Insider

     During my intermittent stays in the county town for over half a year, I would always catch a glimpse of a pavilion atop a distant mountain amidst the hurried pace of life. A sense of longing would inevitably stir within me, perhaps a feeling of being called to it, or perhaps the allure of its tranquility. So, I decided to visit it before leaving, lest I leave with a sense of incompleteness.

    That morning, I quietly set off, not bothering to ask for directions because it was "nearby," simply going wherever my heart led me. After walking along a tree-lined avenue, I realized I still needed to traverse fields and villages to reach my destination. Half an hour later, I finally arrived at the pavilion, only to be surprised to find it wasn't a park, but a temple.

    The temple's deity was presumably one of the Eight Immortals; I didn't examine it closely. Suddenly, I realized this seemed somewhat different from my usual self, someone who always enjoyed studying folklore and regional culture. Actually, I was still the same person, only today I had come specifically to clear my mind.

    To me, taking a break is a process of clearing out the clutter. Because people are constantly, consciously or unconsciously, absorbing things, good or bad. Taking a break is about deleting these "garbage files," emptying the mind to better accept the present and the future. At the highest point I could climb, I felt the gentle breeze, a breeze that seemed to have absorbed all the sun's heat in this chilly autumn season. Looking out from the railing, the city lay at my feet, the world's hustle and bustle beneath me.

    Here it was quiet, peaceful, and serene, simply because it was a sacred place untouched by worldly people, simply because people had immersed themselves entirely in the world's affairs. If someone asked me where the Pure Land was, I would tell them without hesitation that this very moment was the Pure Land. But even that answer isn't entirely accurate, because the true Pure Land is never in the midst of the bustling world, but deep within your own heart. Why do we often lose ourselves and fail to find the Pure Land within our hearts? It's because too many temptations (and illusions) blind not only our eyes but also our minds, because we are caught up in the illusions. I don't know which deity is enshrined here, but in that moment of contemplation, I felt him wipe away the illusions that had long blinded my eyes and heart, bestowing upon me a certain power that allowed me to feel the true existence of my own soul.

    When I awoke from this brief moment of enlightenment and prepared to return the way I came, I saw several figures climbing up another path. Looking down at their backs, I realized there was a shortcut here, and the journey that had taken me over half an hour was at least two or three times longer than this shortcut. I went in the opposite direction, descending the path, occasionally glancing back at the pavilion. It wasn't its architectural style or the deity enshrined inside that made me turn back repeatedly, but rather that if I considered this pavilion as my life's ideal, I had taken a circuitous and unnecessary route due to my preconceived notions. Even though there were tree-lined avenues, fields, and villages with wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys, between ideal and reality, I was merely a traveler with my own thoughts. Perhaps death is the ultimate destination of all life, but in the process, we all have different destinations. When we can see our goals in the distance, we might as well stop and explore the various paths that lead to our destination, which one is the shortest, and which one is more suitable for us. Perhaps only in this way can we break free from the fixed mindset of those caught in the middle of the game, thus gaining an outsider's perspective.

    Unconsciously, the hustle and bustle of the county town swept over me, and once again I became a player in the game…