Chapter 20 - Unaffected By Time

How wide is the gap,
Between friends and foe?
Where is the real line,
Between the desirable and repulsive?
People fear what they fear,
That's a question.

It seems this way since the beginning of time.

People pass by seeking
Pleasure akin to a large banquet,
Akin to that moment of spring.
I sit alone unaffected.
Almost as if,
I am not here.
As if I have not developed my own
Consciousness into being.
As if lost,
And not really here to be found.

As they search for that surplus,
I am content in the state of lack.
You can laugh at my idiocrasyncracy!
As they aim for that glory,
I prefer the state of confusion.
As they aim for need for discipline,
I prefer that state of openness.
Vast is the ocean,
Relentless is the wind.
It seems that everyone is learning how to live,
I stay as I am.
Alone it may seem,
But I have something else - the way to the Dao.

唯之与阿，相去几何？美之与恶，相去若何？人之所畏，不可不畏。荒兮，其未央哉！众人熙熙，如享太牢，如春登台。我独泊兮，其未兆；沌沌兮，如婴儿之未孩；傫傫兮，若无所归。众人皆有余，而我独若遗。我愚人之心也哉！俗人昭昭，我独昏昏。俗人察察⒇，我独闷闷。澹兮，其若海；飂兮，若无止。众人皆有以，而我独顽且鄙。我独异于人，而贵食母。