One of the keys to great storytelling is using language and symbolism to convey ideas that deepen our understanding of the subject and broaden how we view everyday life. It’s about what captures our imagination, taking us to places we might never otherwise go, and inspiring us to look beyond the horizon.
The image of a dragon resting on clouds in the sky serves as a vessel, carrying us from the present to new realms, lifting us to heights we never thought possible but would gladly reach if given the chance. The commentary here depicted as “My travels with Lieh Tzu” is to be seen as though I am riding on the wind with Lieh Tzu. Often in meditation I see myself rising symbolically to travel on the prevailing winds with Lieh Tzu and others.
From the moment I started writing back in December 1993 until the present I have always felt I was being divinely guided by what could be seen as following both my highest endeavors and ultimate destiny to become one again with my old friends. At first it was simply re-introducing me to the elements of the I Ching and Taoism, and the three most popular men in Chinese Taoist history, Lieh, Chuang, and Lao Tzu.
In both my writing and persona, I first became Cloud Dancing, which allowed me to step into the story rather than just tell it. This idea has stayed with me to this day. Later, I adopted the name Dantzu, which became my email identity and still is at dantzu.att.net. In China, particularly in Qufu, I came to be known as Kongdan as illustrated in my website, The Kongdan Foundation. For those who knew me in China I was… and still am Kongdan.
The idea that I was being invited to join the esteemed Chinese philosophers and writers of ancient China felt like an acknowledgment of cosmic forces urging me to change the course of my life. My writing became simply an extension of the desire to tell or perhaps even reframe stories from a new or different perspective.
With commentaries delving into the essence of life’s meaning, exploring Taoist philosophy and how it intertwined with Confucianism and later Buddhism. With the images of the historic dragon always nearby.
Considering Zen too, and how all these traditions have blended through countless interpretations, none is greater than the one that discovers or points to perfect awakening in harmony with the everyday affairs of our lives.
Discovering that inner space where the nonduality of everyday life unfolds and grows with each passing moment. With meditation simply living in harmony with nature and showing compassion for all things found in nature and others and letting it guide the way we live each day. The creation story never changes, only builds upon itself, much like what I wrote over thirty years ago—living well means honoring memories of the past while fine-tuning the anomalies needed for the next step in the journey ahead. To how and why myths and legends become essential to first our imagination and then to what we are to make of us and eternity.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Wayus to places that we might not otherwise go.
Chapter Eight – Explaining Conjunctions
141. To be solicited by dragons
In the beginning, the Creator was but a potter, turning on his wheel, the sun and moon bringing forth man and woman. Giving his son, the emperor, the power to control the empire as the potter controls the wheel.
Next in line came Shenming, the divine husbandman, who discovered agriculture along with the healing properties of plants. Needing water to nurture life, the dragon appeared as the god of water, thunder, clouds, and rain. The harbinger of blessings and becoming the symbol of the sage, shaman and holy men. The emperor but an incarnation of the dragon completing the circle for all time to come.
However, as with all things, the dragon can destroy as water can smother, just as water can sustain and preserve all things to come.
In time, the dragons come to preside over the seasons and four directions.
Blue or green in spring to the east, to the west a white dragon associated with autumn, to the north a black dragon, associated with winter and drought and to the south coming forth as two dragons.
The red god presiding in summer and growth, later becoming a yellow dragon in time for the harvest.
All listen to Shenming, as they preside over the seasons and give us cures for our ailments and diseases.
(The image to the right is one of the first known stone carvings of the ancient dragon. It’s now located in the Wuhan Temple in Chengdu, China).
The dragons cause the sun and moon to escape beyond the horizon and reappear the next day. To cause eclipses of both and protect them as they come and go into eternity. To those who win the dragons’ favor, they become protectors. To those who do their bidding, they too become immortal. However, one must be careful and forewarned. Because in seeking out dragons to come and appear before us, they too may decide to seek us out as well. 8/16/95
Number one hundred forty-one of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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