The Perfect One from the Northern Gate said to the Yellow Ancestor:
— You, lord, performed the melody “Sunrise” in the vastness of Lake Dongting. I began to listen to her and at first I was afraid, then I indulged in inaction, and in the end I became confused. Excited, he was silent and could not control himself for a long time.
“You are close to the truth,” answered the Yellow Ancestor. “I composed this melody with the help of the human, tuned the qin with the help of the natural, performed it with the help of rituals and duty, filled it with great purity. After all, a real melody first corresponds to human affairs, is consistent with natural laws, is carried out with the help of the five virtues, and corresponds to naturalness; then it brings to harmony the four seasons, to great unity - the whole darkness of things. One season gives way to another, and accordingly all the darkness of things is born, now flourishing, now withering, with a constant distribution of civil and military affairs. The transparent ether and the cloudy ether are harmoniously united with the help of the forces of heat and cold, and their sound is heard in the streams of light. To make the insects wake up from hibernation, I wake them up with thunderclaps. An end without an outcome, a beginning without a beginning. Now death, now birth, now decline, now rise - these phenomena are constant and endless, but each time unexpected, that’s why you were scared.
I played the melody again, uniting the forces of heat and cold, and illuminated it with the radiance of the sun and moon. The sounds are now intermittent, now drawn-out, now gentle, now harsh, they all change in unity. There is constancy in them, because there is no dominant one. In a valley, sounds fill the entire valley; in a basin, sounds fill the entire basin. The scope of the melody is determined by the volume of the thing; block all the cracks - and its strength will remain. It is wide and free, its name is high and light. Therefore, the souls of ancestors and gods will remain in darkness, and the sun and moon, planets and stars will move forward in their own order. I stopped with those who have a limit, I moved with those who are infinite. I thought about them, but could not comprehend them; looked at them, but could not see them; followed them, but could not catch up with them. I stood thoughtlessly on the way to the four voids, leaning on a tall plane tree, and sang. The vision was exhausted in the desire to see everything, the strength was exhausted in the desire to catch up with everything. I was unable to achieve everything, and my body was filled with emptiness and calmed down, which is why you calmed down and indulged in inaction.
I started playing again, without being lazy, connecting the melody with natural life. The sounds followed randomly, formless, as if in the thickets of a forest melody. Spreading widely, but not stretching out, gloomy, vague, almost soundless, it did not come from anywhere, lingering in deep darkness. Some called it dying, others - birth; some are fruit, others are flowering. In movement, in the flow, she scattered, moved, not adhering to a constant. The world doubted it, leaving it to the wise to study it. The wise one comprehended its nature and followed naturalness. The creative power of nature has not yet been touched, and all five senses are already at the ready. This is called a natural melody: there are no words, but the heart rejoices. Therefore, the family of the Owners of Fire glorified her in a hymn.
Listen closely - you won't hear its sound. You can’t see its shape if you look closely. The sky will fill, and the earth will also fill, Embracing the Six Poles. You wanted to hear it, but did not perceive it, and therefore you became confused. I started the melody with fear, fear causes obsession. Then I started playing more lazily again, you indulged in inaction, so everything receded. In conclusion, I caused confusion. From confusion one comes to delusion, from obscurity to the path. You can be filled with the path and stay with it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru