The turtle and the
crane were congratulating each other on their longevity and enjoying themselves
at the water’s edge. A mayfly nearby
sighed and said, “Ahh, the spiritual essence of all things, how great it
is! It goes round and round, and there’s
no end to creation and metamorphosis!
Among the Ten Thousand Things, it is born and born again. There is growth, there is breaking down;
there is prosperity, there is wasting away; there are things that are
different, there are things that are the same;
there are things that fly, there are things that swim; there are things
that move, and those that are at rest.
All the various and multitudinous beings – each tends to its own
occupation; all of them tend to the mysteries of their being. You can’t see where they came from in the
beginning, nor do you know where they go or what they become in the end. I also belong to the Ten Thousand Things and
enjoy myself in the midst of creation and change ….
It goes without saying that the
turtle and crane have the congratulatory long lives of one thousand and ten thousand
years, but the length of their time also comes to an end, and the day of their
death is no different from ours. Though
we are born in the morning and die at night, to me we live out our lives
completely.
Issai Chozanshi (Taoist swordman- writer)
