The Butterfly Who Dreamed They Were An Ant

When I became a superhero it was through the creation of my superhero identity, my costume and the cultivation of superhuman abilities that took me a lifetime to achieve, that is the story of how Warrior Monk became a legend. Well, I will tell you the tale of one individual that I know in the League of Superheroes who entered through another door.

This person was born superhuman like Superman; they did not need to cultivate the extraordinary like me. They did need to hide safely in society and fade into the background so they became like Clark Kent; so regular, so ordinary, maybe even a little bit boring. This was the part they had to cultivate, the common and the ordinary. It is hard indeed for a superhuman to disguise themselves as a common and ordinary person. Well, after time, this person like an agent who has been undercover for too long actually became their alter ego. This happened to me too! (Except that I forgot that I was just a man, just a boy, I thought I could fly and touch the sky and I became The Warrior Monk and my super powers became real.) This person actually forgot that they were secretly someone who had superpowers and abilities and responsibilities to use them. Yes, this person forgot that this was just their disguise not their real identity.

There was a moment when they noticed that I had found their secret. It was scary and exciting at the same time. I decided not to try to make them come back to the League of Superheroes but instead just decided to acknowledge their right to be wherever they wanted to be in life. That is when a curious thing happened. They did not want to be where they were. They felt lost and broken somehow and the feeling for them was like being saved. Of course I did not really save them, I was just the right person at the right time and I respected and honored where they were in their journey because it said a lot to me about my own journey and how hard this road is to travel.

In any Myth Quest there are always just a few who make it all the way and find the Hero’s Gold or The Secret of the Immortals and live to tell their tale. The most important thing in life is to notice if you meet one of these fellow travelers and from that know where you are in the journey. This is the beginning of knowing yourself and knowing the other, 100 battles won. This is the story of The Butterfly Who Dreamed They Were An Ant.

The Dao is a River

The Dao is a River; a river of stars, a river of dreams. Some can even cross this river. Usually we flow downstream with the current; the Dao has its own mind, its no-mind. Some people try to swim upstream against the Dao, this usually ends very badly! Sometimes you are headed for the rocks or over the waterfall and the smallest sideways motion lands you perfectly to safety. It is a good skill to be able to see ahead a little in the Dao to know what’s coming up and you can decide where to be; not what to do or how to react or how to do it but just where to be...

The Dao cannot be seen but like the wind its effects can be seen. We see the leaves all stand on end and rise into the air and swirl around in a big whirlwind, we know that this is the wind. Well, some times the Dao swirls in a Tai Chi spiral and picks up everything, all your feelings and beliefs and your whole life and it is all thrown into the air. Will it land neatly? I don’t think so. The Dao is Fate and your ability to move in the Dao is Free Will. The surrender to the Dao still allows for Free Will. This is the thing that cannot be spoken of, it is like an Ancient Story, a Myth.

Is there a future waiting for us? A best self, a better self? Is it the story that was written in the stars for us? A Myth is something that has two meanings. One is that a Myth is not true, it is a story that is made up to tell us something about who we are and where we came from. The second meaning is that a Myth is the more True reality. It is where we can rise above the ordinary and expect that Magic is real and does happen. It tells us of the most incredible potential allowed for us in this human existence. Do we have to let go of the first meaning to have the second? Does part of our Ego kill the Magic by saying this is not real, this can’t be happening, I can’t possibly rise above it all, science tells me that my reality should be limited to a regular and ordinary life.

But the Dao has other plans for you. It picks you up and shakes you and changes your life and makes you admit that you are extraordinary and that special things await you. You cannot control the Dao but now you look forward to what is next. You shoulder your load and put your back into your work and look forward to each day because you know that there is a Story and you want to see what happens. This has not happened for … well, I guess it has never happened before so it is Magic and Dreams are possible and Life is exciting!

The Dao is a river…………………..