Out of Body Universe - Part One, Page 3

  Chapter 2

  Nathan tried to walk in a straight line. It was getting late, but the crowded streets were still packed. He couldn’t remember the last time he was drunk. Cathy’s face flashed in and out of his spinning brain, and he was unable to push the images of her pretty eyes out of his mind. His stomach felt hollow, despite the fact he had just filled it with vast quantities of alcohol.

  Since entering the dating world when he was fifteen, he had experienced a few breakups with a few girls, but never like this. Cathy was his first serious relationship ever, and he had been with her since starting university two years ago. Everyone, including himself, believed that he and Cathy were a perfect match and completely happy. Hundreds and thousands of questions kept popping up in his not very clear head. Why would she do this to him? Why…

  Turning around the street corner, Nathan saw an unusually dressed man sitting beside his board game. During the last week while passing by, Nathan had seen him lay the board game out in the same spot each day. He was dressed in a long blue robe, a bit strange in the hot weather, and his long hair was tied up in a ponytail at the back of his head. Beside him, there was a note, written in both Chinese and English: it only cost ten dollars to play, and the prize was one thousand dollars if anyone beat him at the game; the challenger could choose to play with either the black or white pieces.

  As the Taoist was about to pack the game board up, Nathan croaked, “Wait a moment, Taoist Master…I want to challenge you.”

  “Oh, I see.” The Taoist looked at Nathan in a calm manner for a second. “It is very late; why don’t you come back tomorrow?”

  “I don’t want to come back tomorrow; here is my money.” Nathan took out a twenty-dollar note.

  “I don’t think it’s fair to play the game with you tonight.” the Taoist refused to accept Nathan’s money.

  Nathan shook the bill in the Taoist’s face. “Are you afraid of me? You know I will beat you at your own game. We have to play tonight, right here.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Nathan; my name is Nathan.”

  “Okay, Nathan, I will play with you, but not here. If you really want to play, you’ll have to come with me to my place.”

  “That sounds okay to me,” Nathan said in an even less clear voice.

  “It’s a long walk to my place. Are you sure you are up to it?”

  “The further away from the city the better; please lead the way.” Nathan staggered forward, following the Taoist and heading away from the city.

  Nathan tried to walk in a straight line as he followed the Taoist; they had been walking for a very long time. They were basically following the waterfront, passing each bay. Occasionally looking back over his shoulder, Nathan could still see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge but his surroundings were very unfamiliar; he couldn’t remember there being so many bushes and so much forestry close to the Rocks area, but his spinning head didn’t let him focus too much at the moment.

  Nathan had lost track of time; they could have walked for an hour, even three hours. He didn’t really care and felt quite relieved to be this far away from his life, leaving the mess behind.

  Finally they stopped in front of a straw-roofed hut among the thick forest. Nathan didn’t even question that there was no forest within walking distance of Sydney’s city centre. The Taoist opened the simple wooden door, used a match to light a couple of candles, and then signalled Nathan to come in.

  It was surprisingly spacious inside the humble hut, at least the size of a four-bedroom house. There were no internal walls or separate rooms; the whole interior was a large hall furnished with simple wooden tables and chairs. The Taoist put his bag down on the floor of packed clay, and lit a log campfire in one corner of the hut. He hung a kettle over the fire and said,

  “Nathan, I have to say it’s a surprise to find a white kid like you who knows how to play Weiqi (Go in Chinese). How did you come across it?”

  Nathan collapsed into a nearby chair. His legs were stiff and sore, as if he had been walking for weeks. After taking a deep breath, he said,

  “I am studying ancient oriental philosophy at university and my major is Taoism, so it’s not that peculiar for me to know something about Weiqi.”

  “Studying Taoism? Nathan, you surprise me even more. Why would a white kid like you choose to study Taoism?”

  “Could you please stop the ‘white kid’ stuff; you should know that the majority of the students in my Taoism class are ‘white kids’. The irony is that there is not a single Chinese student in the class.”

  The Taoist put two mugs on the table. “Would you like a cup of green tea? I should think you need it.”

  “Yes, please. Thanks.”

  After they settled down at the table with a cup of green tea each, the Taoist said slowly, “Nathan, you are right, nowadays, not many Chinese kids are interested in Taoism. It’s the main reason why I am here, to find some non-Chinese persons who are seeking Tao, the way.”

  Nathan sipped a bit of the green tea. It helped to clear his mind.

  “Master, are you telling me that you are seeking a student so you can teach him about Taoist magic?”

  “Magic? There is no magic in Taoism. Is that what you have learnt in your classes?”

  “Oh no, not in my classes, but I’ve read tales and legends about Taoist magic. You know, the stories about immortal Taoists, that kind of stuff.”

  “Glad to hear that. Nathan, tell me, what have you learnt about Taoism?”

  Nathan put his mug down on the table. “Master, what’s your name?”

  The Taoist thought for a moment. “Wuwei. My name is Wuwei.”

  “Wuwei? Isn’t that the fundamental Taoist principle of inaction, or doing nothing?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes, it is, but Wuwei does not mean either inaction or doing nothing. It means following the natural laws, not fighting against them to find solutions; it means resolving conflicts without relying on violence; it means accepting people as what they are without judgment; it means accepting change as part of life. I could go on for the whole evening, but hopefully that will give you some idea as to what Wuwei is really about.”

  “Okay, Master Wuwei, I sort of know what you are talking about and I did learn something about Taoism. In Tao Te Ching, Laozi (or the Old Master in English) said the greatest sages get things done effortlessly; is this the same thing you are talking about?”

  “Yes, the greatest efforts seem effortless, but it would require ultimate knowledge and skill to make those efforts seemingly effortless; anyway, enough of that topic. Nathan, did you just break up with your girlfriend?”

  “How could you tell?”

  “Well, it’s not that hard. The fact you were drunk was the first clue and I can tell it is an unusual event for you; you are not the type to be getting drunk regularly. Based on your age and your education, it’s most likely related to relationship issues.”

  “Yes, my girlfriend texted me this morning to break up with me, because I am too gentle and too polite and she wants to be treated rough, and wants to experience a ‘real man’. What’s wrong with this world?” Nathan tried very hard to control himself and not swear or use the worst words he could think of to describe Cathy.

  “There is always something wrong or right about the world. Nathan, tell me what you think is wrong about this world.”

  “To start with, I believe I behaved like a real gentleman, but she wants to be treated rudely and roughly. Don’t tell me you think there is nothing wrong with her.”

  Wuwei didn’t respond immediately. He sipped his green tea and then said slowly, “Nathan, to be treated gently may not be what she wants, and there is nothing wrong about that. You can’t judge her based on your own point of view.”

  “All right, let’s talk about her being a slut.” Nathan didn’t feel guilty about using the word to describe Cathy now. “I have been faithful during our two-year-long relationship but she slept with others behind my back, find
ing guys online.”

  “Nathan, to be faithful to her was your choice and you can’t force her to do the same; she has the right to decide what she wants to do.”

  “Let’s forget about my relationship problem and focus on her being a slut.”

  “Do you mean she’s had sex with many men?”

  “Yes. There is a reason that slut is a negative word. Women generally are more careful about choosing whom to have sex with, because they are genetically designed to ensure their offspring have the best genes; therefore, women don’t normally sleep around. In other words, slutty behaviour is against her nature and that’s why she is wrong.”

  “What you said may be the case, but there is nothing wrong with her behaviour if she doesn’t want to have children.”

  “Okay, what about the risk of disease associated with sleeping around? She is abusing her body, don’t tell me that’s right.”

  “Nathan, she is an adult and has the right to use her body any way she wishes. Tell me if there is a huge difference between her using her body to sleep with others and you using your body to get drunk. From a Taoist point of view, there is nothing absolutely right or wrong.”

  “That is the concept I just can’t grasp about Taoism. We all know that something must be right and something must be wrong; you can’t make that statement.”

  “Nathan, it’s also common knowledge that one person’s angel could be another’s evil; one’s terrorist could be the other’s freedom fighter. Right or wrong all depends on where you are standing. People regard others who don’t agree with their views as enemies. For example, the reason you think your girlfriend is wrong is because you feel hurt that she broke up with you to sleep with others. It’s wrong from your point of view but it’s right for her to break up with you to avoid you getting hurt more.”

  Nathan was usually quite good at debating in classes, but not tonight; it had to be because of the alcohol he had consumed earlier. Nathan decided to change the angle.

  “All right, let’s talk about what’s wrong with modern females. There are very few real women left in this world. The girls in the West are more and more like men; they don’t know how to cook, sew, or retain any of those feminine skills and qualities; they swear, drink, smoke, and try to be equal to men in as many ways as possible. This is wrong.”

  Wuwei nodded at Nathan, smiling.

  “Nathan, I don’t want to debate with you about feminist movements, but all of your comments are from a man’s point of view. A girl would say she really wants to meet a traditional man who knows how to hunt, fish, and build huts with his hands, who does not care to tell everyone about his feelings, and wants to drag a woman by her hair to his cave; so from a girl’s point of view, there are also very few real men left in the modern world. Nathan, the only thing that remains unchanged is change. We have to change ourselves to adapt to the changes.”

  “I don’t want to discuss this anymore. Should we start the game?” Nathan decided to call off the debate. It was not his best day.

  “Do you still want to play the game?”