Tales From the Tao

by Solala Towler

  The old worker saw the rich man watching him. He noticed how the rich man looked drawn and tired. His skin was pasty and drooped from his face in an unhealthy way. He noticed that the hands of the rich man, as soft and manicured as they were, shook and that his soft, fat body looked weak and tremulous.

  After a time, the rich man decided it would be better if he changed his ways, since he was not happy with the way things were going. He lightened up on his workers, gave them more time off and began himself to be more physical, which, after a time, made him feel immeasurably better. Not only that, but his nightmares went away and he slept more soundly than he had in years.

  As for the old man, he too began to enjoy his waking life more and did not need to escape each night into dreams. Instead he too slept soundly. As the Ancient Sage says: “The Realized People of old forgot themselves when awake and did not dream when they slept.”

  LIEH TZU

  I cannot tell if what the world considers

  “happiness” is happiness or not.

  All I know is that when I consider

  the way they go about attaining it,

  I see them carried away headlong,

  grim and obsessive, in the general

  onrush of the human herd,

  unable to stop themselves

  or to change their direction.

  All the while they claim to be just on

  the point of attaining happiness.

  My opinion is that you never find happiness

  until you stop looking for it.

  CHUANG TZU

  TALE 9

  Dancing the Yin/Yang

  Once upon a time an old man and a young boy journeyed together up a mountain. The boy was full of innocence and impatience and the old man was filled with experience and quietude. The boy was at the beginning of a great adventure. The old man was near the end of a long and arduous journey, one that he had begun many years before and that had been filled to overflowing with experiences that he would never have been able to describe to another. The boy was restless and wandering; every little butterfly sent him chasing perilously close to the cliff’s edge. The old man was solid and resigned, yet still amused and entertained by the boy’s reckless abandon.

  As they reached the top of the mountain they met an old woman and a young girl climbing up from the other side. They shared the common characteristics of the boy and the old man. The girl was young and full of youthful vigour and vitality. The old woman was wise and serene, yet still able to smile easily and laugh heartily. They too had been on a long and at times perilous journey and they too were now at the end of their quest.

  Upon reaching the summit of the mountain the old man, young boy, old woman and young girl all sat down to rest together in the shade of an ancient and gnarled oak tree. They sat together and looked out over the valley spread before them like a painting from the Tang dynasty.

  The old woman looked over at the young girl and smiled and the old man looked over at the young boy and grinned. Then they nodded to each other. Words were not needed and so none were offered. Instead they all sat there, lost in time, floating in space, while the great birds wheeled overhead and the mountain breezes played with their long hair.

  Then, after a long time – hours, years, eons – they all turned to each other and, after standing, bowed deeply to each other. Then, like a living yin/ yang symbol, they began to dance in flowing circles around and within each other. On and on they danced while the sun slid slowly down over the horizon, then on into the night, under the crystalline star blanket. After a time they began to merge into each other until at last there remained only the faintest trace of their presence. A great circle, with two entwined fish-like semicircles remained, each giving birth and finding completion in the other. The spiritual remains of the old man and the old woman still flowed endlessly out of and into each other, and the youthful energy of the young boy and the young girl remained there, spinning within the circle of the old man and old woman.

  To this day, certain climbers and hikers – those with clear vision and deep insight – have reported a strange and wonderful sight on top of that mountain. Some people say that they have had visions of four people dancing together in a circle, endlessly flowing and melting into each other. Others swear they hear the sounds of laughter and music in the air, coming from somewhere just above their heads. Others feel they have sensed a presence of joy, wisdom and deep compassion emanating from the very rocks and trees on that mountaintop.

  Other people, of course, have seen, heard and felt nothing – only the quiet sound of the wind blowing across the mountain. These are people who dare not dream in the day and do not sleep deeply in the night. They do not fly on the wings of imagination nor flow with the energy of the universe as it courses through their own bodies. They are, of course, in the majority.

  Yet, those who do see, hear and feel the living yin/yang symbol there on the mountaintop are never quite the same.

  SOLALA TOWLER

  The Tao is an empty vessel;

  it is used but never exhausted.

  It is the fathomless source

  of the ten thousand things!

  LAO TZU

  TALE 10

  Showing Off

  It was a high, bright day and Lieh Tzu was showing off his mastery of archery. He had a bowl of water placed on his left forearm after he had drawn his bow. After releasing his first arrow he quickly fitted another and then another, releasing each arrow while the one before it was still in flight. All the while the bowl of water did not spill a drop.

  His master, observing him, asked, “If we climbed a high mountain pass and stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking an abyss of a thousand feet deep, would you still be able to shoot like this?”

  “Of course,” said Lieh Tzu. “i have practised shooting from my horse and hitting a moving target. As a master of the bow I am sure that shooting from a cliff will be no problem.”

  So off they went together up to the top of the mountain. His master walked backward to the edge of the cliff and stood with half of one foot hung over the edge and bade Lieh Tzu to come forward. When Lieh Tzu reached the edge of the cliff and looked over the edge into the bottomless abyss he felt himself grow dizzy and had to lie down.

  His face was drenched in sweat and his hands were shaking so badly he was not able to hold his bow.

  His master laughed and said, “The true master can shoot an arrow under any condition. Whether he is looking into the blue sky above him or the abyss of death below him he is not affected. Nothing can damage his peace of mind. Look at you. You are shaking so badly you can’t even hold your bow. How can you call yourself a master?”

  LIEH TZU

  Those who are good at walking

  leave no tracks;

  Those who are good at speaking

  make no mistakes;

  Those who are good at calculating

  need no counters;

  Those who are good at closing things

  need no key,

  Yet what they close

  cannot be opened.

  LAO TZU

  TALE 11

  A Tale of Two Lovers

  Long ago there was a young man named Wang Chou who was in love with a young woman named ch’ien niang. They had grown up together and had often pictured each other in their secret dreams. But their love remained a secret and so, when ch’ien niang came of marriageable age, her father decided to wed her to one of his staff.

  Wang chou was heartbroken. He decided to go to the far-off capital where he wouldn’t have to see his love with another man. And so he trudged off into the countryside, shoulders slumped, tears filling his eyes.

  That night, as he slept along the river, he was awakened by the sound of footsteps and then he heard someone breathing right next to him. At first he thought it was a bandit and so steeled himself for a fight. But, to his surprise, it was ch’ien niang, who had run away to be with him. So they went off together, quickly and quietly and
travelled as far as they were able, helped by some friendly boatmen.

  They went as far away as they could and then settled down. Wang Chou was able to find work as a boatman and the years passed. They had two sons and were very happy. But ch’ien niang felt guilty about how she had left her family and yearned to see them again. Finally, after years had passed, they decided it would be safe to visit her family and so they went back to their village.

  When they arrived Wang chou went to ch’ien niang’s home first, just in case everyone was still angry. When he tried to apologize for ch’ien niang’s unfilial behaviour, however, her father said that ch’ien niang was there, lying in her room, where she had been ill for all those years.

  “But she is back in the boat with her two children,” said Wang chou. Her father did not believe him and so sent a servant down to the boat to see if it were true. When the servant reported back that ch’ien Niang was indeed on the boat, the sick girl rose from her bed, put on her jewellery and finest clothes and went forth to greet the woman from the boat.

  When ch’ien Niang saw her double walking toward her she almost fainted. But behind her she could see her parents, who were looking at her with a look of surprise and even a little fear. The two ch’ien Niangs continued to walk toward each other until they met. It is said that when they did, their two bodies merged, each with the other and, to everyone’s amazement, they became one, fitting together perfectly. It was then that everyone noticed that, although there was only one woman now, she was wearing two sets of clothing!

  CH’EN HSUAN-YU

  Without going out your door,

  You can know the whole world.

  Without looking through your window,

  You can see the Tao of Heaven.

  LAO TZU

  TALE 12

  “Crazy” Tuan-mu Shu

  Tuan-mu Shu had inherited his family fortune, said to be worth ten thousand pieces of gold. He never had to work and lived in a fabulous mansion surrounded with gardens, lakes, terraces and pavilions. His food and clothing, as well as that of his various wives and concubines, were of the finest quality. He went wherever he wished, travelling far and wide, collecting treasures and exploring anything that he became interested in.

  Every day he had hundreds of guests, and it was said that the fires in his kitchen were never allowed to go out. He and his guests were entertained by the finest musicians and dancers in the land. The leftovers of his banquets were distributed far and wide and his generosity to anyone in need was legendary.

  Then, when he reached the age of sixty, he suddenly changed his life completely. He gave away all of his wealth and possessions, not even saving some for his wives and children. Finally he became ill and was too poor to pay for the doctor and so he died. His children had no money to pay for a funeral but the townspeople, remembering his generosity to them over the years, took up a collection. This was more than enough to pay for his funeral, with sufficient left over to give to his family.

  A prominent confucian heard about this and he called Tuan-mu Shu a madman, and said he had disgraced his ancestors. When the Taoist master heard about it he laughed and called Tuan-mu Shu enlightened. “This man was in touch with his essential self,” he said. “he lived by his own spirit and never did anything that went against his true nature. He spent his money when he had it and then gave it away when he no longer needed it. Some may say he was crazy for abandoning his wealth and even the wealth of his family, but all he did was follow his own heart, without any constraints or worries about the future. His mind was of such a subtle nature that most people could never understand him.”

  LIEH TZU

  TALE 13

  On Eating

  A teacher was travelling with some of her students. At one of their stops they were served the meat of a pig. The students were horrified to see the teacher calmly eating this forbidden food. “Teacher,” they cried, “is not the flesh of an animal forbidden by our order?”

  The teacher went on chewing slowly, clearly savouring the taste of the pig. When she had finished she said, “can you not see that it was a great and honoured gift from these poor people to be given this delicacy? no doubt it was given at great cost to them and with an attitude of humbleness and generosity. Who am i to spurn their gift?”

  “Besides,” she said, taking another bite, “it is not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, but what comes out.”

  SOLALA TOWLER

  TALE 14

  The Emperor and the Sage

  Things had been going from bad to worse. It seemed that no matter how the emperor ruled, things turned out badly. There had been famines and wars throughout the land. There was even conflict within the august household itself. The emperor’s many wives quarrelled amongst themselves continually and even his advisors stood in the great hall, shaking their ancient heads and pulling on their equally ancient beards. It had begun to be whispered in the marketplace and in the fields of the labourers that the emperor had lost heaven’s favour and so would soon lose his place on the dragon throne. As everyone knew, once a ruler loses heaven’s favour, it would not be long before he would be overthrown.

  His advisors seemed to be of no help whatsoever. In truth, all they ever wanted was to advance themselves in his favour and would tell him only what they thought he wanted to hear. When he was young he enjoyed this but as he became older and more interested in being a good ruler, he found himself becoming impatient with the lackeys and sycophants around him.

  He had spent many nights locked in with his astrologers, who had assured him that he had been born under a lucky star and could do no wrong. Then he had spent further nights with the experts on the Book of Changes, only to be told that all hexagrams pointed to great success and longevity for his dynasty.

  But he knew something was wrong and that he would get no honest answers at court and so he decided to travel to the mountains to visit a certain Taoist sage who lived high on the craggy top. It was said that the sage lived on moonlight and dew and knew the future of any man that came before him. He was sure, or course, that this was all nonsense, but he decided it would not hurt to try.

  For many days he travelled, with a large escort in case of bandits. He enjoyed sleeping under the stars at night, which he had not done since he was a boy. He also enjoyed beginning each day’s journey in the brisk, bright air of the morning. His usually poor appetite improved and he even put on a little weight.

  Finally they reached the path that led to the cave where it was said that the sage resided. The emperor decided to go on alone, ordering his personal guards to stay behind, much to their dismay.

  When he reached the cave he found it abandoned, and felt bereft and sad that he had missed the one man who could assist him. On the way down from the cave he ran into an old man sitting by the side of the path, combing his fingers through his long beard and humming to himself.

  This must be the sage, he thought to himself, and though he was the emperor and ruler of all under heaven, he knelt before the old man and beseeched him to give some advice on how best to rule the country.

  The old man seemed to ignore the emperor for some time and the emperor began to wonder if this was indeed the man he had been looking for. With his mind in turmoil, the emperor began to make ready to leave this addled old man and give up on his quest for the sage when he suddenly noticed that, though the old man seemed to be sitting on a stone on the side of the path he was actually floating, a few inches only, just above the ground. Then he knew that he had indeed found the sage that he had been looking for, and began to plead with him for advice on how to rule his vast country.

  “I have knowledge only about ruling my own life,” said the sage. “I don’t know anything about ruling a country.” He then went back to humming and combing his beard, which though thin, was extremely long.

  “But I have a responsibility to manage the shrines of the royal ancestors,” said the emperor. “I also must conduct the ceremonies to give thanks to gods of the ea
rth and sky. I have so many responsibilities. The people look to me as their ruler and protector. Yet I often feel so confused that I do not feel I can fulfil these obligations.

  “I have made great sacrifices,” he went on, “and have spoken with many men of knowledge and have studied the history of my family but I cannot seem to find a way to learn how to be the ruler that I wish to be.”

  The old man stopped combing his beard and fixed his old yet surprisingly clear eyes on the emperor’s. “It takes someone who can manage his own life properly before he can expect to manage an entire country,” he said at last. “I see before me a man full of doubt and worries, mostly put there by others in their own self-interest. And so I ask you, how, if the ruler’s own life is in turmoil, can he expect to be able to rule a country properly?”

  At this the emperor felt as though a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Of course, he had been so concerned with his abilities as ruler of the country he had given no thought to his own personal nature. Truly, if he were to be a wise and judicious ruler he must begin to know himself.

  Thus began a lifelong journey into his own self-nature that not only enabled the emperor to rule his own country wisely and well, but led him, at the end of his life, to be lifted to the heavens on the back of a golden dragon to sit by the side of the Jade Emperor himself.

  SOLALA TOWLER

  Why is the sea king of a hundred streams?

  Because it lies below them.

  Therefore it is the king of a hundred streams.