Dongui Bogam_13_Dao Can Be Learned at Any Time

[學道無早晩]
[The Dao Can Be Learned at Any Time]

延壽書曰, 人者物之靈也. 壽本四萬三千二百餘日卽一百二十歲. 洪範. 一曰壽百二十歲. 元陽眞氣, 本重三百八十四銖一斤也, 內應乎乾, 乾者, 純陽之卦也. 人晝夜動作施泄, 散失元氣, 不滿天壽, 至六陽俱盡, 卽是全陰之人易死也. 年到八八, 卦數已極, 汞少鉛虛, 欲眞元之復, 不亦晩乎. 
It is said in the Three Counselors' Book on the Extention of Life of the Three Primes (延壽書) that: "Humankind is the most sacred of all living things, and the lifespan is about 43,200 days (equivalent to 120 years. It is said in the Great Plan (洪範) that a lifespan is 120 years). The genuine qi of the original yang weighs 384 su (equivalent to 1 geun), and internally it corresponds to the Geon trigram; the Geon trigram is the trigram of pure yang. A person moves day and night emitting qi and eventually loses the original qi. If the six yang are all dried out, one might easily die since there is only yin left. The age 64 is when the destiny of the trigram has worn out and original qi has become deficient. Therefore, it is too late to recover the genuine foundation. 

吁, 剝不窮則復不返, 陰不極則陽不生. 若遇明師指訣, 信心苦求, 則雖一百二十歲, 猶可還乾. 譬如樹老用嫩枝再接, 方始得活. 人老用眞氣還補, 卽返老還童. 
Oh! It is of the same logic as the Bok trigram of the Book of Changes does not return unless the Bak trigram has been done; yang is not engendered unless yin has finished its course. If one tries one's best with a sincere heart with the teachings and the secret key from a great master, one would be able to return to the state of the Geon trigram of the Book of Changes even at the age of 120. Figuratively, an old tree can revive when a young branch is grafted onto it. Old can return to young if genuine qi is tonified.

昔馬自然, 到六十四歲, 怕老怕死, 汲汲求道, 遇劉海蟾, 傳以長生之訣, 遂得壽於無窮. 彼何人哉, 晞之則是特在一覺頃耳.
Ma Ziran a long time ago sought out Tao at the age of 64 because he was afraid of getting old and dying. Just in time, he met Liu Haichan and learned the secrets of a long life, and eventually, his life became unlimited. Who was he that he was able to get a long life? It only needed one time of enlightenment." 

悟眞篇註曰, 呂純陽六十四歲, 遇正陽眞人, 葛仙翁六十四歲, 遇鄭眞人, 馬自然六十四歲, 遇劉海蟾, 皆方修金丹之道而成仙, 三仙皆於晩年修道而成. 盖是壯年慕道, 持戒積符, 至六十四, 方得金丹眞傳, 故成道之速. 
The Annotation of the Essay on the Comprehension of Truth (悟眞篇) says "Lu Chunyang met a hermit named Zhengyang at the age of 64, Ge Xianwong met the hermit Zheng at the age of 64 and Ma Ziran met Liu Haichan at the age of 64. They all trained themselves on the Tao of the gold cinnabar; they were able to achieve their goals at old age. This is because they longed for the Tao from the prime of their lives, practiced the precepts, and collected amulets which led them to earn the true teachings of the gold cinnabar at 64; it is why they were able to achieve the Dao so quickly. 

若夫世人嗜慾喪精, 思慮損神, 疲勞耗氣, 眞陽旣失, 雖聞大道於六十四歲之前, 亦難成功. 倘能絶慾於早年, 求道於壯歲, 及色身未壞, 精氣未耗, 遇師得旨, 下手速修, 庶幾可冀三仙之得道也.
If they, like ordinary people, lost the essence, harmed their spirits due to too much thinking, and lost their  true yang due to dissipating qi from exhaustion, they would not have been able to become hermits even if they had earned great Tao. If they sever themselves from desires, seek for the Dao at the prime of their lives, and start to train the Tao quickly, they are expected to reach the level of true enlightenment to Dao."