There are times I read something I have written over the past thirty years and ask myself… where did that come from. It’s amazing because there seems to be no end to it as it carries you to places you think you’ve never been. 
Then you look around at place you’ve been and seen before asking yourself where I am and then seeing it all looks so familiar.
The words simply flowing through you as in remembering where you have been that you are here again. It becomes as though the only thing worth telling is that in knowing this asking where is it I am to go next?
It feels like everything you’ve written serves as a vehicle for a kind of self-realization that’s both undefinable and inevitable. The only questions left are when the moment will arrive, where the destination will be, and whether old friends will be there to welcome me.
I long for the paradox of living a life both reclusive and solitary, yet also rich with relationships and companions who share my quest to know the right questions to ask as spirit. Perhaps it is to come at journey’s end.
Why I like the story below about “It’s too late when you are talking to the tips of branches”. 
When I wrote this it felt like I could hear laughing from above asking… why do you feel the need to ask such questions, when everything you need has been laid out for you to follow. You’ve always had the answers, ready to face the eternal questions, understanding, reshaping, and even renewing the story waiting to be revealed, always holding the key.
There’s a Buddhist truism that says that we are to wait until our mud settles before taking action. This fits well into the Taoist thought that we should not be in any hurry to make things happen because things have a way of taking care of themselves. While we wait with the virtue of Confucius in hand guaranteeing that whatever the outcome, the results must be the most favorable for all involved.
With the key to longevity to be like the crane carrying our spirit through eternity. Letting thoughts of being bound by singular principle found to one side verses the other left by the wayside.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Eight – Explaining Conjunctions
140. It’s too late when you are talking to the tips of branches
How is one to govern oneself, and what does it say about who we are in the eyes of others and more importantly how we see ourselves. Where can our roots lie? Is not the answer to how we care for our spirit? If we endeavor to feed and nourish our internal spirit, will not our actions simply become the extension of who we are yet to become through stillness and the power of observation? 
As the roots take hold, with proper nourishment, does not the trunk begin to flourish and take shape. Is it not from this those branches, and limbs spring forth with leaves to breathe in the rays of the sun? To one day encourage and help us to attain some sense of enlightenment, as we are reminded of in the following story.
King Chuang of Ch’u suffered from a great malady or illness. Afraid to share his problem with his peers he discussed his problem with his servant Chan Ho. King Chuang confided to Ho:
“My ancestors have left me with a great responsibility that I must maintain. However, the problems of the State keep me from seeing how I can fit everything together in a way that makes sense. How am I to put the state in order so that good fortune follows me and my own posterity?”
His servant Chan Ho responded that while he understood how to put one’s life in order, caring for the state was another matter. King Chuang continued:
“I have inherited the shrine of my royal ancestors and the altars of state. I wish to learn how to keep them.”
The answer was difficult for Chan Ho. For as he felt honored to have been chosen to serve the king, he felt that he was in a difficult situation. He conveyed to King Chuang:
“Your servant has never heard of a prince whose own life was in order, yet his state was in turmoil, nor of any whose life was in turmoil but his state was in order. Therefore, the root must lie in how you choose to govern yourself.”
Chan Ho then told the king a story that had been passed down from generation to generation amongst the poor people of the village of his father and grandfather. It went something like this:
“Your life is governed as you would care for a grove of fruit trees. If you can find the time to care and nurture the trees so that you create the finest fruit in the land, then how can success not find you?
Chan Ho continued: “Giving advice to you after you are in the state your actions have found you is like talking to the tips of branches. At this late date, whatever you do may be too little, too late.
Chan Ho concluded by saying that if you can find this way, then the answer will come rushing forward to greet you as a long-lost friend who knows his association with you can only be to his benefit as well. This is all you will ever need to know. The king, now having his answer, thanked his servant and wondered how he could not have seen the answer for himself and set out to find his gardens. Upon seeing them, he saw the care Chan Ho had given them and knew it may not be too late. 8/16/95
Number one hundred forty of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
Leave a Reply