Disclaimer: Paraphrased from Become What You Are by Alan Watts. I encourage you to read this book in it's entirety if the following paraphrase is piques your interest.
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Once upon a time there was a man who lived as much as other men live. He had a wife and three children and a shop in the street selling cakes...He rose at dawn and went to bed at sunset; he ate rice three times a day; he smoked two pipes of tobacco in the hour; he talked of buying and selling with his neighbors...
In spring he watched the young grass peeping out from behind the stones; in summer he lifted an eye at the lazy clouds; in autumn he followed the leaves that danced in the wind; and in winter he woke to see the tracks of birds in the snow. And in all seasons, between talking and smoking and selling cakes, he chewed watermelon seeds and amused himself by plaiting straw ropes around his toes.
One day he went to the temple to pray, and the priest suggested...You are getting on in years and your eldest son is of an age to take care of your shop. It would not be proper for a man such as you to spend the rest of your days in empty activities, for you will go to the grave as insignificantly as old refuse is flung into the river.
Such is life, replied the man.
But you could find yourself a place among the Immortals, if you're willing to go through the effort.
Who are the Immortals, asked the man.
"They are those who do not depend on their own power to keep themselves alive..."
How can I find one, asked the man.
"[It] should not be difficult...it is said that their breath is operated by the wind; (their eyes by the sun and moon, and their laughter by mountain streams)."
Such a strange being should be easily recognizable. The man was convinced that he must find an Immortal and become one. He returned home, ordered his affairs, and set off on his journey.
After many weeks upon the road he came across a 200 year old man. Surely this man had to be an Immortal, so the man begged to be instructed by the elder. He was instructed to discipline himself in the "eight virtuous deeds, the twenty-nine laudable thoughts, the one hundred and eight ceremonial observances, the forty-two marks of superior character, the thirty-seven acts of filial piety and the four hundred and three propitiations of ill-disposed spirits." And he did...for twenty years. Never did he learn the secrets of the wind, the sun or the moon. Completely agitated, he set out on the road again.
After a few weeks on the road he came across another strange old being and begged for his instruction.
"Immortals have the wind as their breath, and to learn this you must cultivate the art of the Expansive Lungs. But this cannot be learned by such as you who chew melon seeds and smoke pipes and eat three meals a day. If you would have the wind as your breath you must eat but one grain of rice in a day and...learn to breathe but twice in a day. Only then will your lungs be able to contain the wind."
He practiced for many years and after successfully breathing twice in a day he found that his body had become that of a skeleton. In a "display of exceedingly ill-regulated conduct he fled from the cave."
Back on the road for the third time, he began to wonder if he missed the point from his instructor. He felt he needed more teaching, or more assurance. He caught up with a trader on the path selling an assortment of goods. They talked about life for awhile and the trader offered the man some watermelon seeds. He declined as it would break his discipline. He asked the trader if he had seen an Immortal along his journey at any time- one whose breath is operated by the wind, and eyes are of the sun and moon, and laughter by the mountain stream.
"Oh yes', answered the trader, 'I have seen many such beings. Why I believe two of them are making their way along this road."
The man proclaimed that they must hurry to catch them and after double timing it ahead until night fall they found no such beings.
How could we have missed them, thought the man.
"Oh,' said the trader, 'I forgot to tell you. When they go about in pairs one of them is always invisible. You are looking for two men traveling together. Let us look again."
I see no one, just you, said the man.
At this the trader began to laugh, his laughter sounding like it came from a mountain stream.
"You! Are you an Immortal? But you look like an ordinary man!"
Indeed laughed the trader.
Your invisible companion...where is he, asked the man.
Surely his breath is operated by the wind, and his left and right eyes of the sun and moon...
Please ask him to become visible said the man.
You had better ask yourself said the trader. There is magic by which you can make him appear.
Tell me! said the man.
"The magic,' answered the trader, 'is this: in spring to watch the young grass peeping out between the stones; in summer to lift an eye at the lazy clouds; in autumn to follow the leaves that dance in the wind; in winter to wake and find the tracks of birds in the snow...To eat rice three times a day; to talk of buying and selling with one's neighbors; to chew the seeds of watermelon and to plait straw ropes around the toes."
"At this the cake seller discovered the second Immortal."
The lessons in this short story are many. Part of me doesn't want to give you any takeaways, because that would defeat the purpose of the story. Nevertheless...
Many times we look for a mentor, a coach, or a book to give us answers. Often times those answers already lie within. We're already doing what we need to be doing.
So, if you choose to be coached or mentored by someone, as was the cakeseller in the story, commit fully to that endeavor. Forget what you know, embrace the lessons they are offering you, and be present in your experience.
Out of sincerity and obligation, I want to make a point regarding our own journeys in terms of strength. I'm not insinuating that you have the answers, because I know what I did as a young lifter was earnest, but stupid. As with our man, the cake seller, he was set on a wayward path by an ignorant priest. The cake seller found some mentors and coaches along that path, and there were lessons that he could have taken from both of them, both good and bad. When he learned his most important lesson- two breaths a day- it hurt. It was a big sacrifice. But he didn't realize how valuable it was until he had an acquaintance tell him to look within. The trader gave the cake seller the perspective he needed to realize that he already had what he was searching for.
So I guess I'll ask, in your powerlifting journey, who was your 200 year old guide, who was your strange old being, and who is your trader?
And what do you already have that you're looking for?
