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Roving Over The World
- Book 111: Roving Over The World
- Chapter 21:
The Caribbean
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated by Janny Chow
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The veil of the sea is always mystical especially the Caribbean sea. It is steady, calm and full of profound implication. Standing on the deck, I felt my soul had soared over the water. The elegance, ability, wit and lifestyle of the ocean are beyond any word.
The movie \`Blue Coral Reefs \` was shot in the Caribbean. The following part of the movie really amazed me:
\`Time has frozen in the island. Everybody does what he pleases. Rich and poor alike, they are enjoying what they have. To them life itself is an art - a natural art - a survival art. Everybody lives in a beautiful world that boasts of no self-ego.\`
Apart from the island life-style, there is an ocean life-style. The sea itself is a never-ending art. It is the best form of life. The wave never seems to stop. The sea is creative, warm and full of treasure. We are very dependent on the sea.
When the sun is up:
The blue sea is like a piece of cloth.
I know that under the water a very interesting show is staging continuously.
While above the water, the storyline will be very simple.
Although its simple, it is very familiar. But strangely, I felt excited, as long as I take a look at the blue sea, I felt very happy, to the extent that I am really drunk.
Its an eternal piece of art!
So real,
So seasoned,
This was a great piece of art work done by a world-renowned master,
I like to stand on the deck and look at the blue sea. And shout at the sea : \`We shall meet again.\`
At night:
Only my eyeballs were beaming, and the sky was full of glittering stars. It is a beautiful night.
In the dark sea, I could only hear its breathing and feel the expansion and contraction of its lungs.
The sea seemed to have a short and urgent breathing. Sometimes when the wind was strong, the sea appeared to be weeping and crying out aloud.
A stranger - a old foreigner walked slowly towards me and stopped beside me. He too looked at the dark ocean.
\`What is that noise?\` I asked myself.
\`It is the spirit of the sea.\` The oldman answered.
\`Spirit?\` I was very curious.
\`Of course, there are many spirits in the sea. Stories about them are many and varied. As there are so many of them, it is difficult to miss them in the sea.\`
\`Don`t you think it is horrifying?\`
\`No, not really.\`
\`Why?\`
\`Because they are emotional too.\`
I did not say a word after that. So was the old man. Both of us looked at the dark sea and listened to the howling of the ocean.
When I was about to leave, I asked the oldman \`Sir, what is your specialty?\`
\`Philosophy\` He answered.
Mi Yan Sutra mentioned that:
\`Just like the sea water being blown by the wind, the wave was unable to stop ..................................\`
This is talking about human the mind.
From the water, we can understand what an ocean is. It is an illusion, it is formless, it is light, it is a shadow, it is a mirage, it is changing all the while!
From the sea, we gain inspiration and enter into samadhi and have an insight of the arising and ceasing of all dharma.
Lao Tze said the following:
\`The best virtuous deed is like water, benefitting all without contention. It positions itself at the most unfavorable spot, and yet its close to the truth. As it never involves itself in any contention, therefore nobody has a grudge against water.\`
It is said the water has three instincts:
1. It brings benefit to all living things - - - irrigation for agriculture for example.
2. Nature and without contention - water is tender and follows Nature closely.
3. Lie low - it never flows upwards, it flows downwards, and is very polite.
When Lao Tze said \`water brings benefits to all, it is polite, quiet and flexible\`, he was implying that
if human beings can learn to be like water, then they will be very close to the path!
In short, Water:
Lies very low and never gets involved in any argument,
Auietly it hides in the abyss,
It gives alms to all with no intention of asking back a favour,
It reflects everything correctly,
With Good management, Water is capable of doing everything,
When you need it most, water will appear,
Water thus has the most perfect human characters!
There is a water Dhyana in the Dharma:
Concentrating fully on water and obtain a meditative stabilization from the water. Water fills the inner and outer bodies. It is a natural and suitable dhyana.
The story of high priests from the Tang dynasty recorded the following:
Fa Zhing the monk cultivated the Water Dhyana and attained a high level of spiritual advancement. He always meditated in the bamboo bushes behind the temple. His family members went to collect some fire wood and found a pool of water at the place he mediated. They picked up two stones and put it on the pool of water.
Fa Zhing the monk had very bad backache when he returned to the temple. He was told about the stone incidence. Fa Zhing wanted them to take back the two stones they left behind.
The second day, Fa Zhing went for his meditation. From the pool of water, the family members took back the two stones. Fa Zhing`s backache disappeared immediately.
Eight lakes of meritorious deeds are found the Western Pure Land. The Eight kinds of meritorious deeds
are:
1. Clear and clean
2. Chilly
3. Sweet and beautiful
4. Soft and tender
5. Sleek
6. Peaceful
7. Quenching the thirst
8. Accumulating merit
In fact, these are the special features of water.
A famous verse from the Virtue Sutra always quoted by me is as follows:
\`Ren Fa Di, Di Fa Tian, Tian Fa Dao, Dao Fa Zi Ran.\`
It simply means:
\`Human must learn from the Earth;
Earth must learn from the Heaven;
Heaven must learn from the Path;
And Path must learn from Mother Nature.\`
Lao Tze advocated
:
\`Nature is the end of the path;
And the instincts of the path is none other than nature itself.\`
It was a marvelous experience looking at the Caribbean from the Big Red Ship. Apart from Earth, Heaven, Path and Nature, perhaps we could also learn something from the Sea, which is mercurial and yet never uninteresting. The Caribbean was so huge that we may conclude that it is the whole world. It is always very difficult if not impossible to understand the mystery of the sea.
Whether it was early in the morning, high noon, or misty night with sea breeze, I liked to embrace the sea, and engage in deep thought.
Embraced by the sea, I seek the eternal bliss.
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