Meditation
Friday, May 22, 2009
Pinky And Pointer Mena
Taoism and Zen
by Yeiazel
The Host of the Cave
Lu Yen's father was prefect in the province of Shanxi, his grandfather master of ceremonies at the Imperial Court. Like any young aristocrat, he received an excellent education. He studied the classics, learned to compose poems in a language refined. He also practiced martial arts. Gifted student, the young Lu did not yet taste studies. He took pleasure in visiting poets tavern, musicians and dancers voluptuous "flags flower" from the sides of the water. To the chagrin of his family, he failed his exams twice and man of letters, twenty-five he had still not married. 
Then he returned to the capital where he had missed for the third time the contest imperial official, Lu Yen opened the door of a tavern to drown his bitterness in rice wine. A stocky man entered shortly thereafter. He had the gait of an aristocrat but a disheveled quickdraw outlaw. Part of his hair salt and pepper floating on her shoulders, the other was roughly tied on top of his skull. His shaggy beard dripped profusely hairy chest on a surmounting a rounded belly as his shirt unbuttoned could not contain. His sleeves and legs of his trousers were rolled up, showing off muscles strong. He was wearing a shoulder bag hemp sandals shod with straw. - traveler in this floating world, rather than shorten your life with the fire of drink, why not extend it with the nectar of the Tao?
Lu Yen remained pensive for a moment. The Taoist took the opportunity to order the landlord of two bowls soup. The young man finally replied:
- I do not feel ready to join the mountains of the immortals. The reputation of my family is in. I'm going back to school hard to get a post of honor.
The follower of the Way drank greedily some long pasta floating in the bowl, wiped his beard back of his hand and said:
- Reputation and dishonor, and earnings losses are inherent in the mortal realm. Only those who can see beyond these illusions can be overcome. When you're ready, come find me. I Choungli Chouan name, the Hermit of the House of Clouds. You'll find me at the peak of the crane.
The Taoist ends noisily his bowl, resting on the table and went out of his bag he offered a cushion to Lu Yen as a farewell gift.
On the way back, the young scholar went to sleep one night under the stars, her head wedged onto the cushion that had given him the hermit. He dreamed he was brilliantly received assistance from Mandarin and obtained a position at the imperial palace. He married a lady companion of the Empress, as ravishing as cultivated. He had many children. At the birth of her first grand-son, he was appointed minister. It soon became the favorite of the emperor. He was about to be appointed prime minister when jealous colleagues accused him of treason. The plot was so contrived, with false testimony in support, he was arrested with his entire family. The award Imperial fell.
All males of the clan were sentenced to death ...
Then Lu Yen opened his eyes on the pillow soaked with sweat. Disillusioned by the vanity of this world, he went to say goodbye to his parents and took the road to the peak of the crane.
Choungli Chouan the hermit meek, was not surprised to see Lu Yen near his cabin nestled among the tall rocks.
- Then, one night, you lived your whole life of a courtier! You went after your dream!
- so you know all of my nightmares?
- Eh eh, do not you did on my headrest? ... But tell me, you really know what you came for here, you, the scholar?
- In this changing world nothing can enter. Success breeds jealousy, honor infamy. I realized that I was a pilgrim in this illusory realm, an exile looking for his original homeland.
The sage shook his sinister in mane and roared these words:
- Bravo! You're on the Way! Now you will be called Tong Lu Pin, Host of the Cave!
Then the Taoist his student seated on his mat and gave him the basics needed to learn to discipline his mind and harmonize the internal breath. After years of intensive practice of Chi Kong, the Hermit of the Clouds House told his disciple:
- You know enough now. Go back where you came from, will face the spectacle of the world while working our subtle art. Do not let the trials of life lose your mind. When you're ready, I'll come get you to teach you the ultimate secret.
When Lu Pin Tong returned to the family home, he learned that his father had left this world a month earlier and that his mother was dying. The heart full of sorrow, he hurried to his bedside. He managed to contain his tears and his sentence transmogrified into a powerful force of compassion that allowed him to guide the soul of his mother his flight to the Islands of the Immortals.
Upon returning from the funeral of his mother, Lu Tung Pin wished, as it was customary to distribute money to the poor. A beggar to whom he gave a few coins, instead of thanking him, spat in his face a flood of insults, accusing him of not giving enough. The first reflex of the Taoist, annoyed, was to continue his journey but he retraced his steps, bowed to the poor beggar and gave him the rest of his purse.
Back home, Pin Lu Tong was visited by a childhood friend whom he had once been deeply in love. She was even more beautiful than in her childhood memories. The young Taoist was shocked to see her. She asked him hospitality as it had come from afar for the funeral of his mother. Over dinner, she told him that her parents were married to a high dignitary, she had two children. Then she wept, bemoaned his fate. Her husband abandoned, he had three concubines. They had never liked anyway. And she declared that his only love was Lu Tung Pin, she wanted to elope with him. She threatened to commit suicide if he did not take him into the mountains with him. Then she made her soft eyes, held her remarks troubling and after a few swigs of alcohol, lay uncovered before him and offered him her body jade. The switch almost ascetic in the intoxication of the senses but, reluctantly, he vigorously rejected this beautiful tears, reproached him for being a woman without honor and an unfit mother. It made him promise to stay with her children until they marry. He told her then if she still wished she could join him to walk with him on the Way of Tao. The next day at dawn, she left the house.
He left his bag a brush, ink, and began to paint a yellow crane on the wall of the room. He then turned to the keeper with a smile and asked him to sing a song. At the first notes of the melody, under the incredulous eyes of customers, the bird stood out from the wall. He took off and hovered over the tables. The song ended, the yellow crane came back pressed against the wall. Galloped on the new paths of the Middle Kingdom. People came from afar to admire the miracle, even in the capital. They say that the Son of Heaven himself also made a visit to see for himself the magical dance of the yellow crane. The hostel was always full and enriched its owner without losing his generous nature. He knew how to benefit the poor and vagrants in the area. Thirty years went by. Lu Tung Pin stopped one day at the hostel. The boss was sitting at a table, his head resting on worries responsible for his fists. The Wanderer questioned. The innkeeper sighed and replied:
Master Lu whispered something tight and the bird fell off the wall. The wise and straddled they flew through the window before disappearing into the shimmering mist of the mountains.
The innkeeper had built near his tavern Pagoda of Yellow Crane in memory of Lu Tung Pin, Host of the Cave. He had engraved at the entrance to the sanctuary this poem:
The bird disappeared into the clouds
The dragon could not grasp
Infinite Sadness Mountain
Even today, many pilgrims come to pray to the Taoist scholar, part of the Gang of Eight Immortals. They are the patron saints of China, the compassionate divine madmen who have abandoned the untold pleasures of the Heavenly Palace to watch over us poor mortals. And for those who can see, it is not uncommon to recognize the guise of a lame ragged, a farmer down on his ass, a martial arts master debonair, d a doctor of the poor, a wandering musician or showy big heart.
- broadcast for the first time on the website "The little cozy world
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