Pathway

Chapter 6: Coming Of Age [1]

Time! Like an arrow, it flew. And like a petal in the wind, it flowed softly by. By the time a thought of a glimpse of it was made, only a memory of it that was left behind, would be caught.

"Son, it's now time for you to practice your meditation."

For five good years, Zhang Xiu Ying had been watching the growth of her son. Even now, the cruel time was still fleeing from her. Their beautiful moments together seemed to be accelerating away at an exceedingly fast pace which was making her grimaced in sadness. More time, was all she wanted but knew that, more time, she wouldn't get. She would have to make the best of the present time.

"Yes, that is good. Raise your feet a bit more like this... You now need to continue breathing in and out the way I taught you... Very good. Continue like that until I tell you to stop."

Zhang Xiu Ying continued to watch her son who was sitting down in a lotus position. Eyes closed, while breathing in and out like an unborn foetus. He was practicing the astral primal breathing technique which filled her heart with abundant joy and a bit of sadness. Sadness of the passage of time. Oh, how quickly the days passed by. Her son Ju Feng was already five. Five!

More so, he almost looked twice his age which even added to his frightening state of growth. He was growing up fast and strong, and probably too fast. The amount of Chi in his dantian and his strength's level, were truly alarming for his age. With this rate of development, his mind would need to be properly nurtured to prevent it from collapsing on itself. Just as the ancient saying, an incongruous mind was a sickness to the body and a danger to the surroundings.

Due to all these developments, the whole family came to a decision. For the mean time, they would only teach him meditation, basic Chi sensing and farming. They would wait until he was six before teaching him martial arts, mystical arts and cultivation technique. They believed his mind needed to be tempered from a very young age to balance his reasoning with his Chi and strength levels.

The power of the mind could not simply be described. It held the power of imagination, recognition, appreciation and the responsibility for our feelings and emotions which led to our attitudes and actions. The mind was what we truly were while the body was merely the tool. Therefore, tempering the heart would attune it to the way of the universe.

A true oneness with the universe, was to stimulate and adjust the mind to embrace its truth. The Dao of the universe the dharma of the cosmos had one simple, yet complex truth which only a truly enlightened mind could grasp. A heart tempered with humility.

A demeanour of humility was exactly what was needed to live in oneness and harmony with oneself and all entities. The apprehension of a soul, that it had nothing special that made it better than the others, and that a soul was nothing but a grain in an ocean of sand. This knowledge of the simple fact that it was not even a speck in the universe, would greatly help the soul towards being one with the universe in the true way.

With the way he's growing fast in strength, his heart needs to be framed to be free of pride and arrogance. These two attributes are destructive distractions to all cultivators. Their outcome is always death.

Zhang Xiu Ying closed her eyes and continued practicing her meditation. As an Asura, she could see what was happening around her and their hill-cave clearly. But for the whole village in its entirety, she couldn't see the events vividly. And now with her eyes closed, she could, clearly, see her son still closing his eyes and breathing in and out, in utter concentration. So, she decided to leave him for a while to avoid causing any form of distractions. Moments later, they left the cultivation chamber and headed towards the living area.

Zhang Li Qiang was preparing to go to the farm when he saw his daughter and grandson. He still couldn't believe that he was a grandfather. Yes! A grandfather. If he had been asked about being a father a thousand years ago, he would have answered otherwise. But now, it was a different story. How could he not be happy?

"How's my grandson doing? Good?"

"Grandpa! Yes, good. I was meditating."

"Brilliant."

Zhang Li Qiang picked up his grandson in a swirl.

"I can't even stand properly carrying you. Very soon, you will be the one carrying me."

"Grandpa!"

"Hehehe."

Zhang Li Qiang, with his head thrown backward, laughed heartily. Afterwards, he turned to his daughter who was also grinning widely.

"How's my daughter too? "

"I'm well, father. You look great yourself, especially in those old farm clothes."

"What's better than the joys of a simpler, farming lifestyle?"

He asked smilingly while putting down his grandson.

"The joys of your daughter and grandson?"

"I was only talking about lifestyle Xiu Ying, and not my daughter and son."

Zhang Li Qiang answered with a long suffering sigh and shook his head at Zhang Xiu Ying's broad happy smile.

"Do you want to follow me to the farm today, Ju Feng?"

"Yes, grandpa. See you later, ma."

Ju Feng happily followed his grandfather outside as they both headed towards the direction of the farm.

"See you too."

Zhang Xiu Ying looked at their back and shook her head.

"Time is really moving too fast and he's growing up even faster. He spends less and less time with me, his mother. He's no longer his mother's child alone. Sooner or later, he will have to leave to explore the big world. Oh, life. I need to spend more time with him before then."

She looked around the quiet place and went looking for her mother.

Meanwhile, on the farm, Zhang Li Qiang and his grandson were putting straws over the millet.

"Out here in the farm, I gain more enlightenment into the nature of the universe. Every time I'm here, I view same thing from different perspective. When you achieve different perspectives, you can arrive at a true perspective. Take a look at these millet. What do you see?"

"I see crops, grandpa."

"Anything else? I want you to look closely."

"Grains?"

"Mhm. Crops, grains, when you look at their appearance. Now, if you look pass their appearances, what do you see?"

"Hmm, I'm not really sure about that, grandpa."

"Life, Ju Feng, life. These crops you see, are living things. When they are planted and nurtured, they grow. After a time, they are harvested to serve as food. Source of life. They live to serve as source of life to the living. When you walk through them, you feel the peace coming from them. But, they never raised their heads towards creation to beat their chests. What do you see from this?"

"Ahh, yes grandpa. I think I understand now. They are lowly?"

"Aha. You are wiser than your age. Yes, humility. It takes a humble mind to open itself to the universe and accept the knowledge of the universe. Yes, we eat the crops, but does that mean we are more significant than them? We are all part of one universe and no life is greater than the other. Many things like pride, arrogance, and greed are only diseases to the mind, making their clouds shroud the mind from the true nature of the universe."

He beamed inside and continued.

"I am truly blessed to have you as my grandson. Always remember that, although this universe is infinite, it values a humble mind."

"Grandpa, I promise, I will always remember."

Zhang Li Qang stopped mulching the millet, regarded his grandson and smiled.

"Good, that's my grandson. Now let's wrap up the work here and check the goats."

They finished doing the remaining work for the day as the sun was disappearing below the horizon, and they made their way in the direction of the cave. After refreshing themselves, they joined Zhang Wang Jing and Zhang Xiu Ying for dinner. They surely had enough to eat and plenty of goat milk to drink.