world. By renouncing the world, one gets rid of the cares of the world. The result is a natural level, which is equivalent to a re-birth. And he who is re-born is near.
- To Tao.
But what inducement is there to renounce the affairs of men, to become indifferent to life?—In the first case, the physical body suffers no wear and tear; in the second, the vitality is left unharmed. And he whose physical frame is perfect and whose vitality is in its original purity,—he is one with God.
- Mens sana in corpore sano.
Heaven and earth are the father and mother of all things. When they unite, the result is shape. When they disperse, the original condition is renewed.
- As in the case of ordinary mortals.
But if body and vitality are both perfect, this state is called fit for translation.
- In the Biblical sense, as applied to Enoch.
Such perfection of vitality goes back to the minister of God.
- "Vitality" is the subtle essence, the immaterial informing principle which, united with matter, exhibits the phenomenon of life. The term has already occurred in ch. xi.
Lieh Tzŭ asked Kuan Yin,
- A sage who by some is said to have flourished five
