Chapter 50
"Exiting life, we enter death.
The followers of life are three out of ten, the followers of death are three out of ten; in the lives of the people, the dying grounds on which they are agitated are also three out of ten.
What is the reason?
Because of the seriousness with which they take life as life.
It has been said that those who maintain life well do not meet rhinos or tigers on land and do not arm themselves in war.
There is no way for rhinos to gore them; there is no way for tigers to claw them; there is no way for weapons to get at them.
Why?
Because they have no dying ground."
- Translated by Thomas Cleary, Chapter 50
"Life is a going forth; death is a returning home.
Of ten, three are seeking life, three are seeking death, and three are dying.
What is the reason?
Because they live in life's experience. (Only one is immortal.)
I hear it said that the sage when he travels is never attacked by rhinoceros or tiger, and when coming among soldiers does not fear their weapons.
The rhinoceros would find no place to horn him, nor the tiger a place for his claws, nor could soldiers wound him.
What is the reason?
Because he is invulnerable."
- Translated by Dwight Goddard, Chapter 50
"From coming out to life to going back to death:
Those companions (t'u) of life,
They are one-third (shih-yu-san);
Those companions of death,
They are one-third;
Those living but moving toward the place of death,
They are also one-third.
Why?
Because of the intense (hou) life-producing activity.
I have heard that one who knows how to nourish life,
On land meets no tigers or wild buffaloes,
In battle needs to wear no armors or weapons,
A wild buffalo has nowhere to butt its horns,
A tiger has nowhere to sink its claws,
A weapon has nowhere to enter its blade.
Why?
Because such a one has no place of death."
- Translated by Ellen M. Chen, Chapter 50
"People are born on the Earth and die.
Out of ten about three continue then paradisiacal existence; three go to hell by the path of death; and three yet are those who have not succeeded in the development of soul due to attachments to worldly affairs.
He who mastered the true life when living on the Earth is not afraid of rhinoceros or tigers; in the battle he is not afraid of armed soldiers.
A rhinoceros has no place to plunge its horn into him, a tiger has no place to fasten its claws onto him, soldiers have no place to stab him with swords.
It is so, because to him there is no death."
- Translated by Vladimir Antonov, Chapter 50
"Anyone who is born dies.
If 13 people are born
All 13 people will eventually die.
From birth to life,
From life to death,
The great earth will afford the places to live and to die
for exactly 13.
Why is this so?
It is because the mind cherishes the belief
that living is a privilege and not a natural right.
I have heard that those who are good at conserving and preserving life
Seldom meet tigers and horned animals when they move around.
If they should join the military forces,
They would not have the need to combat.
Horned animals will have no way to cast their horns on their bodies,
Nor will tigers find a place to lay their claws.
Even soldiers' swords will not hurt them.
Why is this so?
Because such people will never die."
- Translated by Lok Sang Ho, Chapter 50
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