Insights from the Old Chinese Monk

When life begins we are tender and weak. When life ends we are stiff and rigid.
All things, the grass, the trees, the animals in life are soft and pliant. In death they are dry and brittle.
An army that cannot yield will suffer defeat and a tree that cannot bend will break.
So the soft and supple are the companions of life, while the stiff and unyielding are the companions of death.
Surrender brings perfection.
Embrace emptiness and the whole universe is yours.
The sage becomes nothing and gains everything.
Not displaying himself, he shines forth.
Not promoting himself, he is distinguished.
Not claiming reward, he gains endless merit.
Not seeking glory, his glory endures.
He knows to follow, so he is given command.
He does not compete, so no one competes with him.
Such a being rides upon the clouds and enters the sun, passing out of the world with ease, and into the Eternal.
Fear nothing except the failure to experience your true nature.
Speak nothing unless you have lived it first.
The gate of Heaven is wide open with not a single obstruction before it.
I sometimes wonder, when will I wake up? Wake up to see that there is nothing truly to fear.
What can I say that hasn't already been said?
What can I do that hasn't already been done?
The joy is simply in the Being, not being this or that.