Friday, September 03, 2004

The Chicken Rice Sutra Vol. 2

Now that you have had sufficient time to reflect and ponder, as well as meditate on the profound meaning hidden behind my last lesson, and let your mind be opened to the aromatic mysteries of chicken rice, let me now continue in my endeavour to guide you along this road of deeper learning.

Firstly, let me say that any hidden messages you might perceive in my lessons are subject to your interpretation. No two people have the exact same interpretation of the multi-faceted enigma that is chicken rice, and what you glean from the lessons is completely subject to your aptitude in tapping the hidden vault of knowledge whose key and password is hidden in that plate of steaming rice and glistening white chicken in front of you.

"Let not the person accuse the chicken rice for his indigestion, who did not chew his food properly."

That said, let us begin with the second lesson.

Although it may be said that people who love chicken rice will eat chicken rice more often than those who do not like the dish, it cannot be inferred that people who do not eat chicken rice do not in fact love the dish. Even if a person loves chicken rice there is no reason the person has to be observed eating chicken rice every day.

On the other hand, if a person is never observed eating chicken rice, it is a most difficult endeavour to try to discover if the person loves chicken rice or not. In such a case only the person who you are observing knows the truth behind his or her own preference for this delightful dish.

There once lived a wise man who loved chicken rice beyond all other foods, and yet he only ate this delicacy once every moon cycle. His followers were very curious about his strange habit, and asked him why he did not partake of the wonderful rice more often. His answer was simple yet eye-opening, and his followers, having heard it, bowed to the wise man's wisdom.

"If I eat the chicken rice that I so love all the time, then surely my love for it will wane, just as the moon wanes. I will no longer treasure the time and opportunity that is given to me to partake of the rice that stimulates thought and brings enlightenment.

"If I abstain from that which I so love, and partake of it once every full moon, then the pleasure and inspiration I obtain from the plate of rice is a million times greater than if I were to have chicken rice every day. I will longingly savour every grain, and slowly chew the tender chicken, and I will not waste any edible portion of the rice.

"Chicken rice is a blessing from the heavens to us, to allow simple mortals like us to glimpse shadows of secrets that only the gods are privy to, such that we may be wise and impart our knowledge to others, that all humans know the path of wisdom. We must not wantonly indulge in such a precious blessing."

At another time, the wise elder's students asked him which of the chicken rice vendors in the village did he think sold the best chicken rice, having observed that he did not have a particular preference for any one store, but that he would patronise them all equally.

"When the heart is open to the heavens and the mind is at one with the body and the earth, it does not matter, the quality of the rice. There is no best rice to inspire the seeds of wisdom, for it is the soil the seeds grow in that is of greater importance, not the way they are planted," the wise elder taught, with his students listening in engrossed silence.

"Always, my students, you must remember this. One does not choose the rice. The rice chooses one. Ask not what the chicken rice can do for you, but what you can do to deserve the gift of the rice."

Avaris / 9/03/2004 01:20:00 PM

0 consumed