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A Taoist seeker was wandering about a mountain range in search of a true teacher. He had wandered many such mountainous areas, yet never found anyone who he thought really had achieved immortality. On one occasion he happened upon a small Taoist hermitage high atop a peak on Wu-T'ang Mountain, where a small number of venerable old immortals (priests) were living. They invited him to stay for rest and food as long as he liked. Though he found these men extremely wise and charming, he did not think they were true immortals. But he did find the place comforting and he decided to stay on with them to learn and rest.

One evening, while talking with one of the priests, he asked who the man's teacher was and how he came to be living in this remote place. The old Taoist laughed and told him he was a disciple of a high immortal who mounted the back of dragon many years ago and ascended to an Immortal Paradise. In regard to how he got to his present abode, he simple answered, "Does a lone leaf really care or know where it goes under the gentle guidance of the wind? Does it seek to understand such things? The Tao of the leaf is no different from mine. We are where we are supposed to be."

The seeker then said, "Since your teacher is gone I have missed a great opportunity to meet and possibly study with him. This is so regrettable." The old Taoist retorted, "I didn't say he was gone. I said he mounted a dragon and went to an immortal paradise. You mortals always have to define things as absolute: life and death, black and white, here and there."

At this point the old Taoist politely excused himself, wishing to go cross his legs in his chamber for the remainder of the night. The statements made by the old Taoist seemed to cut very deep into the mind of the seeker, bringing him to almost a tearful state and causing him to reflect throughout the night.

A few days later the seeker decided to take a stroll. The entire area of the hermitage was very serene and one couldn't help but get immersed in its ambience of tranquility. As he walked about he came upon a cave opening and thought he might explore it. He entered and soon saw light coming from the end of one of the corridors. As he drew near, he saw a very surprising sight: A man with very long gray hair and a dark blue robe was sitting cross-legged, facing out over a vista of seemingly endless valleys below.

The robed man sat so still that the seeker was unsure whether he was dead or alive, a being or a statue. As he drew within ten feet of the figure, he heard the soft words, "What are you searching for, Sung-wei?" Sung-wei was the man's birth name, which he used as a child, and which had been known by only a few people fifty years ago. The seeker was scared, dumbfounded, and unsure of what he had heard. He responded nervously, "For immortality, venerable sir. Are you talking to me?"

"I see no other mortal demons here, so yes, I must be talking to you," the strange man said as he effortlessly turned his entire body around without uncrossing his legs. "And how may I be of service to a such a wretch as yourself?"

Taken aback by such harsh language, the seeker thought he should just leave and not engage in conversation with this man. But the appearance of the man struck him as peculiar -- he had never before seen anyone who looked so old and young simultaneously, so vibrant and yet still, and seemingly there but not there. As he was observing the man and contemplating how to bow and apologize for his intrusion before departing, the man invited him to sit. The seeker did so, and after a long silence the man spoke to him.

"You seek immortality because you fear what death has to offer. The pleasures of life have entrapped you like a koi swimming about aimlessly in its pond, constantly searching for bits of food to sustain its life. In its search for food it soon grows old and weak. It wishes to be young again, to regain its vitality and strength. People are like this too. It is a mortal condition to struggle with the realization of the quick pace of aging, so people constantly search to regain bits of their youthfulness, or to become an immortal so they can forever be what they are because they dread their present condition. This is what you are searching for.

"But you must ask yourself, if what you are is so undesirable, why would you seek to immortalize it? Actually, I ask this knowing full well you do not have the answer. It is not your body you wish to immortalize; it is your mind you wish to keep forever. The body is just an illusion and is what keeps you from being immortal. What you see before you now is only what I want you to see. What I see before me now is only a reflection of everything you have thought and done. In your ignorance you want to immortalize your body because you think that is you. Seek to immortalize your mind. Then you may have whatever body you wish, when you wish. It is the mind that creates everything, but the bond to your body limits the illimitable workings of the mind.

"Immortals are no more than mortals like you who discovered how to seal their spirits [consciousnesses] so that no trace of the illusion and attachment they previously carried concerning their bodies exists. When reaching the highest states of tranquillity, only the mind exists and it can then function purely of itself. This sealing of the spirit [mind] is what you are searching for. So cease all your wandering, cease all your false thinking, and cease all your physical attachments.

"When I was a mortal I missed thousands of opportunities to become immortal. All mortals are constantly provided with the means to immortality. It is purely a law of nature for things to become immortal. There is no one path of life, birth and death. There are two paths: mortal and immortal. The former is the physical [p'o, animal] path, the later is the mental [hun, spiritual] path. Because mortals bond so completely with the p'o, the hun is completely neglected.

"In your life you have had possibly thousands of sexual orgasms. Each of these was an opportunity to achieve immortality. But since all your attention was on just the physical sensations, you missed the spiritual possibilities. When you learn to reverse this process and use that blissful moment of pure tranquillity, immortality can be achieved.

"Nature [Tao] provides endless means for immortality, just as it provides endless means for physical sustenance. It is the mortal's choice as to which to seek. Our great ancestor Lao-tzu rightly said, 'Heaven [Tao] treats all men as straw dogs.' Tao provides all things but compels no one to draw from them. All you need do is seal your spirit, then all is done, immortality is yours."

With this said the seeker returned to the hermitage. When he told the old Taoist of whom he met and spoke with, the old Taoist responded sharply, "No, I told you he mounted a dragon and went to an immortal paradise. Don't speak of this again." Just as he finished saying this, the old Taoist flung out a fly whisk from the sleeve of his robe and hit the seeker hard across the face with it. Immediately the seeker saw that the old Taoist had completely changed appearance and was now the old man in the cave.

Both grinned broadly at each other and the old man spoke, "Try your best!" as he turned and walked away singing. The seeker made his residence at the hermitage and never left. To this day visitors to the mountain sometimes hear men far off in the distance singing and laughing.

This article was excerpted from:

The Jade Emperors Mind Seal Classic
by Stuart Alve Olson.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Inner Traditions Intl. ©2003. http://www.innertraditions.com

Info/Order this book.

About the Author

STUART ALVE OLSON has been a practicing Taoist for over thirty years and has studied with the famous Taoist master T.T. Liang (1900-2002). He lectures throughout the world and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where he teaches Taoist meditation, I T'ai Chi, related Yang-Style forms and weapons, and Eight Brocades Seated Qigong. He also translates and compiles Asian philosophy-related books. Stuart is presently involved, along with others, in forming the American Taoist Association.

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