The Opening of the Mysterious Pass
The opening of the mysterious pass
A secret teaching
“The body is like a puppet, the things of the puppet are like the mysterious pass. The person controlling the puppet is like the innermost self.”
“The opening of the mysterious pass is the most abstruse and most essential mechanism. It is not, as various practitioners of yoga say, in the forehead, or the navel, or the bladder, or the genitals, or between the kidneys and the navel, or between the kidneys and the genitals. From head to heels, any spot of the body you may focus on is not it. Yet it is not to be sought externally, apart from the body.”
“Therefore sages just used the word “center” to point out the opening of the mysterious pass. This “center” is it. Let me give you a convenient simile. When a puppet moves its hands and feet and gesticulated in a hundred ways, it is not that the puppet can move — it is moved by pulling strings. And though it is a strong device, it is the person controlling the puppet who pulls the strings.”
“Do you know this person who controls the puppet? The puppet is like the body, the strings are like the mysterious pass, the person controlling the puppet is the innermost self. The movements of the body are not done by the body, it’s the mysterious pass that makes it move. But though it is the action of the mysterious pass, still it is the innermost self that activates the mysterious pass. If you can recognize this activating mechanism, without a doubt you can become a wizard.”