The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Take responsibility for your life

Qing the young girl from the kitchen of the Pagoda had started to join Huo and the old sage for their early morning meditation and the talks the old man often gave. Some mornings there were as many as ten students who came to be with the old man. This morning there was only Huo and Qing, neither of which seemed to mind as their friendship, if you could call it that, continued to blossom since the time the old sage brought Huo to the Pagoda. Huo missed living in the forest with the animals and nature, but if he was truly honest with himself, Qing had more than made up for what he missed.
Sitting in a triangle, meditating, the old sage began to speak, "People are not interested in generating energy for their own survival and security; they want someone else to guarantee their security. In doing so they lose their power, shifting it away to someone else, family, friends, religion or the king and his government. We are continually transferring the responsibility and the blame for our lives onto others rather than understanding that what life has given us is what we have created.

"To be a part of the graceful beauty of the Infinite self you first have to take responsibility for where you find yourself in life. Once you do this you will see that the pain that you are suffering from, comes from your reaction to life's circumstances and not from the circumstances themselves."

Huo looked down on his left arm, which had been badly burnt during the fire that consumed his mother and father. His left arm was once withered and paralyzed, but now apart from one or two small scars his left arm was almost normal. He ran his fingers over his face and although he had not looked in a mirror for years, he knew that the scarring on his face had almost disappeared. It was only when he started seeing the beauty that this life had to offer that he could see the beauty that existed in everything. A young child, paralyzed and disfigured, he was able, with the support of the old sage, to see the beauty that existed in himself.

By accepting who he was and disengaging from his emotions he was able to see that he was not his emotions and he was not responsible for other people's emotions. He understood that the way it was, was just the way it was and rather than fight the circumstances he found himself in he could accept them and then move on. Most times when he gave up the resistance, two amazing things happened; either the problem just fell away or in some cases it was the circumstance themselves that taught him a wonderful lesson about himself.

In his own little dream world he had not noticed that the old sage had stopped talking and that Qing was staring at him, while at the same time trying to stifle a laugh, which was wanting to burst forth from her being.
"You will have to get used to that," said the old sage, "Sometimes Huo goes off to other worlds and dimensions that only he has the key to."
They all laughed, albeit Huo's laugh was accompanied by a rather red face, as he blushed at Qing's beautiful smile.
"Now we are all back in the present, let me finish this session by saying; remember the teaching of the Tao: nothing is long or short, hot or cold, good or bad. Once you disengage from the need to judge then you are free to be satisfied with the world and to see the beauty in all things.
life.

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