前言 Foreword to the 《49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao》

前言
Foreword to the 《49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao》
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‘非正常’人的修行路
The Abnormal Person’s Path of Cultivation
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原文是清时道教刘一名所著【修道五十关】，稍加修改。所谓非正常人，是社会大众所以为于众有异，世人土话叫疯子、神经病、白痴、傻种、二百五、缺心眼、败家子、不务正业、好吃懒做、唯唯诺诺、百无一用、等等。因为祂们的人生观、价值观、世界观、宇宙观与世人有异，祂们不去争名夺势，不去坑蒙拐骗，不向仕途钻营，不学唯利是图，不学投机取巧，鸡鸭鱼肉不食，伤生害命不做，美色琼浆远止、、。世人看来实是一个无能、无用之废人。不是吗？别人会问；祂图什么呢？不可思议！

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The original text [of this scripture] was written in the Qing Dynasty by the Daoist Liu Yi Ming as《The Fifty Barriers》, and has been slightly modified [in this version].
What we call an abnormal person is someone whom society and the masses view as being different from themselves. In the colloquial vernacular of the common people, they are called crazy, mentally disordered, idiotic, foolish, moronic [1], dim-witted, prodigal, negligent of their duty, happy to take but lazily unwilling to work, obsequious, completely useless, and so on.
This is because their perspectives on human life, the world and the universe, and their value systems, differ from ordinary people. They do not strive for fame or seize power and influence; they do not cheat, dupe, swindle or deceive; they do not turn to an official career to secure personal gain; they do not study in the quest for profit only; they do not learn to take hold of opportunities by resorting to trickery; they do not eat chickens, ducks and fish, nor do they commit actions which harm life or injure living beings; they keep their distance from the carnal temptations of physical beauty and fine spirits. Ordinary people view them as truly incapable, incompetent and useless good-for-nothings. Is that not so?
Other people may ask:

What are these people pursuing? It is inconceivable!

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修道四十九關
The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao
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所谓「关」是指阻碍通行的要塞，隘口，要求。此「关」不通，便达不到目的地。这里是指阻碍学道、明道、升华、成仙、成佛，的关口。这些「关」，有出于先天自然的，有后天熏染社会认知方面的……都于自身的修养程度和对事物认知、理解、把握、选向，及自身的努力程度等等密切相关。

What is commonly called a Barrier refers to a fortress obstructing a clear thoroughfare, a narrow mountain pass or a requirement. When this Barrier cannot be passed, one is unable to reach one’s destination.
[In this scripture, the word] points to the barriers that prevent one from studying the Dao, from being illuminated by the Dao, from sublimating oneself, and from becoming an immortal and a Buddha. Some of these barriers stem from Pre-Heaven dispositions, and others from Post-Heaven aspects [that involve] the corrupting influence of social cognition. They are all closely related to the level of one’s cultivation, one’s perception of materiality, one’s understanding and certainties, and one’s choice of direction, the extent of one’s own efforts [towards cultivation], and so forth.

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[1] As a Mandarin colloquial term, Er Bai Wu [二百五] is an insult referring to a stupid person or simpleton. The expression is based on a string of copper coins called Ban Diao Zi [半弔子/ 半吊子]. In ancient China copper coins
were grouped by stringing them together through the square holes in the centre; originally one thousand of them
was a unit of currency called a Diao [吊]. Ban Diao Zi literally means half a Diao, namely five hundred coins. Since
modest Chinese scholars would call themselves Ban Diao Zi to humbly deprecate their expertise, Ban Diao Zi is not necessarily a pejorative term. On the other hand, Er Bai Wu is half of a Ban Diao Zi and it is a derogatory expression. Occasionally Xing De would use the jocular appellation of Er Bai Liu [二百六] as a comparative form of Er Bai Wu. See appendix under Two-Hundred and Fifty for a further two explanations of the origin of this term.

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Post-Scriptum:
This article will appear in the Purple Cloud Press’ forthcoming publication of 《The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao》 by Xing De/Li Shi Fu, a manual for refining one’s Inner Nature based on Liu Yi Ming’s 50 Barriers. Li Shi Fu is abbot of Five Immortals Temple (www.fiveimmortals.com).