The wind writes in Chinese

Intro: The first of today’s essays is entitled The Wind Writes in Chinese, and the second: Palmian – the language of the palm. Please, don’t bother to ask if any of this is tongue-in-cheek. That would spoil the fun.

The Wind Writes in Chinese

Did you ever wonder why China developed a family of languages which, to all appearances, looks like constructions of twigs? Off and on, over the years, I’ve wondered.

Then It hit me. Or maybe not It but only it: merely a speculative possibility:

Once upon a time, Siddhartha Gautama was sitting under the Bodhi tree, under which he was to sit for 49 days before attaining Enlightenment. Many times, he would glance up and notice gentle breezes moving the leaves and branches around.

Then he did more than just notice. He realized that the breezes were trying to communicate with him, by moving the branches about in different ways – using those branches to form characters similar to what we would later come to know as “Chinese” (broadly speaking). The wind was teaching him by using a “language” which all of us have always known, since well before the universe was created (at least in its current incarnation).

Siddhartha had an awareness of this language, though its fluency was buried deeply in his subconscious. But this apparent limitation didn’t matter to someone who had more contact with his subconscious than average. What mattered was: The wind had a way to communicate its truth to the man who would become known as Buddha, World-honored One.

As I’ve pursued my own Buddhist practice, I’ve learned that the teachers of profound wisdom can take many forms – and not always as humans. Maybe this is why the Buddha spoke of “teacherless wisdom,” “wisdom that comes of itself.” Of course it would appear that wisdom conveyed by the movement of the wind through tree branches would be “teacherless wisdom.” Few people would suspect that the wind could be a teacher – such a thing could not possibly be.

Or could it?

Maybe that’s why the Siddhartha, immediately after attaining Enlightenment, “spent a whole week in front of the tree, standing with unblinking eyes, gazing at it with gratitude.”* Some people claim, it was gratitude for having provided him shelter. As you can tell, from my speculation above, I have a somewhat different view.

The state of China today

I don’t worry much about China being a communist/capitalist country. Or a totalitarian state, for that matter. I am comforted by knowing that Buddhist teachings once had a profound and widespread impact on ancient Chinese society. I can’t help but smile when I look at the twiggy appearance of Chinese calligraphy, while knowing how truly ancient that appearance is.

I am extremely confident that China will find its way back to its Buddhist roots.

Palmian – the language of the palm

Twenty years ago, I came up with something rather silly:

If you accept the idea that palms can be read (by – guess what? – palm readers), maybe we can learn to read our own futures (by being self-taught, in a manner of speaking). I thought it would be interesting to construct a bed with a unique sleeping surface: It would consist of an enlarged relief version of my own palm prints, with the various ridges being nothing more than mildly heated electric cables.

By sleeping on such a bed (ideally, naked), I would be in touch with symbols representing a language expressing my unique truths. Even though untrained in interpreting this language, I thought it possible to penetrate its meaning by means of my subconscious being exposed to it (via heating elements) as I slept.

Maybe it would be possible that I, deep down inside, already know the language represented by my palm print. Maybe all I have to do is give my subconscious sufficient time to decode these symbols and bring them to the attention of my conscious mind. Direct and prolonged contact with these symbols would be the key.

Isn’t this the silliest thing you’ve ever heard of?

I never tried this experiment myself. Being a man of modest means, I have no money to spend on such things. So all I can do is use my imagination.

And you know what? That almost always turns out to be more than sufficient.

Steven Searle for U.S. President in 2012:

“The truest way out of our current economic crisis is to use our imaginations. But please don’t use this profound tool merely to conjure up a financial solution. The best things in life truly are free, or are at least free from having to buy them” – Steve.

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party