“When the horse in Szechuan catches cold, the cow in Hunan sneezes,” say Zen Patriarchs. This means more than the usual statement that we are all somehow connected, each “a spark of the divine flame.” It speaks of Essence and Function, the world of particulars within the Void, and the possible expansion to where one encompasses the All. “What is whispered in the ear is heard a thousand miles away,” says Mencius, the Chinese philosopher. Thus, integrity is not only desirable, it is vital. T’ai Chi Chih and integrity (teh), the power of inner sincerity, are one and the same thing. All things proceed from one Reality, which remains the same. The leaves fall to the ground in autumn, but there will be leaves on the tree again in springtime; the root remains the same. Seeing the trees against the sky, we sense a spiritual power.
