The Fireplace Records, Chapter 9
Meeting Along the Trail
"I first met Chang San-Feng above the forest,
near the clear spring,
when gathering clouds darkened the day,
and Mt. Shasta was silent.
His long beard was black as emptiness,
ear lobes to his shoulders,
holding obsidian in his hand,
pointing to the sun,
eyes staring into infinity,
his long body clothed in silence.
We exchanged "hellos"
smiled and bowed,
a barbarian and an Immortal,
both panting from the climb,
laughing,
ten-thousand echoes
between our rocky minds.
After billions upon billions of heartbeats past
(for he must have been 888 years old),
I was so bold
as to ask the ancient one
for the sacred mantra of yore.
He lifted his whisk,
and brushed my face,
I could not speak,
my lips were stone,
ideas stopped -
I was alone."
- Michael P. Garofalo, Red Bluff, California, 2003
Gozo said, "When you meet a man of the Way on the trail, do not meet him with words or silence. Tell me, how will you meet him?"
- The Gateless Barrier, Case 36
Layman Saihung, a good friend of Gozo, replied, "Maybe the man of Tao will greet me first with smiles and a Tai Chi hand salute. I'd smile and rattle the rings on my raised staff. How do I know he is a man of the Way? Maybe I really don't want to meet this strange man. Maybe, no matter what I may do or not do, maybe I won't meet him. Do you enjoy befuddling me, Gozo!"
Legends and Lore About Grand Master Chang San-Feng
Meetings With Master Chang San-Feng
Fireplace Records, Case 9
One Old Daoist Druids Final Journey
More often than not, Master Chang San-Feng and I met in my backyard garden in Red Bluff, California, from 2004-2017. He would show up and appear as a friendly old man who spoke softly and wisely.
For example:
After reaching for the needle at the bottom of the sea,
I looked up, one summer's eve,
to see old Chang San-Feng open the garden gate,
and join me for Tai Chi. ...
Just his gentle voice could be heard at times, as if he was communicating through through plants or animals. He would sometimes appear in my dreams.
This was just one part of my Mystical Visions Training as a neophyte Daoist Druid from 2000-2010. I also used the Voyager Tarot for interpretating artistic symbolism and mystical visions. Magikal and Shamanistic practices can also engender complex fantasies, visions, apparitions, appearances of unrealities and encouraged coincidences.
Grand Master Chang San Feng is one of my religious fantasies.
Master Chang is a Taoist and Chan Buddhist, a Spirit Being, an Immortal, Offering Lots of Light, an Influencer, Creative, Pure Jing, Immense Chi, The Uncarved Pillar Reborn, Again and Again, Delighted by Samsara, Intrigued by the Inconceivable. He is secure and tranquil in samadhi, contributing good actions-works-expressions, bravely helping others, following the Precepts. He encourages you to work at Becoming a Gentleman with Jen, discovering and daily applying the practices of qigong and taijiquan and healthy living, being grateful, becoming enlightened, right livelihood, and living akin to the Tao. These thoughts become spiritual dictums, hwa tuo capturing mantras, for some Taoists. Recurrent streams of these key themes are flowing into the Reservoir of the Daoist Canon and seasonal Taoist living and the Buddhist Sutras and Koans.
Why are there so many strange earthly-psycho-metaphysical-profound experiences by hikers on Mount Shasta? Does the altitude befuddle our brains? Does the impressive scenery around this rocky mountain, and the snow all around, and the wind drive us inward into a huddled stop? Resting, sitting, breathing steadily, sipping warm thermos tea, calming down, and dealing with breathing less oxygen at 10,000 feet.
Master Chang and I never met again on Mt. Shasta.
Related Links, Resources, References
Blue Cliff Record, Case ? Entangling Vines, Case ?
