"The turtle and the crane ...."

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)