Thoughts Along the Way

The first hexagram of the I Ching is "Ch'uan: The Creative."  This represents the light of the mind, for all things are made by mind; mind creates.  It is self-creating and (thus) self-changing.  Many people cast this light forward all their lives, letting it leak and dissipate... until it finally goes out.  Others conserve it, turn it around, and transmute it into the beginning of spiritual immortality.

"And what of the people who are going to execute him?" asked one of the listeners.

"There was once a kind, noble, and intelligent young man who was brought up by a wizard-sage.  The young man studied under his master, and his learning went far beyond what mortals usually receive.  By the time he was fifteen, his master's colleagues considered him a sage, and by the time he was eighteen, he left his master, without permission.  On his bed was a note that said only, 'I go to save humanity.'  He took four of the wizard's personal guard with him and was never seen in his native place again.  After much fighting and exhortation, he won over people to his cause, and he eventually overthrew a corrupt government that was bitterly oppressing its subjects.  The people rejoiced and made him king, as was his aim, for it was an important step toward saving humanity, as he thought.

"He wanted nothing more than for his subjects to be well-fed and happy.  He promulgated laws in an effort to save them and help them, but his ministers either opposed the laws or meddled with him, so that he felt obliged to remove them from office.  Doing so, he created many enemies, and this is when his killing resumed.  Through harsh intrigue and many assassinations, he was able to remove all obstacles to himself and remain in power, and he pushed laws through without problems.  He made sure they were implemented speedily and effectively.  However, the people did not always go along with them, and, after a generation's time, the king -- now an emperor -- began to hate them for what he saw as their callous and incorrigible stupidity.  Hating them, he began to oppress them, until he was just the same as the emperor he overthrew, if not worse.

"This all happened several generations ago; the young lad was my pupil.  The emperor you have now is his grandson.  Do the townspeople wish to save humanity as well?  You humans tread the same paths over and over again...."

After several moments of silence, another listener remarked, "Everywhere we go, death and oppression surround us.  What, then, should we do?"

"How would you like your life to be?  Think seriously and for a long time about this.  Only you can create it thus.  Do not think that there is anyone or anything else coming to your rescue: Only you are your own hero.  You can achieve anything you wish to be, no matter how mystical or mundane, as long as you apply your utmost sincerity.  As for oppression, there is no oppressing one who is free."

"But," added the first listener, "we were free, and we were oppressed."

"Truly, truly, I say to you," answered the old man, "if you find a freedom that can be taken away by others, that is not true freedom, and it never will be.  True freedom can never be taken away, for it is within.  People may say 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' as they find 'new' paradises for themselves among the world's many locations, but these are outward conditions only; they do not give peace if there is not already peace within your hearts. 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, nor were you ever really oppressed.  There is no force, whether among Heavenly or Earthly beings, demons, Immortals, ghosts, spirits, men, storms, rivers, floods, earthquakes, or otherwise, who can oppress one who is free.  Oppression is an experience of the heart; it is not an absolute, but empty.  There never really is any oppression -- there is only that which you invite, give entrance to, and entertain through your thoughts, and even these imprudent experiences are not real.

"Yet there is something to be said of conditions: Choose those that foster life and well-being; do not choose those that tear life down.  If you know how to choose wisely, you can be as our Sage has said:

'I have heard that those who are expert in handling life
Can travel the land without meeting tigers and rhinos,
Can enter battle without being wounded.
The rhino has no place to plant its horn,
The tiger has no place to place its claws,
Weapons find no place to receive their sharp edges.
Why?
Because he has no place for death to enter.'

Such a traveler in this world has no place for death to enter because he has no taste for bad choices.  Whether his decisions are small or large, for many or for few, his only concern is that they are sound.  Make sound decisions consistently, and the life which you wish to build for yourself will be forthcoming.  This is called refining emptiness."

There was once an emperor of a very large and powerful realm.  Both he and his ministers, however, were insatiably greedy and corrupt; they blighted the land with darkness and betrayed their subjects for their own personal gain.  The people found out about the crimes of their emperor and his ministers, but they were not able to do much: They caught one minister -- by chance, it was one from among the most treacherous of all of the imperial, criminalist cadres.  The people brought him to a wise man in the mountains, for they sought wisdom in knowing how the criminal minister should best be dealt with: Should they hang him?  Torture him to teach him a lesson?  Exile him?

"Let him go."

The people immediately threw their arms into the air and began to shout out against such foolhardy advice -- they were confused, distraught, and dismayed, for they wanted nothing more than for their fellow subjects to be well-fed and happy.  Executing this treasonous minister was the first step to doing that.  Finally, the crowd decided to take the minister into the town-square and execute him in public.  A few of them stayed behind, however, and asked the old man about his advice once the crowd had left.  The wise old man of the mountain, though blind, was able to see the situation quite clearly.

"Do you not know?" replied the old man, now alone with a handful of curious listeners.  "This criminal that was brought to me was his own justice, his own punishment, and his own redemption, all wrapped into one, for when he would have been let go, he would have continued to destroy the very system that brought him into power and which let such deep and foul corruption as his run rampant for so long.  Tell me if this is not justice, punishment, and redemption."

Last night I dreamed of Leslie.  She was wearing white clothing and looked so very enchantingly beautiful.  She came down on a white glider, as though an angel, and then extended her right hand to me, permitting and inviting me to kiss it.  I did so very lovingly and then held her hand -- held her beautiful hand for the longest yet shortest time.  It was soft, warm, and feminine, yet spoke of strength and an inviolable nobility, courage, and depth of character. 

During the entire time, neither of us spoke a word or uttered a sound; there was simply no need in this moment of Heaven.

There are two new blogs I've added in my blog list:

1) Starjumper Extraordinaire.  It's written by a Ch'i Kung adept from Seattle, and the style is very open and casual yet sometimes simultaneously poetic.  All in all, a great read, one that I am glad to have linked to on this site.  (A picture of Seattle, WA is attached.)

2) The Master's Blog, by Wu Dang Master Chen.  It pretty much speaks for itself!