LAO TSU RETURNS FROM THE FRONTIER GATE

                         FOR AN ENCORE

 

The perfect stranger is like water.

pure as the void despite any pollution.

Flowing to accommodate all circumstances,

he becomes your state of mind.

 

Divert him and he will only surround you.

Flee from him and he is your looking glass.

Go through him and the world is turned inside out

to reveal its true nature.

 

He dances and sings

silently without moving,

and participates in all things

as those things themselves.

 

Why is he standing here without speaking?

Why do his acts reveal the Way?

Why do his thoughts reverberate

in the hearts of all beings,

and their thoughts reverberate in his own?

 

Why are his thoughts so nebulous,

like clouds illuminated with uncreated light?

 

He is the perfect stranger,

and is symbolized by water.

The point of no return is good enough for him,

for he has vowed the vow that is no vow

and minded the mind that is no mind.

 

He is the perfect stranger.

His camouflage is what you wear.