. That which underlies the manifold workings ofDestiny is called Evolution; that which produces andtransforms bodily substance is called Illusion. Theingenuity of the Creative Power is mysterious, and itsoperations are profound. In truth, it is inexhaustible andeternal.The ingenuity of that which causes material form ispatent to the eye, and its operations are superficial.Therefore it arises anon, and anon it vanishes." Only onewho knows that Life is really Illusion, and that Death isreally Evolution, can begin to learn magic from me. Youand I are both illusions. What need, then, to make astudy of the subject?“If a person wishes to make a study of illusion, in spite of