An ancient Chinese philosopher, Zhuangzi, was known as a founder of Taoism. His philosophy was written in a form of fables. These stories contain profound wisdom of life, truth in nature, and a way of thinking. Many of them are useful to us who are living more than 200 years later than his age. Here is one of the interesting stories.
One day, Zhuangzi was meditating, folding his legs crossed. He looked unconscious. He appeared to be not feeling anything. He looked almost dead. One of his students walked close to him, meditating. Worried, this student asked Zhuangzi if he was okay. The student needed to shout into his ears to bring him back to consciousness. Asked again what he was doing, Zhuangzi answered that he was listening and enjoying music of nature. "Music of nature?" the student asked again, puzzled. The student had never heard of it.
The master then explained to his student. All nature's activities have scenes, colors, smells, shapes, and music. If wind blows through a forest, it creates sounds. When a flower blooms, it gives out a sound. The sound of birds flying, a bug buzzing, a dog barking, or even human footsteps form music of nature.
The master continued. The interesting thing is that this music of nature can be heard not by the people who can hear sound, but by the people who are willing to listen to the sound. It is a message from nature. It alerts people about the coming storm. It reminds people the spring is near. It tells them that the next day will be rainy.
If one is not willing to listen to this music, it is just sound, and may be taken as noise. However, the music of nature always gives meaning to those who are willing to listen and take it seriously. The master asked the student if he had seen the color of the wind.
This story is nothing specific for people who do not feel something from it and try to pick up on its meaning. It took me a long time to understand that this story was more meaningful than it seemed when I first read it. The story teaches us that we can pick up messages from nature if we are willing to receive them. It might not be only about the nature. If you are willing to listen to music or a message from nature, society, a market, or any of our surroundings, you will be surprised what there is to learn. There may be messages that bring you success, or perhaps for a happy and peaceful life.
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