Sublime

The calligraphy on the front of the binding reads nyorai in Japanese or tathagata in Sanskrit. This is a name for Buddha which means “he who has followed the path, who has returned from suchness, or is suchness, thus-ness, is-ness, emptiness, the fully completed one.”

LI HSI-CHAI says, “The ancient masters of the Way had no ambition. Hence, they dulled their edges and did not insist on anything. They had no fear. Hence, they untied every tangle and avoided nothing. They did not care about beauty. Hence, they softened their light and forgot about themselves. They did not hate ugliness. Hence, they merged with the

Of such renunciates, Cold Mountain says, “Dressed in sky-flower clothes / wearing tortoise-hair shoes / clutching rabbit-horn bows / they hunt the ghosts of delusion.”

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But his name was not Lao-tzu, which means “Old Master.” Ssu-ma Ch’ien says his family name was Li, his personal name was Erh (meaning “ear,” hence, learned), and his posthumous name was Tan (meaning “long-eared,” hence, wise).

LU HUI-CH’ING says, “Dark and unfathomable is yin. Bright and perceptible is yang. As soon as we are born, we all turn our back on the dark and unfathomable yin and turn toward the bright and perceptible yang. Fortunately, we keep ourselves in harmony with the breath between them.