0. "Cinnabar heart" has a dual meaning. The word for cinnabar is also used
for the color of cinnabar. The color of cinnabar is in the family of red,
which is the color of compassion in Buddhism. This is the external
meaning, which would probably be obvious in context even without
knowledge of this traditional association. In chemical terms, cinnabar
contains mercury. In alchemical terms, mercury symbolizes the mercurial
nature of consciousness, so cinnabar symbolizes the matrix of
consciousness.
Many of the expressions and ideas used in the verses of the following
song have already appeared in the text, some of them more than once.
There are a few, however, that are new or call for further comment in
this context:
1. By poise in the center it is possible to bear change as it pervades all
conditioned things.
2. The "mysterious pass" is defined by The Book of Balance and Harmony
in these terms: "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 gesticulates in a hundred ways,
it is not that the puppet can move. It is moved by pulling strings. And
though it is a string 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;
