Past Life Story

You were a blue dragon, born of legend. The blue dragon is the divine being of the eastern direction—the guardian of the east. The dragon dwells in the clouds. The cloud is the dragon's home. From your earliest days you were upon the cloud. In your first year, you came to know your work. The blue dragon guards the east. From the east, the sun rises. The blue dragon is the keeper of the sun's rising. Without the blue dragon, the sun cannot rise. With the blue dragon, the sun rises every day. Such was your work. In your hundredth year, you flew the cloud. Among the clouds you wove your way. People saw you and exclaimed. "The blue dragon has descended. There shall be water." For the dragon brought water. You bring rain. With rain, the crops grow. With your existence, the people lived. In your thousandth year, you watched the eastern sky. From the east the sun rose. You watched it. Each day, the sun rose. You watched it. In your ten thousandth year, you encountered another divine being. The white tiger. The white tiger came up Mt. Baekdu. He was the divine being of the western direction. The two of you met in the middle of the sky. You bowed to him, he bowed to you. The dragon of the east, the tiger of the west—you guarded together the order of the universe. In your hundred thousandth year, you came to know the truth of the dragon. The dragon is not merely a divine being. The dragon is the spirit of water. Water is life. Life flows like water. The dragon is the guardian of that flow of life. From your earliest days, you have been the guardian of life. In your million years, you saw the world's changes. New ages came, old ages went. New people appeared, old people vanished. Yet water always flowed. With your guarding, water flowed. Life continued. As long as you exist, life continues. In your hundred millionth year, you encountered a wise sage. He had ascended to heaven to find you. He bowed before you. "Old blue dragon, give us your wisdom." You did not speak. You only let him see. The flow of water. He understood. To live like water flowing is the deepest wisdom. In your eternal time, you became one with the flow of water. You were no longer just a divine being. You were the flow of water itself. You were no longer just a creature upon the cloud. You were the cloud itself. With the rain falling, life is born. From the spring of life flows water—that was you. The blue dragon flies the cloud, defending the east—that was your eternity. You guarded the east, you guarded water, you guarded life. With your guarding, the universe maintained its order. Your spirit, even now in some sky, may still be flying among the clouds. Long body, blue scales, like a long flowing wisdom. If sometime in your life you face a difficult moment and a strange flowing energy guides you—that, perhaps, may be the breath of a blue dragon helping you.