Recently, I had one strange dream.

I dreamt that I was very old,  wearing a straw hat and tattered "Tang" clothes. I was at a train station in Harbin province, north-eastern part of China,  Under the dimmed light at an isolated corner, I was selling "Yang Choon" noodles.

Moving slowly and senilely, I was preparing noodles, cooking it, cutting onions into a bowl, adding in sesame seed oil, salt and dark soy sauce. I then put the cooked noodles into the bowl and added the soup.

I asked my customer if they wanted some vegetables to go along with it. "How about hard boiled eggs? Chicken wings? Sea cucumbers or tofu?"

Customer looked up and took aback, "Are you not Lu Sheng-yen?"

I replied, "I am and I am not."

He was shocked. "Lu Sheng-yen is a man who spreads the word of Buddhism, how can he be here in Harbin's train station selling "Yang Choon" noodles?"

"So I say that I am not him."

"But you say that you are Lu Sheng-yen too?"

"Both the Dharma teacher Lu Sheng-yeng and the noodle vendor Lu Sheng-yen  are of the same essence."

"I don't quite understand."

"Half a layman, half a saint!" I said, laughing.

After uttering the words "Half a layman, half a saint!" I  woke up from my dreams.

I thought long and hard about this dream. Strange as it may seem, it is not a impossibility and if you think about it, there is a philosophical reason to it.

Man cannot remain young forever, neither can he be healthy and strong forever. As a man, I will grow old someday and my appearance will change.

Will I stay forever here in Seattle? Maybe not, because the situation and the environment may change. People  migrate and move about a lot. I moved from Taiwan to American, from America to mainland China. To land up in Harbin is not impossible at all. There is no way to predict what will happen in this world. Time changes and so does the space around us. There is no permanence. Everything changes.

I am alone now, one man living on a deserted island. There is no Chinese television, no newspaper, you can say that I live with nothing. Nature and I are in one.  I am nature. Is this not a dream? This is an illusion of a deserted island in the Southern seas.

In time, I will grow old
In time, I may become poor.
In time, I may move to mainland China's Harbin city.  
Who can guarantee that I will not be selling "Yang Choon" noodles to make a living?

The man who sells "Yang Choon" noodles is just a common person. But, who would know that he is accompaned by the Bodhisattvas.

Toolbox

Back Top Print Bookmark Tell a friend:

© 2008 Padmakumara. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright & Terms of Use.