The Phoenix

The Phoenix
by Leechard (Cheng Wing Lim)



The story of the phoenix has a spell for the chicks. The spell runs like this:

If you don't see your shell, what can you see?

Each chicken, when first entering the world, has got only one mouthful of air.

This was the discovery of a very smart Egyptian Prince Akhenaten.

He found that inside every egg, there was some air. Is there any egg which has no air inside? He examined every kind of eggs on earth. He had opened numerous eggs. Snakes, birds, turtles, and at one time, he found a large ostrich egg. He opened it without hesitation. All the eggs on earth, and all the eggs on earth he could found, have some air inside.

Why?

What is the use of this air?

Prince Akhenaten could not stop thinking.

The Prince believed this air is for the first breath of the chicken.　

If there is really a spell for life, now is the time to break it.

If the chick is to break the shell, here is his first headache:

The Creator of the universe has given you life, plus a mouthful of air, what are you going to do?

It seems to be simple.

Zhuang Zi the ancient Chinese wise man has an answer: you must choose.

But this is funny. Choose What?

And Zhuang Zi said, it is not funny at all. You can choose to peck for a way, and got outside. Or you can choose to sleep, sleep until the egg is rotten, until the egg stinks in the smell of death.

And he's got a funny reason too. This is what he thought about life:

If there are no universal Creator, there will not be me. And it is all because the existence of me, that I can choose.

But Zhuang-zi has never been a chick. His thoughts are only human. In the case of chicks, they will not need to think.

And Prince Akhenaten said, you must use all your strength because you have very limited sources for life.

Are those observations pointless? Actually, every chick is using all his strength. If any one fails to do so, he can never reach the world. The situation of the chick is imaginable.

There are warm and bright yellowish colors outside. The hopes are there. The chick must break the shell. The shell is like a spell. They must break it. The chick had no thought, but only action, the action to peck. Peck and peck. Peck and peck. There must not be any fear or laziness. This is the mindset of the chicks.

In the case of man, knowing that he has only got one mouthful of air, he is likely to give up. But the chicks have no such thought. The chick would use his total strength to peck for an exit.

You must choose, and when you had found your best choice, you must put all your whole strength on it. This is the teaching of two great philosophers, one Egyptian, one Chinese.

The first fight is to peck. He must break the shell. He will use his whole strength. If not, he can never reach the world.

Hardly do the chicks found such excitement. Only a few of them noticed that this is life itself. Once you have broken the spell, you will find a wonderful world awaiting for you.

The first excitement comes from the air, lots and lots of air. Now, you could breathe. You could inhale and you could exhale, and more importantly, they are all free. You could breathe as much as you like. Oh, how scarce was the air before life. And how happy is life.

But happiness lasts for only a few moments only.

The most common thing to forget about is air itself. Who would think that air is important when there are lots of them? Once your neck was tightly grasped by someone, then you will found air is precious. Life is like that. No one would think life is precious until life is gone. All things on the universe share the same fate. All are worthless until they are gone.

And that is why the chick could only be happy for a few seconds.

The chick discovered happiness has been gone.

The chick discovered that he has entered another shell. A cage is just like a larger shell.

The chick observed silently. This is a very big and crowded cage. Many of his cage-mates live here. They are all very happy and noisy. They need to do only two things in the cage. Eating and sleeping. Plenty of food, lots of rest. They always mock about the chick, saying that he does'nt know life. Why don't you know how to enjoy life? Good food, good rest, good every thing, what is there to complain about?

But the chick soon found out the ultimate truth here. He knew that sooner or later, he would share the same fate with all other chicks. People will come, and send them to the butchers.

Suddenly, some vague idea emerged in his mind: Why should I live here? What am I going to do? What am I staying here for?

These are the questions he could not answer. Because he knew nothing about anything. He wants to know more.

He started daydreaming.

He dreamed to see the world, the unknown beautiful world.

He dreamed and dreamed. He wanted to have a little glimpse, only a little glimpse outside the large shell.

Other chicks laughed at him. They said that was an impossible dream.

How long has the time past? No one knows. But he had found a little crack in the cage. He had found an exit. He squeezed himself out. He had used all his might. He managed to fly to the roof. He could see the world now.

There was a very large plain, with unlimited view out there. It was the first time he could see sunshine. He saw the sky and other birds. A golden beam spread over the cloud, reaching the endless earth. And he found the sunshine on his own body too.

Am I the one, too, can enjoy sunshine?

He turned his body, enjoying every inch of sunshine upon it.

He was so happy, he started singing. He sang loudly.

His song was an alarm, bringing in the man.

Within a few minutes, the man caught him. An escaped chick is a bad omen. The man was about to send him to execution.

Other chicks were happy. 　

They said, this is what you choose for yourself.

But the chick said:

I had seen the world; can you see the world?

Have you enjoyed sunshine?

Aren't you one day be killed also?

………………………………………………………………………………

The story has a second ending.

The man felt puzzled. He thought, there must be something special about the chick. He did not kill the chick; instead, he made the chick a morning calling chick. He allowed the chick a position, made him stick to it. He wanted the chick to give him a wake-up call every day.

To stick to it? Now that the chick could use his mind more freely then before. Now that the chick searches for the meaning of life, would he stay and stick to the chicken post?

Whatever the outcome was, it arouses thought: the shell is a spell. You need to break it, because the real meaning of life lies beyond that. This is the second level of the story.

……………………………………………………………………………

The story has got a third ending.

The chick escaped the cage, without being caught, nor being made a morning calling chick. He has become a wild bird in the hills.

And that was a lethal running.
　
The chick has no wings actually. His wings have not been grown fully.

He could only run, with his wings flapping behind. 　

He ran and ran. He ran and ran. Until the moment he could not breathe any more.

In a very secret hideaway, he inspected his wound. The mocking laugh has not been gone. He could still hear them. And his cage-mates were now having their free lunch. They reminded each other cautiously: do not behave like the wild chick. They were so happy, and they all despised the chick. The called him names, the wild, the fly, etc. The more they laughed at the chick, the more secure they felt for themselves.

The chick decided to learn to fly. This was the only way out for chicks. There were no teachers around to teach him.

The method was only to flap his wings. He flapped and flapped. He flapped and flapped. It was the very motion the chicks have long forgotten.

It took a very long time for people to realize:

The only way out is to try your best.

And finally, he could fly. He was no more a cage chick.

He was a Phoenix.

He flew over the valleys, over the hills, over the fields. Under the morning sunshine, he was very happy.

And this happiness, and this long lasting happiness, much longer then the short moments he had once found outside the shell, could be found everywhere outside the self.

And now he realized, the shell is the self, and the self is the spell.

From time to time, we could see beautiful feathers flapping ahead of us.

And we all know how the Phoenix was born.

He was born after the spell had been broken.

(the end)

*A note by the Author(Leechard, Cheng Wing Lim):

Please note that this work is completly a fiction by myself. It is not a work by Zhuang-zi, thought it's idea is more or less the same with Zhuang-zi. It helps to reach the original idea of Zhuang-zi: this is the sincere hope of the author.
17th February, 2009