Today's blog is about life being sacred. As I write this I am waiting for an open casting for a television miniseries. It is amazing when you can see the beauty in the mundane that life can lead you off in many directions. Never did I ever think I would be writing screenplays let alone acting but here I am doing both. The acting, like many things I am doing at the moment is so I can better understand the film making process and improve in my writing and screenwriting skills.
I love film, because of its immediacy and also the impact a good or great film can have on a person's life. In many cases this impact is at the subconscious level. How many of you have walked out of a great film and been a different person than the one walking in?
I felt that way when I first saw Star Wars, or Casablanca or Lost Horizons. Each of these films impacted in ways that even today many years later are still evident. Books can do it as well but usually on a more conscious level.
"Use the force Luke," has always been a part of who I have become and sent me off on my on mystical journey. The concepts of the force or the Tao has been concepts which I have been searching and researching for all my life. Each of those moments from those film have been sacred in my own life and probably for many others who have seen these and other films.
It is now later in the afternoon and I am sitting in the front garden As we near spring, the flowers are starting to bloom and the rain now falling and the heat in the air will only see this marvel of nature increase over the coming weeks. My dogs are with me for company as the sun breaks through the rain clouds. Beatrice my muse sits proudly on the chair beside me, nudging me every now and again for a pat or to stop writing and give her more attention. The other dog Horatio sits by the front door waiting to go back inside. Just like people all animals have their own distinct personality.
I am not a vegetarian but sometimes wish I could be. If you have ever looked in the eyes of a cow or a pig you will see their own distinct personality shining through. My wife will tell you that I don't even like picking flowers because I like to see them in their natural beauty. I tried vegetarianism for about seven years but it did not suit my body type. I do my best to see all life as sacred and express gratitude for each little blessing that I receive.
The rain has stopped and the birds are now out chirping. Both the dogs have gone to sleep and in my current state I might soon join them for a nap in the sun and reflect on the magic of this day.
Life Is Sacred
Huo wandered through the countryside for many months with one goal in mind: to find the Forest of K'an and journey to the mystical Lake of Li. The old sage had talked often about this magical lake and the forest. Over the last two days, he had found the Forest of K'an, and now he was heading towards the lake. He knew intuitively where the lake was; he could feel her presence with every part of his being.
On the journey to find the lake, he had many adventures and had met many strange people, the strangest being the badger that could talk; well, talk was not quite right, but he could communicate with Huo in the most unusual way. It happened over a month ago, when Huo first thought of finding the Lake of Li in the Forest of K'an. He had been sitting by a stream, meditating, when a picture of the Lake of Li came into his mind. He knew it was the Lake of Li because of the description that he had received from the old sage. He could even see the large rock that Chung Fu used to sit on when he was teaching his students. In the meditation, Huo could imagine himself sitting on the rock and staring into the Lake of the Li. The more he stared, the more real the picture became; it was so real, if Huo had wanted to, he could have transported himself there in an instant, but of course, he was not yet aware that he had those abilities. He opened his eyes with the knowing that came from deep within that the next part of his journey would take him to the lake the old sage had talked so much about.
He returned to his camp to the find a badger, a big fat badger fossicking through his pack for what little food he had left. Years ago, he would have become angry to lose the little food he had, but he was different now. He understood that the Tao gives and the Tao takes away; so, rather than express his anger, he sat down on a log of wood and watched the badger, for the inner part of him knew that the badger had a message for him.
Badgers are very independent by nature, and this one was no exception. The badger turned to look at Huo, but the look was brief, and he went back to eating the food and destroying Huo's pack. He was certainly an individual. Huo knew that badgers were very different from most animals in the forest, and they did not seem to care what humans and other animals thought about them.
Huo sent a molecule of himself into the badger, and what returned did not surprise him. He could almost hear the badger talking to him.
"Walk your own path at your own pace. Don't defend yourself. You are what you are, so be proud of it. If someone attacks you, don't defend; just walk away. You are an infinite spirit walking your own journey; be proud of yourself, but at the same time do not judge others because you do not know what their journey is or where it will lead. You don't have to explain to anyone what you are doing. You are following your inner spirit, and to explain it would be impossible; allow it to lead you in ways that you would not think possible."
Huo was not sure if the words were coming from the animal or just the workings of his own mind. It did not matter, though, for the teaching was the same. It was time for him to go back into the world and take what he had learnt to the people who were drawn to him.
He looked down at the badger and offered thanks for its teaching. For its part, the badger gave him what appeared to be a grin, then scurried off into the forest without any apology for destroying Huo's worldly goods.
No longer encumbered by any Earthly goods, Huo continued on his journey to the Lake of Li in the Forest of K'an.
Blessings and Peace
Geof
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The 33rd Sage and the 33rd Sage and the Initiate are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris, a number of online book stores and on my websites.
The Way of the Initiate will be published late 2013
Twitter @GeofSpalding
Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/
Translatable Author Blog - 33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/
Book Websites 'The 33rd Sage,' at www.33rdsage.com
'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' at www.the33rdsage.com
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