A Story for the Emperor
The story teller told a story called "The attainment of Shan Hum".
"In the last days of the powerful cultivation heroes, all the elders and masters of the temple of Hum went up the mountain called Shan Hum to ascend into the heavenly kingdom . At the top of this special mountain was a portal that could take all those who were worthy ,to the heavenly kingdom . This had been a longtime practice of the Hum monastery for many centuries. But this one was different because this time all the elders and masters in the Hum monastery were leaving. They left behind the students who had not attained the high spiritual ability called Shan Hum and told them to continue on their spiritual quest ,so they too might climb up the steps of Shan Hum and into the heavenly Kingdom through the portal.
And so many of the students watched the elders and masters climb up the mountain one after the other. This process took about six months before all the elders and masters of the Hum monastery disappeared in to the portal and where never seen again.
With the departure of their masters, many monks who had yet to attain Shan Hum left the spiritual quest and went back home to live a normal life. Only a very few monks continued in the Spiritual quest, one of whom was Shan Young.
Shan Young continued with the training. And so he built his house at the base of Mount Shan Hum, where he spent so much time day and night in meditation.
As Time went on, people came to live in the house of Shan Young. Some of them were refugees from distant lands while others were distressed people looking for solace. Shan Young kept expanding and building more houses in other to accommodate the growing population. As time went on Shan young eventually took a wife named Fu and had four children, although the last three came fifteen years after his first son.
Despite the success he has gained, Shan Young's greatest wish was to be worthy enough to climb up Mount Shan Hum, go through the portal and go to the heavenly kingdom . And so he kept on with his training and meditation. He was present but unavailable, denying himself almost all the pleasures of life, even when they were very much available and affordable to and by him. Shan Young was being completely detached from all emotions. Closing his eyes and ears to his pains and the pains of others.
For instance, he denied himself good food, even when he had good food and the money to buy them, he denied himself sex even when he had a wife; he denied himself happiness even when there were lots of reasons to be happy.
Shan's first son Zen was one of Shan's greatest regret, this was because Zen shared none of his father's ambitions to attain Shan Hum. Zen loved life. He also loved people, and he lived life passionately. He wined and dined at the slightest instigation. He had friends; he cared about people, and he work for his money and enjoyed immensely.
When Shan Young had had enough of his son's activities, which he deemed disgraceful, he sent his son to the blacksmith in the neighboring community to learn to be a blacksmith and to also take his activities away from his sight.
Not all refugees found it easy to settle in the community. Some just stayed at Shan Young's house indefinitely. One of those who stayed in the house of Shan Young was a dark-skinned Ethiopian woman, Sheba and her daughter, who had fled their kingdom because of the war. Another was an Arabian Man called Ali and his nephew, who escaped assassination attempt by the head of their family back home. They were the only ones who lived under the roof of Shan Young.They were very fond of Zen Young.
Sheba and her daughter found Shan Young and the things he puts himself through in other to attain Shan Hum and ascend to the heavenly kingdom quite amusing because in the religious beliefs that they were trained, their first lesson was Love for all life and service to God and one another was considered the most important in the search for God and the kingdom of God, not self denial. But anyway, who would tell him? Shan young listened to no one.
Meanwhile, Zen Young was doing well as a blacksmith in training.But instead of the production of knives and weapons, he fabricated beautiful jewelries and trinkets that brought Joy to so many people and made himself rich. Although Zen Young was a man who loved and enjoyed life, he gave his time, love and even his money to those who were in need. His friends and the entire community appreciated and loved him.
One day Shan Young told his household, including his guests, that he was ready to ascend the mountain and that he would do so in exactly a week from that day. His house guests became concerned after hearing Shan Young, so Ali and Sheba began making plans and preparations to leave the community with her daughter and Ali's nephew. Both Sheba and Ali felt that Shan Young did not have enough love in his heart to succeed in his quest. They came to this conclusion based on the way he treated people and even his family. Both of them estimated that since failure to successfully climb the Mount Shan Hum and pass through the portal, attracted dare consequences, Shan Young would not survive the process.
Ali got in touch with Zen Young, who had not visited home for a long time, mostly because of his father's constant criticism and disapproval of him and his way of life. He promised Ali that he would come on the day his father had chosen to ascend.
On the day of the ascend. Shan Young prepared himself and stood at the base of Mount Shan Hum. A little crowd of people that comprise people in the community and the wife and young children of Shan Young.All of them had concern boldly written on their faces.
Shan young started climbing the mountain. But by the time Shan young got half way he has had challenges.
The mountain had the power to make a person hunger for worldly attraction to an unendurable degree, mentally tormenting the individual 's emotions until he freezes to death. Only a person who had emotional and mental stability and had risen above them could successfully ignore the hunger and the torment and continued to ascend. Unfortunately shan Young had only repressed his emotions and passions instead of rising above them as they came up. And so right before the on lookers Shan Young gradually turned to stone. It was at that point that Zen Young arrived and effortlessly climbed up the mountain and got to his father who had turned to stone, much to the shock of the on lookers Zen picked up his father and climbed down the mountain with the body of his father.
The question on everyone's lips was how did Zen Young effortlessly and successfully got up the mountain that his father could not climb even after many years of preparations, meditation and self denial? Zen Young, who was not even interested in the discipline, could climb up the mountain effortlessly. Self denial does not necessarily mean that one is pure of mind and spirit."