The Equality of All Things
Nan Kuo Tsu Chi sat leaning on a low table. Gazing at
the heavens,and sighing he appeared to be in a trance.
His disciple Yen Cheng Tsu Yu, who was standing beside him,
exclaimed, "What is this?Can you really make your mind like
dead wood and your body like dry ashes? The man that is leaning
on the table is not the one that was here a moment ago."
Tsu Chi said," Yen it is good that you ask that. Just now I
lost myself. Do you understand? Perhaps you have heard the music
of man, but not the music of Earth. You may have heard the music
of Earth, but not not heard the music of Heaven."
Tsu Yu said" May I ask you to say more about this?".
Tsu Chi answered "The universe has cosmic breath, it's name
is wind. Sometimes times it is not active, but when it is. angry,
howls rise from it's ten thousand openings. Have you ever heard
the roaring gale?.
In the mountain forests, deep and fearsome, there are huge trees arm spans around, with gaps and hollows like nostrils, mouths and ears, like goughes,pools and motrars,and like muddy pools and dirty puddles. the sounds rush out like water, whistle like arrows,scold,suck,shout,wail,moan and howl. The leading notes are hissing sounds followed by a roaring chorus. Gentle breezes make a small harmony, fierce winds make a great one. When the violent gusts subside, all of the hollow becomes quiet. Have you ever heard the shaking and the trembling of the leaves?"
Tsu Yu said" The earths music is the sound of those
hollows.Mans music comes from a hollow reed. May I ask about the
music of Heaven?"
Tsu Chi said" When the wind blows through ten thousand different hollows, they all make their own sounds. Why should there be anything else that causes the sound?" Great knowledge is all encompassing; small knowledge is limited. Great words are inspiring; small words are chatter. We are all asleep, we are in touch with our souls. When we are awake then our senses are open. We get involved with our activities and our minds are distracted. Sometimes we are hesitant, sometimes we are underhanded and sometimes secretive. Little fears cause anxiety, and great fears cause panic. Our words fly off like arrows and if the knew what was right and wrong. We cling to our point of view, as if everything depended on it. And yet our opinions have no permanance:like autumn and winter the gradually pass away. We are caught in the current and cannot return. We are tied up inn knots, like an old clogged drain; we are getting closer to death with no way to regain our youth. Joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, hope and fear, indecision and strength, humility and wilfullness,like music sounding from an empty reed of mushrooms rising from the warm dark earth, continually appear before us day and night. No one knows whence they come. Don't worry about it! Let them be! How can we understand it all in one day?"
"If there is no other, there is no I. If there is no I, there is no one to perceive. This is close to the truth, but I do not know why. There must be some primal force, but we cannot discover any proof. I believe that it act, but I cannot see it. I can feel it, but it has no form." The hundred joints, nine openings, and six organs all function together. Which part do you prefer? Do you like them all equally, or do you have a favorite? Are they not all servants? It may be that there is indeed a true master. Whether I feel his existence or not has nothing to do with the way that it is. Once a man is given a body it works naturally as long as it lasts. It carries on through hardship and ease and, like a galloping horse. nothing can stop it. Isn't it sad? All through life one toils and sweats, never seeing any result. Weary and exhausted, man has no place to rest his bones. Isn't it a pity? One might say" There is no death." What good does that do? When the body decays ,so does the mind. Is this not a great sorrow? Is life really this absurd? Am I the only one that sees this absurdity? Don't others see it too?
If one is true to one's self and follows its teachings, who need be without a teacher?
TO BE CONTINUED