Master Woo Myung Poem – Prologue
The days of playing my willow pipe,
the days of laying near the stream
dreaming about my future,
have all become a longing
now that I am living absent of self.
Everyone has a dream that they have had since long ago,
and they are all ones of hope.
They still have hopes for those dreams,
thus preventing them
from doing the things they should.
They do not realize
the futility of a life that is lived on those dreams.
It is only after waking up from their dreams
that they would know how pointless those dreams are.
So do not blame life for such futility,
boast that you have a lot,
or sigh that you have nothing.
Life is a sweet dream that lasts only for a night.
But because man is unable to harbor hope
in the absence of dreams,
his life becomes a continuance of them.
Sad days have passed
and I harbor nothing.
I am already living a life
which exists but does not exist.
So no matter what people may say
I am one who is no longer of my self.
Because I live, I am me.
I exist but I do not.
I do not exist but I do.
Existence and non-existence are one.
My mind can see non-existence,
But because there is no one else in this world
who has the mind of non-existence,
I sink in to loneliness,
for I alone am able to see and know this.
Perhaps it is because I like the ones who are lost;
I like people who are decent and humane;
I like ordinary people;
I know now that
a person who stands out is unfortunate.
When I was merely a student seeking the Way,
my only wish was to be more enlightened than others.
But now I am overwhelmed by
the weight of this mission
that has been placed upon me by the Universe –
the mission to truly save mankind.
The enormity of this duty worries me,
but I am of no mind.
My mind has run off somewhere,
and I sit here alone writing these words.
-Woo Myung-
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