Commotion - inside and out

 Today I went for a walk in the rain. In a way the rain is welcome because it cleans the air and washes the streets.  My umbrella is up for the task and the only real problem is to keep the feet dry.

This intersection is very busy almost all day long.  If you want to walk across it you have to take the   overhead walkway which encompasses all four sides of the square.  Its a great vantage point for watching the constant drama below.  Some people do the strangest things in their attempts to cross  the intersection.  If you include the scooter and bicycle lanes there 5 lanes heading in each of the 4 directions.  They all criss-cross, but the circle in the centre is always empty.  Potentially it means that 20 vehicles are all facing each other.  Each vehicle could go left, right, forward or remain still.  That adds up to 80 possibilities.  If you were to calculate the various combinations that can occur it all amounts to an ever-changing puzzle that continually unfolds in  different patterns before your eyes.

But the centre remains empty.  No one goes there.  It occurred to me that its a perfect metaphor of the mind.  Everything is chaotic unless you stay in the centre.  You just let go of all the thoughts and let them go whatever way they want like the cars.  One is able to apply constant attention as well as constant non-attachment simply by remaining centred and letting it all go.  Instead of a stressful, busy intersection it becomes a joyful dance, like the dance of Shiva.

To the right is an example of what happens if you lose your attention for a moment. Traffic on the right was backed up for miles with a bus driver and a taxi driver shouting at each other over a small scratch.
Actually in a month of watching the teeming traffic in Xi'an I have witnessed surprisingly few accidents.
In retirement one can enter the fourth phase of man - freed from worldly concerns he is at last able to retire in peace to the forest and contemplate the nature of things.  One of the discoveries in doing this is that peace is nowhere to be found.  Wherever you go you bring along your own baggage.  By, apparently, retiring to the forest of a busy Chinese city I have found that the principles of peace remain the same.  Be patient, Accept, Know joy, Let go, Be still.  Let it all swirl around you as everything goes on its own special way to its own special place while you stand choiceless, transported, rapt in wonder.