Verses



4 – The Sage (Apparent Knowledge)

Chapters
                 

40) Alone.
Only the sage does not know.
Alone, he neither has nor seeks powers.
The memories come from the Void.
In seeing, he has no eyes; in hearing, he has no ears.
His hands embrace all things, but each thing is illusion.
He has neither comprehension nor words to use for himself.
The slightest blows wound him.
The strongest blows pass through him.
41) In his simplicity, he changes all things. He does not dream and, like a child, seems to make no sense.
42) He experiences harmonies and apparent disharmonies in the world of form but does not fall, nor give up, nor suffer. The only suffering, that of the world.
43) Every attribute will be negated, to affirm or to negate is not to possess. Every explanation is a thought, every thought is sterile. There is no having, no being, nothing to be unhappy about. Only relativity is absolute. Permanent and impermanent are one. Love, no essence, no words. Non-being lies in the lost memory of the sentient being: it is the key to the gate which leads to the Absolute. Wisdom lies well beyond this verse, which, due to its “wisdom,” knows this and speaks of this.
44) If he appears, it is not him.
If he disappears, he has arrived.
If he creates chaos and confusion, he is dictating the Law.
If he puts everything in order, watch out: he is preparing chaos.
If he looks to the North, look to the South: destruction will come from there.
If he looks to the South, look to the North: salvation will come from there.
45) The beginning of the path is certain, knowing that the end lies… at the beginning. Once you are aware and have reached the destination, the path begins.
46) He embraces the world with what, in him, has no hands. It is love.
47) Once the meaning and worth of the Soul has been realized, the path reveals itself to be the One Way; the path you have traveled, your own divine freedom. The direction, the sentient being itself. Do not be deceived by the reasons of the mind, or the waters will freeze in a rigid winter: those who listen will have to wait for the light as they sleep.
48) The path which follows the thread has never been followed, it was waiting for you. The Gate which has never been passed through has told you of Its Presence. It was never separated from you, it led to All Things.
49) The reality that you know is the reality of the three mirrors, the fourth is the thread to be followed, the fifth is the Gate. Here all is present, in the universe, even if later it will be absent.