Watching the clouds

Earlier today, whilst waiting for my son to finish his karate class, I had the opportunity to just sit and stare at the clouds drifting by above me. I admired the way they drifted effortlessly; they were fascinating. This fascination is not a new one, it started early on in life with me. I'm sure that we can all remember days as children when we lay on our backs in the fields, or our gardens, seeing pictures in the clouds, creating patterns where there were none.

Thinking about this cloud watching episode, I was reminded of the story in Lieh-Tzu entitled "Riding on the wind, floating with the clouds". In this story, we learn something about Lieh-Tzu himself; apparently he was able to ride on the wind and float with the clouds. His student, Yin-Sheng, wanted to be taught how to do this (and how many of us have not wondered what it would be like to be able to fly like the birds?), but he was impatient - he wanted to be taught NOW, he was not prepared to wait. He appears to have been sure that there was just a trick to it and that all he needed was the lessons.

What Lieh-Tzu told his student, after he returned, was that there was a lot of self-cultivation involved in this process - it was not a quick fix or easy set of lessons. He worked hard to discipline his mind and body; becoming more aware of his body and his mind, allowed him to, eventually, realise that there is no difference between the outside and the inside, and it was at this point that he became able to float through the sky.

Taoism discusses, in many different texts and stories, the interdependence of all things; there is no difference between my body and the world around me, except in the external form that I perceive. Modern physicists would agree with that perspective - there really is no such thing as a solid object.

So why aren't we all floating around the sky? Perhaps, after many years of self-cultivation and discipline, we will. But we need to be able to realise fully, that there is no difference between the outside and the inside. We must not just recognise this intellectually, we must know it with every fibre of our body, instinctively. Then, and only then, will we be able to join those clouds we have been watching.

Tag Taoism Clouds Lieh-Tzu