Winding Roads --Reflective Dao--

I understand life so much more now then when I was a kid. I understand the horrors of life, the possibilities and capabilities of people in life. I understand that to the best way to deal with a situation of life and death is to never get into those situations at all.

A long time ago I believed blood was thick and would not break, age has provided me with other aspects of blood. Blood is a liquid nothing more and nothing less. You are the type of person of the company you keep, is another aspect I learned. What company does a person like me keep.

Oh I have battled all my friends and had words with them, except one. I have cut bridges time and time again, but each time I grab the rope and tie it off. I know people strive to become better, and sometimes a cut bridge will either motivate them to become better or will at least prove the lack of conviction. Conviction is a word I learned through my travels. A word I still use every day. I have conviction and at any cost will become the serpent sage. I will obtain my sage hood, and as I write this, I am calm and collected. Which is a great feat after the week I have had.

I have a friend that means the world to me, he is jolly, kind hearted and will always have a special place in my heart. I have one, it is just small if you ask some people, but ask those around me, I have a huge heart for those that follow the rules. Josh entered the Dao many years ago more than six. And only last year did he start calling himself a Daoist. My student is so like me in that aspect. It took me forever to call myself a Daoist.

Another person of company I took, or she took me I guess you can say, is Rose. My best friend and a person that I find myself drawn to make better, and who has a unique knack of making me a better person, but along with everyone else, she realizes there are boundaries that can never be crossed. Well I doubt she would really cross them anyways, she like me has the same goals right now. Improve our lives and make live a place where peace and sanctuary can thrive.

I know to younger people too. They are awesome friends. They belong to Rose. They strive to improve their lives, to walk a line to a goal without giving up, without beating themselves up. These two friends have grown up before my eyes, has taken what I naturally give to people and applied it to life. I am very sure they will succeed in life. To think that they both were experiencing a dark time in life when I met them. You would not really guess that a conviction to a task could drastically change them. I give them through action that conviction can make a difference, and they bounce it back to me, showing me that conviction can make a difference.

Out of the world these four I know the most about. These people allow me into their inner thoughts and I allow them too.

But I do not depend on them in life to take me anywhere, I do that myself. They do not rely on me in that same aspect. They strive for their own cultivation as much as I do. Rose and Josh, two of my most prized pupils. Though the two brothers have yet to call themselves Daoists they walk the path of Dao everyday.

I have other friends too, each giving me something in life to strive for, and each taking what is needed from me. I am very lucky to have friends like these, and though I don't depend on them, they do bring a little more value and drive to life.

So monk has anything happened this week to change your values? Has anything made your path shimmer?

No. I have conviction to my rules, and to my goals. I still hold truth above all else, but a lie is not burned away by truth afterwords. I still hold action is more powerful than words. Words are questionable without actions to build the very content of the words. I still know I have a long ways to go, but the weight put on by my own actions see light compared to those I have of other peoples living inside.

I would rather be hated for an action that directs a person to face life, than to never have tried to teach a lesson. I am really on high on conviction to fight for truth and stray away from lies. I still have a big conviction against thieves. I still hold many principles that are unwavering and unbreakable. I still believe that one bad apple spoils the bunch. No I would not change my convictions, if anything what has occurred has only strengthen them.

My support network is built out of intellectuals, and Daoists, and humorous people. I am the company I keep after all. Through all this I am privileged to know these people, and like them I know I will achieve my immortality through them, should anything ever happen to me. Lessons learned from me will be passed on, ideas and thoughts, stories and laughter all will be carried on. My goal of being a sage has not changed, but already i have achieved immortality in life.

I no longer close myself off to the world like I once did, but I am no longer a easy play like I once was. The eyesight seeing through lies are getting clearer the more I stay on the side of truth.

With the winding roads lately, not a single step has been missed on my path. Not a single rest has been taken from the road that is being walked. Winding roads at times are needed to force one to look at the road instead of the surrounding beauty, to make sure the step is good so one does not fall off a cliff. Winding roads are the reasons Daoists an not just go on auto-pilot and call it a day. Plus winding roads test your convictions to the road.

The Man in Dark and Child in White.

The monk sat in the park meditating. Upon meditating he noticed a man dressed all in black that everyone seemed familiar with, but the monk also saw the person next to him that was being ignored. A child dressed in white, with white hair. The monk wondered how such a man existed that would not feel bad the little child was ignored, and yet he received most of the acknowledgement.

The monk decided to follow them and pay attention to this person and see what all occurred. The monk saw old, and young alike, male and female all seemed to know this man. The monk thought maybe this man was a celebrity or a famous person. The fact though that the little girl was ignored, frustrated the monk.

The monk asked the man for some of his time to talk and let the monk hear his tale of fame. The monk asked him many questions. He asked the man who the white haired child was, and the man just stated that it was a friends daughter. The monk noticed the girl shook her head no just so slightly.

The monk asked the man how he knows the old and young so well. The man replied with the people seek him out regularly to determine a perception of sorts. The girl simply shook her head. The monk asked why most people ignore the child and only a few even recognize her.

The man stated that in order to tell me he would like to refer to a story of the twins night and day. All though people spent their time in the day, many look forward to the night, many enjoyed the dreams they had, and the enjoyment one had at night. I am like the night in the story, I am easy to talk to and generally I give people what they want. The child, well you know children they say thing like how they are, with no class about it.

After leaving the man the priest was curious about the story and had suspicions about the man still. The priest made his way to the cove, walking slowly and looking for what he missed when he heard a soft whisper of a voice. "Master monk may I ask you for an escort?"

The monk simply replied lost in thought, "Master, I am not but escort you shall have, where are you off to?"

The whisper stated, "Well to the Jade Cove."
At this point the monk came too and realized the whisper came from the small white haired and white clothed girl.The monk asked the girl, "Was what the man in black said was true?"

The girl simply replied, "it his his truth, but rarely is the brutal truth ever recognized". She fell silent and parted her lips in a soft smile.

As they got to the cove, the sage approached the child and bowed his head. "My lady, please come in and teach us." The monk was floored, and asked the sage, "how can one so young, teach those that have spent years in cultivation of the essence?"
At this the monk smiled and simply replied, "Looks are often deceptive."

The girl turned to the monk and told him that she is of the same age as the man in black and he in turn is older than he looks. For the time that she has existed all the sages come to see her, and in grateful response to recognition she shares her knowledge.

At that time the monk understood and knowtow to her, he simply said, "It is my honor to meet you lady truth."