In this, the second of four excerpts from author and Fetzer Program Officer, Mark Nepo’s Facing the Lion, Being the Lion, he shares “Attempts at Loving.”

Wu Feng

The first involves a quiet man whose life-changing moment is inspiring. He was Wu Feng, a Manchurian diplomat of the 1700’s posted with an aboriginal tribe in the outskirts of Taiwan. Wu Feng befriended the aboriginal chief, whose tribe beheaded one of its members every year as a form of sacrifice.

Each year Wu Feng pleaded with all of his compassion and reverence for life that the chief put an end to this custom. The chief would listen respectfully as Wu Feng would plead, and then, after listening and bowing, the chief would summon the chosen tribe member and, without hesitation, behead him.

Finally, after living with the tribe for twenty-five years, Wu Feng once more pleaded with the chief to stop this senseless killing. But this time, when the tribe member was called forth, Wu Feng took his place and said, “No, if you will kill this time, it will be me.”

The chief stared long into his friend’s eyes, and having grown to love Wu Feng, he could not kill him. From that day, the practice of beheading stopped.

Of course, Wu Feng could have been killed, but his courage shows us that, at a certain point, how we live inside takes priority. At a certain point for each of us, talk evaporates and words cannot bring love into the open. In the end, it is not enough to think what we know. We must live it. Only by living it can love show itself as the greatest principle.

There are many questions and lessons waiting in this story. Key to them all is: What made Wu Feng finally put himself in the middle of the issue? What made watching become intolerable? What ounce of inner courage, starting in what quiet corner of Wu Feng’s soul, moved him to stand before the chief? And what ounce of courage finally opened the chief to change? Where does the Wu Feng in us live? Where the chief? How do we make a practice of moving, like Wu Feng from watching to standing by our core? And how do we, like the chief, make a practice of softening our adherence to a tradition or old pattern that kills, and so open ourselves to love?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 10:01 am and is filed under Things to Think About. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.