PureInsight | October 3, 2005
[PureInsight.org]
Preface:
Some of my reincarnations are very poetic and romantic. This reincarnation has to do with two fellow Falun Gong practitioners who have given me a lot of help in my cultivation practice in my present life. By sharing this part of my history, I hope that we will cherish the precious predestined relationships we have with our fellow cultivators!
This reincarnation took place during the Jin Dynasty (265 – 420 A.D.) and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 – 589 A.D.). At the time, the heroic figures from the earlier Three Kingdoms period had been long forgotten. The Seven Great Sages of the Bamboo Grove (竹林七賢) were from this very period of time in history. They made quite an impact on the Chinese civilization. Because of the constant shifts of political power, many learned men fled to and hid in the mountains.
I was just one of those learned men. I was about 24 years old. In order to escape from the political struggles, I toured the Three Gorges area for fun with a flute. I spent a lot of time in the Three Gorges area because of its majestic and awe-inspiring landscape. Once when I was passing by White King City on a boat, I looked at the fleeting river and felt melancholy. Later in the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai (李白) wrote a famous poem, "Leaving White King City at Dawn."
Leaving White King City at Dawn
White King City I left at dawn in the morning-glow of the clouds;
The thousand miles to Jiangling we sailed in a single day.
On either shore the gibbons' chatter sounded without pause
While my light boat skimmed past ten thousand somber crags.
Saddened by the fleetingness of time, I suddenly thought of Liu Bei (劉備), one of the three kings during the Three Kingdoms Period. At White King City, he asked his political advisor Zhuge Liang, one of the most intelligent and talented men in Chinese history, to look after his mentally challenged son. In my mind, history and reality clashed, and I felt overwhelmed. It was as if my brain could no longer take the distress. Feeling sorry for myself for having to flee from the unstable social environment, I could not help myself from weeping.
Later I climbed a nearby mountain for fun. On the mountain I had many marvelous experiences. For example, when I couldn't find my way, I would suddenly meet an elderly man or a child who pointed me to the right path. When I got lost in the middle of the darkness, I would doze off and fall asleep. When I woke up in the morning, I would find myself on a broad, open road. Sometimes I played the flute to entertain myself. While I lost myself in the music, birds and beautiful butterflies often hovered above my head or flew around me. Sometimes deer, antelopes and wild donkeys would come and listen quietly to me playing. Judging from their pure look in their eyes, the deer seemed to be able to understand my flute music.
Once when I was traveling on a mountain near Xiling Valley for fun, it began to pour in the afternoon. I happened to come across a thatched hut that might have built by a hermit, so I hurried into the hut to escape the shower. After a while it turned into a drizzle. I thought I might as well take the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the landscape in the rain. The light drizzle made the mountain, trees, the sky and the earth misty. My heart was truly filled with poetry and beauty. I felt man is very small before the greatness of nature.
Soon it began to turn dark and the wind diminished. At this moment, I suddenly heard the playing of a guzheng (Chinese zither.) It was such ethereal music that touched my soul. Sometimes it was very playful and in the next moment it turned into a whisper. My heart went up and down with the mood of the music. The music seemed to have come from heaven. Its beautiful melody swept away all of my blues. After hearing the music, I felt I could let go of all the miseries in the world!
I thought, "Could it be that the heaven played the music to me because it saw I was terribly lonesome?" Before I knew it, I put the flute next to my lips and started playing to accompany the beautiful music. After a while, the player of the music seemed to have felt the presence of an admirer and began to play even better. In order to keep up with the player, I focused more on playing to demonstrate the purest and best music that I was capable of performing. Before I knew it, my feet took me out of the hut, although it was still drizzling. I was impervious to the rain and played wholeheartedly. After a while, the music stopped. I found myself feeling lost and sad. When I was about to turn and entered the hut again, I heard someone saying, "My young sister, go back to the house! There is no one outside. It must be a god playing the flute." I thought, "There are people living on this mountain. The man who just spoke must be the one who played the music. I have to meet them." I walked briskly out of the hut and heard a young lady's voice chanting a poem, "Living in seclusion on a mountain, I play guzheng in my leisure time. The music travels far in pursuit of someone who understands the music. Today my guzheng has met the flute. How do I meet you to exchange our hearts?" Upon hearing the poem, I answered with a poem, "During my travel, I escaped the rain in the hut. Suddenly I heard the music from a guzheng in the rain. I played my flute in resonance with your music to share the beautiful and ethereal realm!"
"Which gentleman has graced our humble abode? My young sister, let us welcome this bosom friend together!" I walked forward and saw a nicely built house with a large courtyard. Before the bamboo fence stood a young man and young woman. The man was about 30 years old and the woman was about 28 years old. Judging from their outfits, they led a rather comfortable life. I made a fist with both hands in front of my chest to show my respect and said, "I have no idea that you are here. It was rather forward of me to intrude. Please forgive me!" "Please don't be modest. Please come in!" After we sat down, we briefly exchanged our respective stories.
It turned out that they were the children of the magistrate of Hedong prefecture. Their parents were killed during the constant changes in the political arena. They packed all their valuables and traveled to many places before they finally settled down on that mountain. They played the guzheng for entertainment every day. They had never expected to meet a music lover like me.
During the chatting, his younger sister suddenly said, "My older brother often hit me when I was little." He responded, "It was because you were mischievous when you were little. How can you complain in front of a new friend? He might think I abused you. My younger sister was very mischievous when she was little. But after she grew up, she became very reticent. When my father was alive and working as the magistrate in Hedong, many people proposed but she refused all of them. My sister is truly something else. The secular world is no fun at all. There is nothing but conflicts and sinister plots. Romance and love are transitory. After it is over, it turns into nothing at all. Isn't it better to spend our days playing music and writing poetry? Isn't it free and relaxing to spend the rest of our lives in seclusion? Now that we have met you, we will not feel lonely. My brother, why don't you stay and enjoy the beautiful scenery and divine music?" "Stay with us," his sister said. From then on, I lived with them on the mountain near the Yangtzi River and led a divine life in a place with fleeting clouds and flying waterfalls.
Epilogue
These five stories of reincarnation have a lot of impact on my present life. They have to do with my predestined relationship with the Fa, as well as my personality and my attachments in the present life. Because all of the five stories are my personal experiences, as I wrote the articles, tears often rolled down my face. I wrote these articles with my heart.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/9/19/33896.html
