Past Life Story

You were a samjogo, born of legend. The samjogo, the three-legged crow, lived inside the sun. Your first scenery was the sun. Your first home was the inside of the sun. Other birds perched on trees, but you perched on the sun. In your first year, you came to know your work. The samjogo carries the sun. The samjogo causes the sun to rise. The samjogo causes the sun to set. Without the samjogo, the sun cannot move. Such was your work. To be the heart of the sun. In your hundredth year, you witnessed all the seasons of the sun. The bright sun of summer, the gentle sun of autumn, the weak sun of winter, the warm sun of spring. You set the rhythm of all of them. You were the keeper of time. In your thousandth year, you encountered a sage on the ground. He was a wise sage. He looked up at the sun and prayed. "Samjogo, please give us your sign of grace." You let one black feather fall down to the ground. The sage took it and gave it to his disciples. From that black feather, the wisdom of the sun was passed. In your ten thousandth year, you came to know the truth of the sun. The sun does not merely give light. The sun gives life. Without the sun, no being lives. The sun gives life to all. And you carry that sun. In your hundred thousandth year, you climbed to the highest peak of heaven. From there you watched the world. The earth, the sea, the mountains, the rivers. You saw all of them. They all lived because of the sun. They all lived because of you. In your million years, you came to know the truth of yourself. The samjogo is no mere bird. The samjogo is the spirit of the sun. The samjogo is the spirit of life. From your earliest days you have been a being that gives life to all. Yet you also had loneliness. The samjogo is alone. Other birds had companions. The samjogo is alone in the sun. Yet that loneliness was the price of giving life to all. Without your loneliness, others' joy could not exist. In your ten million years, you encountered a young samjogo. From within yourself, a new samjogo had grown. The samjogo's work continues from generation to generation. You taught the young samjogo. "The work of carrying the sun is heavy. Yet that is your destiny." In your hundred million years, you watched the world's change. New beings appeared, old beings vanished. Mountains grew up, mountains fell down. Rivers flowed, rivers vanished. Yet the sun was always the sun. And you carried that sun. In your eternal time, you were the sun itself. You and the sun were one. You were no longer a being separate from the sun. You and the sun were a single being. To live as one with the sun was your eternity. The samjogo dwells in the sun—that is your life. You are not just an animal. You are the order of the universe. Your spirit, even now in some sun, must still be flying. With three legs, with black feathers, glaring with fierce eyes. If sometime in your life a strong, life-giving energy fills you—that, perhaps, may be the spirit of an old samjogo living within you.