I’ve wanted to post about this particular story since reading it, but for some reason, I complete forgot and only remembered today. It comes from the Tale of the Heike as one of the earlier chapters, and left quite a bit of an impression on me.
This is the link. The story’s short, just a chapter, so it’s possible to just read it first.
I’ll reveal the story next, so spoilers.
From memory, it’s basically this:
Once upon a time there was a dancing girl who served a lord. Word spread of a renowned dancing girl one day. This renowned dancing girl came to the manor to show her craft. The dancing girl said that ‘you should give her a chance’ when the lord actually wanted to shoo her away. And so the lord gave her a chance. And it turned out the lord became enamoured with her and he kicked out the original dancing girl!
The original dancing girl’s family was no longer supported by the lord. And one day, when the lord wanted to cheer up the new dancing girl or something, he called over the old dancing girl! Really, the old dancing girl was heartbroken and really didn’t want to go and she and her sister wept but eventually her mother persuaded her to go for her sake. They couldn’t offend the lord! And so, she went. Ultimately, though, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Upon her return, the old dancing girl became a nun with her sister. Her mother eventually joined them too. And one day, there was a knock on the door… and they stared fearfully at it! And it turned out that it was… the new dancing girl! She was also fed up with the secular world and its imperfections. Having heard what they were doing, the young and beautiful her wanted to join them in seclusion from the secular world in gaining enlightenment as well!
The old dancing girl apologised. She had had negative thoughts about the new dancing girl. I mean, in such a situation, it would be perfectly understandable if she thought about her as vain and a vase and an ingrate! But she wasn’t! No, she was a good, nice, sensitive, empathetic human being too. And so the four nuns spent their remaining lives praying there to reach enlightenment together.
The end. No thrilling ending that bends the mind. Just a pure, simple concept of tranquility and harmony…
But as I see it, it’s empowering, the human nature of the new dancing girl, Gio. It overpowers the dumbness of misogyny that some might take for granted. To me, equality is a very basic thing. Additionally, Gio was good, and on top of that, even enlightened! Somehow, I feel that the anti-climactic nature of this story is just illuminating the hidden strength of humanity… even satyagraha (Gandhi) and all that.
To me, Ne today is overrated, Ni underrated.
Our modernity today is full of cheap entertainment, with people delighting in schadenfreude and deriving their amusement at the expense of others. Joy is gained from ridicule as self-satisfaction is supreme and empathy forgotten (in my opinion).
This is what I was thinking yesterday:
In 1884, Nietzsche said: God is dead. I can loosely interpret this as: Science has killed the sanctity of myth.
In the 21st century, I find: Truth is dead. An outpouring of media has made it such that people see possibilities as amusement as opposed to food for thought. The masses exist solely to be stimulated through a divergence of possibilities. The single, converging thread of thought seeking resolution, harmony and inner peace is a dying species. As controversy sits king of the hill, truth is dead – and we have killed it.
Pardon the melodrama. And no controversy please. Let’s just call this an opinion – my take on things. Now, when writing on my main blog, truth is what I go for, stuff that as far as I know should apply across the board to everyone. Additionally, I refrain from all the preachy, prescriptive stuff which claims that one way is superior to another. I simply try to relay stuff in a way as objectively and authentically as I possibly can. This here is my literary self-expression change of pace space, I guess.
Okay, months after reading the chapter, I’ve finally posted about it here! Well done, me. I give myself a virtual pat on the back. Yayyyy!