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
"The Source gives life and penetrates death.
Life is a companion to the four directions that exist within Heaven, Humanity and Earth.
Death is a companion to the four directions that exist within Heaven, Humanity and Earth.
People are born, live, and die, on earth, also as companions to the four directions that exist within Heaven, Humanity and Earth.
What is the purpose?
To give life.
To give life abundantly.
Indeed, we have heard of people who are good at sustaining life.
On land they travel and do not encounter rhinoceroses.
Tigers enter the battlefield and they do not need to wear armor or carry weapons.
Rhinoceroses have no place to butt with their horns.
Tigers have no place to put their claws.
Soldiers have no place to thrust their blades.
How can this be so?
Because of the not-dying Earth."
- Translated by Alan Sheets, Chapter 50
"Men go forth into life, And return in death.
Out of ten men, three prolong their life (through cleanliness), three hasten their death (through their excesses), three compromise their life by the attachment they have to it, (And only one stays alive until his term, because he is not attached to it).
He who is not attached to his life, does not turn aside to avoid an encounter with a rhinoceros or a tiger; he throws himself into the fray without armour or weapons;
And he comes to no harm because he is proof against the rhinoceros horn, the tiger's claws, And weapons of combat.
Why is this? ...
Because, exteriorized through his indifference, death cannot take a hold on him."
- Translated by Derek Bryce, Chapter 50
"People born into life enter death.
Constant companion in life
and in death,
this body is the kill-site animating their lives.
And isn't that because
they think life is the fullness of life?
I've heard those who encompass the whole of life
could walk on and on without meeting rhinoceros or tiger,
could charge into armies without feeling shield or sword.
A rhinoceros would find nowhere to gore them,
a tiger nowhere to claw them,
a sword nowhere to slice them.
And isn't that because
for them there's no kill-site?"
- Translated by David Hinton, Chapter 50
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