三条鱼

庄篇诉三鱼
境界游三旅
鲲长几千里
化鹏飞南冥
六月骑风顶
借物而成名
桥下游鱼儿
自身活得乐
不闻别人坷
鲋干吐沫润
何必自行困
独自寻混沌
— 17/11/19

Commentary: Zhuang Zi used the analogy of fishes to give us some pointers in life. The first fish is called Kun, which is a giant fish. Kun will metamorphose into a giant bird, called Peng. In order for Peng to fly from the North Sea to the South Sea, it needs to generate a whirlpool of wind for six months and wait for the correct time in summer to combine the force of its whirlpool with the summer winds before it can have enough lift to fly to the South Sea. Zhuang Zi used this to show, among many other things, that Peng was great but not truly free for anyone depending its success on external forces (the summer winds) could not be truly free.

The second fish is a fish that lives in a river under a bridge. One day, Zhuang Zi was strolling along the bridge with a friend and Zhuang Zi told his friend that “how happy the fishes are.” His friend then say, “how do you know that the fishes are happy when you are not a fish?” To that, Zhuang Zi replied “how do you know that the fish is not happy?” This might sound like a silly conversation but what Zhuang Zi was trying to say was that the fishes’ happiness is regardless of their opinions. Beyond not depending on others for our happiness and freedom, our happiness and freedom come from within ourselves – Zhuang Zi’s and his friend’s opinions have no impact on the fishes’ happiness and freedom.

The third fish was a pair of fishes in a drying pond where they were blowing bubbles with whatever little water that was remaining to keep each other moist. Zhuang Zi saw that and said, “why do they even bother and not move out into the larger lake while they still can?” Very often, we are in our dilemma because we had trapped ourselves into the situation. Maybe the pair of fish refused to leave each other but the nature of life is to be at ease alone.

After my paternal grandfather’s death, I saw my paternal grand-mother having to deal with her last 14 years of being alone most of the time. This made me realize that I came to this world alone and I alone, must walk my path. This was where I decided to forge a path for myself. Being alone does not equates to being lonely. I can be among a crowd that I know but felt lonely; yet, I can be alone without being lonely. This was where I learnt that only by being comfortable and at ease being alone, I could focus on my aspirations. This was the time where I experienced the joy of travelling by myself.