|
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Chapter 16 - Rocking In the Midst Of The Water Here, at the lakeside, it can be bitingly cold during winter. There are even times when a sheet of ice forms over the lake. But, in the summer when the sun is high, the sparkling lake, with its glittering ripples, sends out its greetings. Then many lakeside residents respond to the greeting and go into the water. So, with each of us carrying a float, Fo Ching (my daughter), Fo Chi (my son), and I floated on the water. From the lakeside house of Master Chen, we glided off to the heart of the lake, gently rocking in the midst of the water. The undulating motion in the water was rather fun. With the float bobbing up and down, I lay on my back on the float and rocked in the midst of the water, watching the round sky above me. Even the sky seemed gently rocking and, in a rare moment of leisure, I drifted off into dreams. The float moved slowly, the lake water rolled in gentle waves, and the dreams were quite lucid. The mountains as they reflected on the lake were fresh, bright, and green. It was a carefree moment, intensely lyrical. There were three white clouds in the sky. The white clouds were like dancers on a stage of blue. With their tempting, graceful forms, they danced silently, freely, changing their formation to whatever they desired - sometimes a goddess, sometimes a boat, sometimes a horse, or a warrior.... Rocking in the midst of the water, I seemed to be securely embraced by the two arms of the lake. I wanted to stay rocking there forever, gazing at the blue sky, the dancing clouds, and the eternally rimless Universe; I wanted to soar and glide into that endless realm on the golden wings of my thoughts. I could stop and listen to the wind parading above me, and hear the heartbeats of the lake. Those heartbeats sounded like a deva playing his harp... an echo amidst the serenity. The scenery of lakes and mountains entered into my dreams. My lightweight float rocked from side to side, just like an infant's cradle. At this moment, I seemed to have turned back into a young man-no, not a young man, nor a teenager, but an infant. Was this infant the Holy Red Crown Venerable Vajra Master? Does the Holy Red Crown Venerable Vajra Master have a deep love of nature? The legendary master, with all his supernatural powers, was being worshipped and his name was being circulated to all corners of the world, while he was rocking gently in the midst of the water. Indeed, the person rocking gently in the midst of the water was I, the Holy Red Crown Venerable Vajra Master. At this moment, with the upper body naked, the lower body clad in a pair of swimming trunks, and the skin well tanned by the sun, the sage had disappeared and turned into an infant playing in the water. The sage had vanished, nowhere to be found, and in the heart of the lake there was only a kind and innocent infant. Honestly, rocking gently in the midst of the lake, I had turned back into a child playing in the water, a child with the mind of an infant. The rocking and the rolling of the water had made me forget who I was. "Who are you?" asked Mother Nature. "I don't know who I am." I replied. "Sheng-Yen Lu. Don't you remember?" asked Mother Nature. "I don't know who Sheng-Yen Lu is." I replied. "Where did you come from?" asked Mother Nature. "From nowhere? And to nowhere? Even if all one's teeth have fallen out and all one's hair has turned white, a person in the midst of the Divinity of water will always forget himself." Someone from somewhere answered. This beautiful Lake Sammamish, with its heart gently rocking, had in one, quick flash shattered all the pasts and futures, like the sudden evaporation of clouds and mists. This might seem like a fairy tale, but I do not think so. In it is the hidden mystery of the Mind or, rather, the secret of the Universe. In this one moment of freedom, I became an infant and my mind was a dove, flying in a world ten thousands miles away. Fo Ching, a child. Fo Chi, also a child. I, also a child. A family playing in the water. Except for Li-Hsian Lu (my wife). She was afraid of water and did not want to go into it. She was not being a child. As an onlooker, under the high noon sun, and far away at the lakeside, she watched over our clothing. Rocking in the midst of the water, the man was no longer a sage, a poet, a writer, nor anybody. Though his stories were circulating all over the world, his heart would be tied to Lake Sammamish and he would always receive joy from the lake's gentle rocking. He was now only a child or, more precisely, his heart was filled with appreciation for the water of the lake. The water of the lake has encouraged a person's heart-the sound of the water is ringing in the center of this child's heart, melodiously, gently, eternally....
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|