PureInsight | October 24, 2005
[PureInsight.org] Preface: The title infers that western culture was introduced little by little to China. Historians believe that the western culture was not really introduced to China until the mid-Ming Dynasty. In sharing this story, I would like to demonstrate that I had, in one of my previous lives as a citizen of ancient Rome, traveled from the Roman Empire to China to assimilate myself into the Chinese civilization. I would like you to know that people from around the world saw ancient China as a paradise. Actually, the gods must have engineered China's civilization to make the Chinese people and society ready for the Falun Buddha Fa.
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[Note: All Chinese names and locations are translated based on their pronunciation.]
Before the year 1 A.D. there was an island where today's Sicily in Italy is located. It was a sparsely populated and undeveloped area. The inhabitants of that island were fishermen, who lived in a village called Klein. On the west side of the village, there lived a married couple that owned an ox. Duxi and his wife Laiya were very kindhearted people who lived a harmonious life, and who enjoyed a free and relaxed lifestyle.
One rainy day, Duxi went out to do some errands and Laiya was home alone. She suddenly remembered that she had left the food in the rain. She went out to rescue the food. To her surprise, after some thunder, a small adorable dragon fell from the sky. Its body was golden and a circle just like a birthmark was on top of its head. It was transparent and looked as though it was wounded. There was blood on its tail. Laiya was petrified first because she could not identify this creature. Then she calmed down and mumbled to herself, "Who are you? Why did you fall from the sky?" To her surprise, the small dragon answered slowly, "Do not fear. I am a golden dragon from the East. I fought with an evil deity today and was accidentally injured. That's why I fell from the sky. Please cover the wound on my tail with leaves and then put me into a pond. In a short while I will be able to fly back to heaven." Laiya was a little scared, but did what the small golden dragon had asked of her. By the time she had put the dragon in the pond, the food in her backyard was completely soaked.
When her husband returned home he saw the ruined food in the backyard. He complained, "Look at it. Why didn't you bring in the food from the yard? Now it is soaking wet. We will have to wait for a sunny day to bake it in the sun again. It will be more work." Laiya said with a smile, "Guess what I have just seen?" Duxi smiled happily and said, "What has happened to my lovely little wife?" (They were a newly wedded couple.) Laiya told her husband what had happened. Duxi was shocked and speechless for a while before he could gather his thoughts. He mumbled to himself, "Is this a dream? The East? A golden dragon from the East?"
Soon Laiya became pregnant. Ten months later she gave birth to a boy. One thing unusual about the baby boy was that he too carried a round circle on the top of his head like the golden dragon. Hence, they called the boy Yuandong, which means "Round East." When it was time for Yuandong to be educated, Duxi sent him to a relative in Rome. He hoped that Yuandong would study and practice martial arts.
The ancient Romans called China "a country of silk." Merchants from Central Asia and Southern Europe, brought silk from China to Rome and sold it at an even higher price than gold. Ancient Romans thought that the soft and light silk fabric grew on trees in China. In their imagination, the East was like a paradise, because they had heard that it was a highly advanced civilization that knew of and used technology. Yuandong grew up hearing tales of the East, fantasizing about the East.
When he was almost 18 years old, Yuandong joined the Roman military. It did not take long for a Roman prince to make him one of his guards. When he did well in a battle he was promoted to Assistant Commander in the Military General's Office. In 53 B.C., the Roman Empire advanced towards the East. They did not do well in battle in Syria. The Military General died in battle. The Military General's oldest son and Yuandong made plans that night to flee. Yuandong told him without even thinking, "Let's go to the East!" Thus the oldest son of the Military General led the army of less than 10,000 soldiers towards China. They crossed the Arabian desert, Iran's high plains, Pamirs, Mount Tian and the Dead Sea. Finally they arrived at Hexi Corridor in today's Yongchang County, Gansu Province. Although they suffered greatly, they overcame all difficulties as if God was helping them. Alas, there were only about 1,000 soldiers left by the time they arrived at Yongchang.
After finding out that Yongchang was where silk was produced, they decided to settle there. There were a lot of border trade near Hexi Corridor at the time. The neighboring countries had a lot trade ties with China. It was a center for international trade. One could constantly hear the bells on the necks of caravan camels ringing or the music from tribal musical instruments. One could see the economic prosperity.
After they found their way around town, they celebrated their good fortune and decision to come to the East. They introduced the ancient Roman culture to the Chinese in Yongchang. The Chinese people realized that in the Roman Empire, tens of thousands of miles away, the Romans were infatuated with the Chinese culture and products. Yuandong and the soldiers built castles and houses in today's Gaochang in the ancient Roman style. Even to this day, one can find the remains of these buildings.
Yuandong never married. In his spare time, he always felt he had an enormous predestined relationship with the East. At 40, he went on an inspection tour to Dunhuang. Already from far away he noticed a Buddhist monk with a begging bowl in his right hand. He was immediately drawn to the monk. The monk saw him and chanted a poem:
You have made every effort to become free.
Today you accidentally met me, an elderly monk.
I shall answer your questions and bring you eternal bliss!
On hearing the poem, Yuandong understood that he had met a humble monk. He wanted to become his disciple as he wished to finally lead a peaceful life! Hopefully, he would even reach Consummation and be free from the endless reincarnation! He got on his knees and said, "Master, since you know the reason why I have come to the East, please take me, a foreigner, as your disciple!"
"All right. However, the cultivation method I know of is good only until the Dharma-Ending Period. Then a noble being with great virtue will teach you the genuine way to be forever free from reincarnation!"
Thus Yuandong became the elderly Buddhist monk's disciple. Yuandong cultivated for close to 20 years as the elderly monk's disciple. Because of his excellent virtue and his lack of attachments, Yuandong finally attained the Right Fruit. The instant he reached Consummation, Yuandong saw that he was truly the reincarnation of that small golden dragon. He remembered the laws of reincarnation and his past in the heavenly paradise…
Epilogue:
I will end the story here. Time permitting, I will share more of my stories about heaven and my reincarnations in the human realm. No matter how many stories I tell, I am sharing these stories for only one purpose. The history of our reincarnations shows that it is such an incomparably precious predestined opportunity to be able to hear the Fa lectures by the Holy King of the Turning Wheel in person! This is the opportunity that comes only once in eternity! Dear fellow human beings and fellow practitioners, let's cherish the opportunity! We have suffered from so many tribulations in order to obtain the Fa today! If we fail to do well during this time, we will regret it eternally!
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/10/4/34084.html
