There is an ancient saying of unknown origin that speaks to a universal truth that goes “In life there are things you’d rather forget. That as long as you don’t forget about someone you yearn to see, they will come to you as the rain or even the wind. Along with the things that you are here to remember”.
As I write this on a Thursday afternoon, the rain begins to fall. It’s the first rain we’ve had in nearly two months, as I watch as my chickens scurry to take cover in the bushes. When I first began studying the I Ching in earnest, one of the key elements that resonated with me was the significance of rain and thunder and their role in renewal. During my time in Massachusetts, I completed the Master Gardener training in both Boston and Rhode Island and have fond memories of countless hours spent tending to my flowers, especially perennials—a passion I’ve continued here in Springfield.
By horoscope, I’m a Libra in our calendar and a dragon in the Chinese calendar, having been born in 1952. Water has always played a crucial role in my personal growth, teaching me to follow the flow of energy within myself and in the natural world. As I prepare to enter the next chapter called “Endeavor and Destiny”, now it’s supposed to rain every day for the next week. It seems like a very auspicious beginning. That when it was raining with a lot of thunder, it could mean that my friends, the dragons would be close by. This entry is the final one in the chapter called The Questions of T’ang, titled “Traveling southward”.
When we look to the sky at night in the coming month of October, we can the libra constellation.
This chapter reminds me that the universe is infinite in both space and time, something now verified by quantum physics and the findings of the Hubble telescope. Beyond heaven and earth, who can say if there are not a greater heaven and earth that could be called the Tao that stretches far beyond the limited scope of human perception to galaxies we hardly know. Sometimes it seems as though we are meant to continue riding this wind into both the known and unknown as we learn that we are here to follow our bliss.
It is meant to act as a prolonged assault against the unenlightened man’s ignorance of the limitations of what we may call “everyday knowledge” beginning with discussions of what we call infinity and universal wisdom of the ages. To explores various subjects, such as myths, legends, distinctive customs, arrows in conflict, and the roles of craftsmen and musicians.
It also depicted the early Chinese perception associated with Confucius as being both sensible and skeptical of ancient myths and the legends of the storyteller.
The rise of Confucianism is shown to coincide with the decline of much of China’s ancient mythology. The Taoist fascination with the extraordinary acted as a counter to the legalist influence of Confucianism, encouraging a return to a sense of numinous wonder and the cultivation of spontaneity. Taoism reminds us that we understand only a tiny fraction of an infinite universe, challenging the pretensions of everyday knowledge.
There will be ample opportunity to discuss my adventures in Florida in the next chapter that is called “Endeavor and destiny”. But first, what I wrote back in May 1995 in anticipation of becoming an Assistant Planner for the City of Boynton Beach, Florida.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Five – The Questions of T’ang
90. Traveling southward
Traveling southward. The decision made to leave. Endings leading to new origins. Unsure of any consequences that may come. As you stay only on the edge where the dragons lead to places yet unseen and unknown. Assured only of end results that are yet to come. Losing attachments and what was once considered important, the only order along the way.
Traveling southward. Packing up and moving on. Remnants of who you once were to simply be left behind. With things brought along inadvertently that remind you of the past soon to be discarded. Nothing is taken along for the ride except that which you need. Leaving everything else behind. Remaining focused on finishing what you and Lieh Tzu have started. Getting ready to move to higher destinations and inner accolades that your endeavors and your destiny bring to you.
To be working as a planner again for another city. Its purpose to put into practice the efforts of the consummate Confucian. Keeping only to what you must now know is the ultimate step along your way. Working only to be set free, dismissing obligations as you prepare for the final call. Having come through travails whose only purpose has been to disclose your true identity that opens all doors that will forever matter.
Your essence now transcending your mortal self. Now living and dying only to be born again. Constantly relearning what you have known all along. Only to be forgotten again and again. Traveling southward with your place firmly established through your writings. Stay invisible to all those around you as all that is important continues to be made clear. 5/28/95
Number ninety of one hundred fifty-eight entries
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