To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/10/01 13:24
Subject: [K-list] An Ancient Tale- The Path to Travel on
From: j wang
On 1999/10/01 13:24, j wang posted thus to the K-list:
Hi, Everyone
I would like to share an old story.
This is a story written in Sung Dynasty. In previous Tang Dynasty, Buddhism
and Taoism were the mainstream religions; people flocked to temples to learn
ways to enlightenment. It might be still relevant to us in modern days.
Here it goes.
Du Dz-Chuen lived in a small village. It was a time of famine; people were
digging out roots to eat. Dz-Chuen had to look for food for his family.
One day he went to the west side of the town and saw a starving old man in
shabby clothes, begging for food from him. He had only one piece of bread
in his sack, he hesitated for a minute, thinking if he gave this bread to
this old man, he would have to stay hungry all day today. But he saw the
greater need of food in the old man's eyes; he gave the only piece of bread
to him. The old man devoured it quickly; Dz-Chuen was contented and was
ready to leave.
Suddenly, the old man turned into an immortal and asked him what he needed,
Dz-Chuen asked for money, the immortal told him to go to the west side of
the city gate and dug three feet down to find the silver. Dz-Chuen did that
and brought back home lots of fortune. He spent the money on good clothes
and banquet; his guests came from everywhere to join his party. Soon the
fortune ran out and no one visited him again. He was once again looking for
food in the open.
This day, he saw an old and frail lady begging for food, he did the same
thing and gave the old lady all his food. The old lady turned out to be the
same immortal. He showed him where the gold is and Dz-Chuen went home with
the fortune. Same things happened, he gave everyone food and clothing and
soon the fortune ran out. He had to hunt food for his family again.
As he walked to the countryside, a skinniest kid with almost not clothes on
asked him to share his food with him. Dz-Chuen shared his food out of
sympathy and the immortal once appeared. He showed Dz-Chuen where to find
the treasure. But this time Dz-Chuen did not want any. He asked the
immortal how he could become an immortal himself. The immortal pondered and
said, "If you want to become an immortal yourself, you need to pass three
tests without moving or making a sound." Dz-Chuen was now determined to
follow his pursuit and said yes to the challenges.
Dz-Chuen sat down and crossed his legs, waiting for the challenges.
Suddenly, the Cow Head and Horse Face (entities working for the Hell)
brought the chains and took him to the lowest level of Hell. They dragged
him through the Knife Mountain and fried him in the big pot of boiling oil
(the worst torture), and he did not move or make a sound. Then suddenly he
was back to where he was and the immortal came and told him that he past the
first test. "Be prepared for the next." the immortal warned.
Dz-Chuen stayed seated and was even more determined that he wanted to pass
the test. Then the clouds started to move in and thunders and lightening
were all over the sky. It stared to flood and the ground was also moving
and splitting, the world seemed to be coming to an end. Dz-Chuen stayed
still and calm for this process that seemed never end. Then sky started to
get clear and the flood retreated. The immortal came back to see him, and
announced that he had past the second test.
Dz-Chuen was even more determined to pass the third test, he would never go
back to be a simple mortal again. Then the Cow Head and Horse Face showed
up again to bring him back to Hell. This time his wife was chained.
Dz-Chuen was shocked but he tried to stay calm. The Cow Head and Horse Face
took his wife and prepared for the execution of his wife in front of him,
his wife begged him to save her but he would not budge. His wife was
decapitated. Then Cow Head took out someone that was in the cell, it was
his not yet six-month-old baby, wrapped up in white cloth. Cow Head said to
him, "if you don't save him, I am going to smash your only child against the
wall." Dz-Chuen was determined to become an immortal, so he did not move nor
speak. Horse Face raised the baby up in the air and dropped it down on the
ground. Dz-Chuen was torn that he let out a little gasp. "Ah.."
The immortal showed up and told him that he did not pass the third test.
Dz-Chuen thanked him from the bottom of his heart and went home contented,
never to seek immortality again.
Moral of the story:
In searching of the higher being, myth, ultimate power and enlightenment, Du
Dz-Chuen went thru the mysterious experience and found that his heart and
soul was still on the earth. That's why he thanked the immortal in the end
and went home "contented". Aren't we doing something like that? We do
meditation; we do energy practices, just to reach, hopefully, psychic power,
or enlightenment some day? Maybe not all of us, and not all of us in our
consciously aware mind set, but secretly we yearn for power to make magical
things happen, to reach the ultimate state. But do we remember that the
final application of enlightenment is right here on earth, carrying out our
humanly responsibilities in the role of a father, a mother, a son, a
daughter, a human, and helping out people we meet on the street and in the
community? That what Mother Teresa did, that's what Dalai Lama does, and
that's what we all can do right now, starting from this very moment.
I had my Kundalini risen, found a practice to counter it, and in doing it, I
lost the time to be with my beloved family, barely keeping up with the
minimum care with all my strength I had. I had my doubts, I had my
questions, and now I see all the answers are right here within my reach. In
the responsibilities I see love, and in the chores I see enlightenment.
Heaven is right here on Earth, and Enlightenment starts from now.
We are not superior to anyone or anything; we are not inferior to anyone nor
anything either. We are human. Yes, I will falter, as an ordinary human
being does; and yes I will make mistakes, as a limited human being without
the mighty strength. But with each stumble, I learn to get up more
quickly, and with each mistake, I learn the right from wrong.
With this in mind, I am saying good-bye to the list, maybe for now, maybe
forever. I plan to read some more and carry on my mortal responsabilities
better. I sincerely thank all of you who contribute the wonderful views on
the list, I learned so much. And I personally thank El for giving us the
opportunity to see different horizons. If you need info about my experience
to counter K, save my e-mail address and I'll see what I can offer. So
long.
Love and Reverence,
Jay
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