I once had a dream

[jbmidnite]

I once had a dream I was a gorgeous butterfly,
Fluttering lightly through the sky.
But alas when I awoke,
I could not thenceforth depict,
Was I this man of flesh and bones,
Or purely just the butterfly,
Seemingly trapped in the endless void,
Of such a simple, yet fragile human mind?

This is a poetic translation I wrote the other night from the original Chinese version written by the hand of Zhuang Zi (Zhuang Zhou). Originally, in the ancient text, this is a very poetic passage. Browsing through much of the English translations although left me quite unsatisfied and therefore I found that when not translated poetically it is essentially lacking the original intimacy, and conveys only a silhouette of its original beauty.

To me Zhuang Zi represents the self-worth of one human being. He represents the quality and importance of individualism in the sense the parts of the whole are just as important as the whole itself. Highly individualistically centered guidelines is what I feel this corporation heavily embodies. Thus, who other to quote for my introduction than the emperor of eastern individualistic philosophy than, Zuang Zhou himself.

I feel I gravitate to a particular lifestyle, one that which, I see myself applying the loyalty and honor driven Confucius values at the work but in the home radiating the freedom and liberation of Lao Zi or Zhuang Zi. I find a lot of my studies lately gravitating to that of Chinese origin and remarkably with it, much of the philosophies now organize my way of thinking.

I am just another white guy, but individualistically unique. I'm a musician, writer, student and a thinker.
My name is JB and I look forward to meeting you all.

[Redslay]

Welcome to the forums.

China hasn't take over yet.. but you'll be well prepared.

pp