Courage, Virtue, Humility & Prayer - Chapter IV

CHAPTER IV
COURAGE, VIRTUE, HUMILITY, PRAYER
勇気、美徳、謙虚さ、祈り


As Re-Go departs from this little heaven on earth, and, from the beautiful Lady of the Angels, her words resounded in his soul. But as he walked into the light of day, it was as if he knew not why he was even there. It was very clear to him that it was all a mystery, but one thing kept turning in his mind and that was he knew somehow he had discovered a new, sacred, and privileged walk in the truest garden of virtue.
A lot of what he had discovered from the Lady was as he learned from the teachings of Buddha, for she taught him that not only knowing ourselves, the beauty of nature, and the opportunity for us to change ourselves was in fact a privilege, but to renounce the self in a humbled attempt to learn for each person to tenderly if able, surrender to another’s needs as is appropriate to make someone happy.
Re-Go remembers all he learned from his family about the kingdom of Kapilavastu and the son of the King and Queen, whose name was Siddhartha, who had decided to try and find an end to suffering. So, he became a wandering monk, shaved his hair, and began calling himself Guatama.
One night of a full moon in the Spring, around May, Guatama sat under a certain kind of tree called a Bodhi tree. He reflected on his life, deeply meditated, and decided to stay in this spot till all suffering in his life had ended.
During this particular night of a full moon, Guatama was visited by Mara, or, also known as the evil one. Mara tried to tempt Guatama in so many ways to embrace a life of vice and end the desires in his heart for the virtuous life. First he had sent his seductive daughters to entice Siddhartha and end this nonsense Mara thought of Siddhartha living a virtuous life. So day and night they tempted him with concupiscent pleasure. Siddhartha was able to maintain control not simply by his physical ability to maintain control, but, because Siddhartha had come to know forms of enlightenment, thus being taught that total abstinence is better than occasional pleasure of a casual nature. He in fact had come to realize through celibacy, he was able to obtain or receive that form of enlightenment.
Then Mara had control over the realms of nature and sent bolts of lightning, loudly thundering across the darkened sky, along with heavy and damaging winds and rain. This also was to no avail, for through this lesson of adversity, Siddhartha, learned of hardships and severe adversity always will inevitably bring, even for a good length of time, grace and beauty. The world and nature is beautiful, he declared.
Mara had ordered his army of demons with their various types of weaponry and flaming rocks as of firey stones of hail to dethrone Siddhartha. One conflict after another and Siddhartha met the grueling battles and always faced them with Courage, Virtue, Humility and even Prayer, but Re-Go had always wondered about Siddhartha, like, who did he pray to when adversity came knocking upon his hearts door? He knew prayer was a solemn request of petition or thanksgiving and it seemed strange to him, why was Buddha considered a Master monk?
Though Siddhartha, who at the time of his trials changed his name to Guatama, now considered his name to be Buddha. He from then on had spread the news of his temptations to fellow monks and became known as the Enlightened One who was held in high esteem by his followers.
But Re-Go questioned his authority as a god. For he knew he was not responsible for the gift of Creation. Perhaps this beautiful Lady of the Angels was right. Perhaps, there is a Great Father of all Creation, and this was something Re-Go had contemplated most of his life.
********************

Di-Li-Su had pleasant memories of her closest friend Re-Go, the boy she first kissed in the Great Lotus Valley, as he admired the beauty of the freshly scented Lotus flower. There had not been another boy in all her seasons of nineteen Springs, though she often had thoughts of another time when Re-Go was on one of his pilgrimages to the monastery, and another boy, during the day the evil nightmares began for Di-Li-Su, named Don-A-Ru-Do, who forced his wickedness upon sweet Di-Li-Su.
Di-Li-Su told no one but kept the secret quiet even amongst her closest girlhood friends. Not even her mother knew of such a thing though at times Di-Li-Su would mention hidden pains that she suspected, that her mother, Ly-Lee, had somehow knew from her childhood, there was a great pain within her heart. It was a terrible thought Di-Li-Su felt, that her life was already destined, or arranged, to be the honorable wife of Don-A-Ru-Do, but did she have to be reminded of this from sunrise to sunset?
It was all Di-Li-Su could do to keep from thinking of her hidden past with the day that Don-A-Ru-Do forced himself upon this young girl of only seven seasons of springs, and, the sadness and tragedy that followed her all her days and nights. Her only good memory of the evil thrust upon her were, that it was Guregorii, her best friend, Re-Go, who fought the invader off of her. As the one many called a bad seed of injustice ran from the courageous Re-Go, who she was eternally grateful for, had the wisdom to know the difference between good and evil, even at such a young and tender age, and, possessed the bravery needed to defend the honor of little Di-Li-Su, by taking his sling and stone, swinging it at a rhythmic pace, letting go of the one end and hitting Don-A-Ru-Do straight in his head, forcing a mighty flow of blood from the boy’s injury.
For now though, Di-Li-Su would keep this pain within her for there truly is no one who can comfort her, but, Di-Li-Su would think, how nice a boy Re-Go was and what a strong and handsome young man he grew to be. She would day-dream of sharing not only a friendship with Re-Go, but a shared surrender of love, from one hidden heart to another; Re-Go, also, would have such feelings of love for her, though remained quiet, for he was shy, but his thoughts and prayers were always with Di-Li-Su.
For Di-Li-Su, her tender, sweet, little memories of her childhood had remained, most of which were very pleasant memories, but she knew, assaults of such betrayal were so full of wickedness, guile, and deception that truly, could only leave her subjected to tragic feelings of such evil, that the evil one of her day, had ruptured and blemished the very hymen of her kami, the purest essence of self, her very precious and undefiled little soul, through a concupiscent and lascivious act from someone she had at one time would have considered a friend, for at this time, she had no enemies. Often times she would think of the negating hunger her little body was already being forced to come to terms of her reality, would become, a direct result of the many betrayals she would face one day, as a woman of shame now, who was forced to marry the man who had for some reason selected her, to choose from.
Perhaps though, for little Di-Li-Su, (for now she was nineteen seasons of spring), had savagely been plagued and tortured by severe anguish and solitude that she would practice to stay quiet, lost with constant thoughts of taking her own little life away from the village hamlet, and living with the Geisha women of the Upper Hills many days away, a much larger village with many people, where she could try to hide from the shame brought on by such selfish ambition of, Don-A-Ru-Do.
Di-Li-Su, as well often times as Re-Go would think, or would dare, to look upon the beautiful little face of the spirit of truth, profoundly aware of the divine revelation and deeper reality of wisdom one may come to know, after such wickedness, that there remains nothing more innocent, nor virtuous, nor even more beautiful, than the free nature and new kami of a little child. But, one day, sure as the sun would rise in the East, and would set in the West, and as the winds would blow fiercely from the North, the rains fall from the Southern skies of this mighty land of the great Nambokucho, one day, this great one Word of Truth, would, outweigh the weight, and bitterness of life, of the whole world.
********************