Returning Home
‘Men’s life between heaven and earth
is like a white colt’s passing a crevice,
and suddenly disappearing.
As with a plunge and an effort they all come forth;
easily and quietly they all enter again.
By a transformation they live,
and by another transformation they die.
Living things are made sad (by death),
and mankind grieve for it;
but it is (only) the removal of the bow from its sheath,
and the emptying the natural satchel of its contents.
There may be some confusion
amidst the yielding to the change;
but the intellectual and animal souls are taking their leave,
and the body will follow them:
This is the Great Returning home.
‘That the bodily frame came from incorporeality,
and will return to the same, is what all men in common know,
and what those who are on their way to (know) it
need not strive for.
This is what the multitudes of men discuss together.
Those whose (knowledge) is complete do not discuss it;
– such discussion shows that their (knowledge) is not complete.
Even the most clear-sighted do not meet (with the Tao)
– it is better to be silent than to reason about it.
The Tao cannot be heard with the ears;
– it is better to shut the ears than to try and hear it.
This is what is called the Great Attainment.’
Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou trans. By James Legge
What is our ultimate concern? At what point do all of our activities, all of our inquisitiveness, and yes, the preening, subtle or obvious of our egos converge? The convergence has to be the summation of one’s own personal, individual existence. Does my life add up to anything at all? I think all of us search for completion, that we have left a durable mark, that between ‘heaven and earth’ we have added a quotient of significance… I think it is always up to those living after us to say what the composition of our life means. It is not up to us, to know what we have meant to others, and to the earth.
For us there is only the Great Returning.
I like the image of the galloping horse disappearing from view into a crevice, then suddenly appearing on the further side. It seems effortless, a mystical event.
And it is.
One thought on “Returning Home”
I suspect it sounds arrogant or self-aggrandizing to say that I don’t understand those who don’t seem to mind leaving their life behind without at least attempting to make a difference, to leave this world somewhat better than when they arrived. For me, the attempt is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is in the doing. The curse is in the failing.