FLOATING CLOUDS
Cai Zhisong
From the moment we are born, we
rush towards death. In the vastness of time and space, a life is just a fleeting
moment, yet it leaves behind its traces.
The meaning of life is not just
the process. What matters more are the results. If the meaning of life was just
in the process, then we could trace out a magnificent skyscraper on the ice of
a frozen lake, and drink in the praise from the public.
If the meaning of life was just
in the process, then we would not doggedly struggle in the face of bitterness
and hardship.
If we only pursue the stimulation
of the process, with no concern for the severity of the outcomes, then we will
one day end up like a restless youth suddenly and inexplicably stricken with a
terminal illness, our hearts filled with longing and regret.
It is because we do not place
importance on outcomes that we do
so many things without
care, that so much precious life is wasted on meaningless experiments, bounding
through the phenomena of the world with nothing to show for it, filling our
lives with difficulties, travesties and anxieties.
It is because we do not place
importance on outcomes that even if we were to extend our lifespans by
thousands of times, it would only be a one- day stay of execution, an extension
of the rituals and fears that precede death.
When a y randomly buzzes into a
room, it doesn’t matter how you chase it or swat at it. What matters is whether
it can leave. A candle is burned to its end in exchange for light, but when a
life is burned to the end, all it brings is darkness. Do not grasp at seductive
words, thinking you will find yourself, because it is nothing but trickery.
Illusion can never bear the heavy burden of reality.
Do not, out of fear of karmic
action and reaction, only believe in the process of life, passing your way
through the last remaining light of life in self-deception. We were not born to
be ignorant. If you wish for joy, then plant the corresponding seeds.
The spring rains come and the
clouds oat by. No one cares to ask how they y, but they are astonished by the
rain and thunder.
Written on October 5, 2011, in Garze, Sichuan Province
5, October 2011 in Garze, Sichuan Province
Garze, Sichuan Province, 5th October 2011