π‘ INTRODUCTION
There was once a time when people lived simply in the mountains, cultivating the land, respecting nature, and asking nothing but rain from the sky.
In this vivid and heartfelt piece, Master Woo Myung captures the life of a slash-and-burn farmerβa man who toils with his family, coexists with the wild, and finds joy in simplicity. Yet, over time, many leave this natural life behind, lured by the promises of city life. But what they find instead is disconnection, labor without meaning, and a loss of warmth.
π± This writing invites us to reflect on the purity of living with nature, the fading human warmth, and the world we have traded it for.
π¬ YOUTUBE VIDEO
π ORIGINAL WRITING BY MASTER WOO MYUNG
Slash – and – Burn Farmer
He who makes his living off of
cultivating fields in the mountains
searches far and wide into its rough depths.
He will farm the land for consecutive years
until the soil becomes infertile.
He is a father;
after having cultivated the land for a few months alone,
he brings his family there
and they toil the new land together.
There they build a new hut for themselves
and live together as a family.
Wild boars, deer, and pheasants come
and eat the grains.
These families live together with
the creatures of the mountains.
They place a large rock
propped up with a wooden plank,
and beneath it they put some grains;
When a boar trips the prop stick,
the rock falls and the boar is crushed underneath.
Many a day had passed without any meat on the table,
but now they are able to feast for days.
The nearest town is twenty kilometers
or perhaps forty kilometers away;
the children walk the narrow mountain roads with
lightening speed.
They plant potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn,
which are their staple foods.
These are people who eat the wild greens
that they gather from the mountains.
They are simple-hearted people
for they have no expectations;
with their pure hearts, they live with Nature.
They have nothing and so they want nothing.
They just live observing the sky and the earth;
if they were to be greedy,
it would be that they want the sky to send them rain.
But there are those who grow tired of this kind of life.
So they come to the city,
only to find that they can do nothing else
but undertake manual labor jobs
for they are uneducated.
They become unhappy
and they come to miss the warmth of the bygone days;
they blame the city and its lack of warmth.
Though people long for a love in which
there exists no distance between them,
people use it, which is why there is no love at all.
The cultivated fields are all disappearing;
the homes that were built beyond the slopes
and the homes that lined the valleys
have all become abandoned.
How many years have passed, no one knows,
but the land has become thick with weeds.
Those who used to live off the mountains
have all gone far away to make money.
It is a pity that those people have become hardened
and have lost their warmth.
β Woo Myung
π± REFLECT AT SANTA CLARA MEDITATION
What have we lost in our pursuit of modern life?
Master Woo Myung reminds us of the peace, warmth, and love that once came from living in harmony with nature.
To return to that purity, we must look within, not outward.
