Chapter 24 - The Lightness of Being
The young prince had been coming to the Forest of K'an for almost two years and his paintings were becoming renowned throughout the kingdom. The sage had noticed in the last couple of months, that as his fame grew, so also did the young man's arrogance. It seemed that whenever they spoke the prince thought he knew more about everything than the sage. The sage did not judge the arrogance, but he did wonder what was underneath; for he knew that arrogance often came out of fear.
It was no longer appropriate for him to tell the young man what to do, for he had come to that point in the teachings when it was important for the prince to take control of his own teaching and to open up to his Higher Self. The sage knew that could never happen while he was arrogant; for to be able to connect with the Higher Self you needed a lightness of being, with the ego no longer blocking the way.
What was the sage to do?
In the end he left it to the Tao to handle; for he knew that by opening to the wisdom of the Tao, an opportunity would arise from which they both could grow.
It was late summer when the Tao sent forward them the opportunity. The sage would welcome the opportunity; he understood that his life was alway about new beginnings. I cannot say the same for the Prince who was now resisting any new experiences or any new teachings. He thought because he could see the life in things through his painting, he had reached the ultimate teaching, but that was merely his ego, which had become comfortable with the recognition it was receiving.
This day the prince wanted to go deeper in the forest to paint.
The sage could feel in an inner part of himself that it was not a good idea, for the weather, the heat and the wind were giving him signs that were not positive. He tried to talk the young prince out of going on, what he knew would be foolhardy, but the prince would hear none of it and ordered the sage to come with him.
In the end the sage agreed, 'It would be as it would be," he thought to himself.
They were deep in the woods and the prince was congratulating himself on capturing the essence of the forest in his painting. He had even painted himself into the picture and against the Taoist tradition his portrait took up more than a third of the landscape. His arrogance was getting more and more out of control.
The sage heard a crackling sound and immediately knew that his element, the element of fire was very active. For a moment he drew deep within himself, fearing his own lack of balance had drawn the fire to them, just like it had done to his parents in the past. He need not have worried. When he went deep within, all he saw was the smiling and proud faces of his parents. He nodded to them and then came back into the outer world. By this time the crackling had become louder and the smell of smoke surrounded them.
He looked to the prince who seemed oblivious to what was happening. He called out to him and got no response. He called louder and still nothing. He struck the young man across the back with his walking stick. The young prince turned with a look of anger on his face, the like of which the sage had never seen. Heng was about to strike the sage when he smelt the smoke and heard the flames which had almost reached them. His anger turned to fear and he started to tremble.
The sage surveyed the area and could see they were surrounded by a ring of fire. They only had seconds to make a decision as the fire rushed towards them.
"Let's make a run for it," said the prince his fears clouding his thinking.
The sage touched him gently on the arm but you would think he had been stuck by a spear; so much energy had been transferred to him. The prince took a deep breath and began to relax. He could still see no way out, but at least he was back in control of his mind.
The sage went deep within and he could see them walking through the fire, not one lick of the flame touching their bodies. The sage knew with his conscious mind it was impossible and his ego was already telling him that he was mad and would die in the flames. He turned to the prince. "We have to close our eyes and walk through the flames. If we align to the element of fire then we will not be killed by it or because of it."
"Your mad," said the prince, "If we close our eyes and walk through the fire we will surely die."
"If you can let go of your fear of death and embrace life. If you can respect the elements and become the element of fire then you will be safe. Trust me."
The young prince did not know what to believe, was this a trick by the sage to punish him or was it a plan that had been hatched by someone who wanted his throne. All manner of thoughts passed through his mind; they were all fears, fear of death, fear of loss and the fear of being burnt. Just as his mind was about to go into overwhelm he took a deep breath and stilled himself for a moment. The sage had never harmed him; in fact everything the sage had done for him had only increased in him the person he was becoming. It wasn't the sage that was trying to trick him, it was his own ego.
He did as the sage suggested. He closed his eyes and imagined becoming one with the element of fire. At first nothing happened, but when he gave thanks to the fire for its teaching everything began to change. He could see himself becoming the fire, not as an intellectual exercise; he could feel the element of fire rising up from within him. He knew in that moment that the fire would not hurt him. With his eyes still closed he reached out and took the hand of the sage and walked into the flames.
He could feel the warmth of the fire brush his face as he moved through the flames. Twenty meters further on and he experienced a whisp of cooler air caress his cheeks. He opened his eyes to see they had gone beyond the fire. He looked down at his clothes and apart from one small burnt patch, neither his clothes or his body had been burnt in the fire.
He looked into the eyes of the sage, "I am sorry that I let my ego take control of me. I had forgotten for a moment that you were a gift from the Tao; a gift that the Tao could have just as easily taken away from me." Heng hugged the old sage. It was the hug of one friend for another; they had become for the first time equals. It was a defining moment in the young prince's life; the moment when his ego was no longer in charge. He was now free to become the person he was destined to become.
**********
My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/
