#9 The Path of Going Alone
The art of living with Taoism: transforming in solitude, reconciling and reconnecting with the self, and roaming the world
In the northern darkness, a colossal fish named Kun resides. After a mysterious transformation, Kun metamorphoses into Peng, a magnificent bird with a back so vast it defies measurement and wings resembling billowing clouds that cloak the sky.
As the sea stirs, Peng embarks on a monumental journey toward the southern darkness, where the fabled Lake of Heaven awaits. The voyage is said to span six months, shrouded in mystery regarding the preparation required.
Upon learning of Peng's journey, the cicada and the little dove start laughing, saying, “When we make an effort and fly up, we can get as far as the elm or the sapanwood tree, but sometimes we don’t make it and just fall down on the ground. Now how is anyone going to go ninety thousand li to the south!”1 (note: one li is about 500 meters in modern measurement)
Yet, Peng's story mirrors the aspirations of many in the human world. We, too, are dreamers, drawn to the allure of adventure and opportunity. In our life stories, there are also the actors of “the cicada” and “the dove,” who do not share our ambitions and goals but instead tend to interpret our actions from their understanding of things.
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