BE LIKE THE WATER (BY BOST, REVISED 2026)
Once upon a time there lived a modest (meek) young man (individual) called Hagen, who wished more than anything, to be an invincible warrior, like the heroes mentioned in ancient fables. He was well over six feet tall, handsome, had grey blue eyes and his straight long blond hair was often kept loose (unbound), cascading down his shoulders.
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| 01- HAGEN |
Orphaned at an early age, he lived humbly and all alone in a small wooden cabin at the edge of a vast, dense forest at high altitude (elevation) mountain. He had an adventurous spirit, and he had plenty close encounters with predatory beasts, living in that remote (secluded) region; nevertheless, he often took long walks in the woods to collect medicinal herbs and also, to explore this wild, untamed world around him as he had a deep, innate appreciation of nature. He rarely had any human company (an occasional hunter), sometimes going for months, without seeing another soul.
His days
were spent tending to his small patch of fenced herb garden and he often made
repairs to the wooden cabin (dwelling) that kept him safe from the tempestuous weather
and the harsh elements. He chopped firewood making sure his supply never dwindled,
stacked them by the entrance, then at night, after a plain repast (stew with
meat and wild roots and vegetables), he sat by the hearth and read or sometimes
carved little animals, fashioning them from small wood block. The finished
products were the only adornment he had on his shelves next to the books and
some rare rocks.
Once or
twice a year, when it necessitated to fetch (buy) some necessary supplies- such
as clothing, blankets, tools, sack of flour or millet (corn, oats, sorghum) for
making bread, coffee, beans, seeds, and occasionally some dried or preserved
fruit and of course, books- he ventured down the mountain and visited the
general store in nearby border town. As an avid reader, he sought to acquire
the adventurous fables and legends that the proprietor, the middle-aged,
widowed frontiersman, called Kenneth, knowing Hagen’s passion and having a particular
fondness for this honest young man, who never argued about the price, always
made sure to reserve in stock the very latest novels (a volume or two) for him.
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| 02- kENNETH - PROPRIETOR OF GENERAL STORE |
Hagen made his living, of course, chiefly by hunting wild animals and selling valuable pelts, in exchange for the supplies; his furs of wolves and mountain lions etc., had always fetched good margin of profit for the storekeeper and so, the proprietor looked forward to these rare visits from this remarkable young man.
~
When Hagen
grew up to his early twenties, as a fine young man no longer content living a
solitary life in the woods, his soul craved adventure and to see more of the
world, but more importantly, he desired to be a competent warrior; and as he
was interested in wrestling, he travelled to the farthest edges of the country
and after repeated attempts finally got accepted in an illustrious martial school,
at an island monastery, where a most famed master was the instructor.
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| 03- ISLAND MONASTERY (2) |
Fuelled by his enthusiasm Hagen endured gruelling training sessions to eventually become a competent fighter. Though he was now robust (athletic, muscular) and a proficient warrior, his timid nature nevertheless, still incumbered his progress and prevented him from reaching his true potential. And despite his zeal and daily practices, on those special tournaments held by the schools to measure the initiates ‘progress, at every instance, without fail he persistently got bested by his opponent.
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| 04- TOURNAMENTS AT THE ISLAND MONASTERY (17) |
The teacher who
would earlier on recognized his true abilities was baffled by this. Suspecting Hagen’s
innate impediment, he initiated a private bout with Hagen to evaluate his
skill. True enough, Hagen, caught in the momentum of fight defeated his master
on the first round. Subsequent bouts all proved to be the same.
You are a
like the turtle,” the master told Hagen one day. “But too often you cower under
your shell, you need to come out.” and sent Hagen to see his good friend Ingolf,
a Zen master at the nearby temple, for help.
“Not a
turtle,” Ingolf, the Zen master nodded after hearing Hagen’s account. “You
shall be a Sweeping Wave.”
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| 05- ZEN MASTER INGOLF |
Ingolf instructed Hagen on the preliminaries of meditation then told him to remain there the rest of the night imagining himself not as a human being who is primarily afraid, not as an adroit warrior (fighter), not anything but a great wave of the oceans.
“Be like the
tsunami,” he said to Hagen before retiring to his private chamber. “Imagine
your power sweeping, swallowing all and everything in your path. Then all will
be well with you.”
~
Hagen set
motionless in darkness for hours contemplating the words of the Zen master
Ingolf.
At first his
mind would not cooperate with his will, and Hagen wondered about a great many
useless things, places, people or past events, anything but the wave. Gradually
however, his willpower won over his monkey mind and forced it to focus on the
vast sea, volumes of water and then the waves. His mind now was pinned on that
single giant wave. It grew larger and larger, washing over the shoreline,
uprooting trees, structures, houses, and even the temple he was sitting in.
Everything was encompassed by that giant wave. All that could be seen was the
ebb and flow of the immense ocean.
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| 06 B -HAGEN LIKE THE WATER |
At the first
light of day when the Zen master Ingolf emerged from his room, he found Hagen
still meditating at the very spot he had left him, with one difference…He was engulfed
in a numinous (mystical) miasma (mist,
fog, cloud) and emanating from it, was the luminescent (glowing) blue light. Hagen’s
eyes closed, his face radiant and perfectly serene, his breathing shallow and
steady, he was however, from head to toe soaked to the skin, with his garments completely
drenched, sticking to his form and revealing his fine physique. He appeared as
though he was immersed (swimming or floating) in cool waters of the vast ocean.
His gleaming, handsome wet face was framed by the sodden strands of blond hair,
as the pearls of water droplets created a shimmering ring of a small puddle at
the perimeter floorboards.
The very
moment Zen master Ingolf had drawn near and gently (tentatively) placed a hand
on Hagen’s shoulder, however, all was transformed back to norm, and Hagen, as
well the periphery (the margin) reverted to prior dry state (circumstance).
The corners
of master Ingolf’s mouth slightly lifted as he nodded his head; his hand reaching
out lightly patted Hagen on the shoulder and he said, “Now you are that
invincible wave, go forth and always be thus.”
And true to
fact, Hagen from that day forth became an invincible fighter, winning every
challenge and tournament. For decades, his fame spread far and wide (everywhere)
and he became the undefeated champion of the realm.
FIN
