The Tao of Dark Sages - Chapter 17

The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley

About a week into our visit, we all four went hiking up the valley to spend time with the beauty to be found there. Not more than a couple of miles up the stream the valley narrows considerably and one has the feeling of being tucked away in the lap of nature. The stream falls rapidly here in falls and rapids, its shores encourage pines and deciduous trees and the birds that delight in them. But it was up a tiny tributary canyon to “Sue-tzu’s nook” that we finally settled for lunch and the discussion that follows. Here, the feeling was more like being in nature’s warmest embrace. The creek ran carefully among the stones and grassy islets, as it meandered through a tiny meadow. There seemed no other course but to lie down and soak it all in.

Gabi: (of course.) What is it, do you think, that makes nature so restful — to us, I mean?

Sue-tzu: Because it is restful in itself?

(Quiet)

Yes. It just is itself. Doesn’t think about itself. Doesn’t worry about what to do next or if what it’s doing is what it should do.

(Quiet)

And that’s how we’re meant to be.

Mark-tzu: That’s all there is to it.

(Quiet. Broken by the fearful screech of some tiny animal.)

Scott-tzu: And the snake in this garden?

Sue-tzu: Is the snake in this garden.

Mark-tzu: The snake, the death screech, the flower, the rocks, the air, the sky . . . all One. All equal. All so empty of meaning or judgment that they are empty of empty.

Gabi: And that’s how we’re meant to be?

Mark-tzu: That’s essentially how we are. Anything else we might think ourselves to be is just a dust-devil spun by the winds of mind. “Meant to be?” I don’t know about “meant to be,” but can be, yes, we can be. And it does seem like home.

Gabi: It all seems so simple when you lie here looking at the sky.

If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.