Only the Lights were shining on the stage. Only the dark was prevalent on the audience. With nervous but fascinating heart, I walked slowly up to the stage in front of the grand piano. From the dark heard a rail of cheering and claps. I sat in front of the piano. My hands, although warm as the bright sunlight, was rigid as a hardened wood.
There in the middle of the forest is a lake which the solitary temple floats on. A master and an apprentice live in the temple, enjoying the beauty of nature and the meaning of life. Then one day, the apprentice does a cruel trick: to tie a stone to a fish, a frog, and a snake. The Master knows everything.
Few months ago I had only seen the others performing the piano in front of a huge audience. However, I could not realize or understand the trembling heartbeat of the performer. Sometimes I was frustrated or disappointed at the mistaken performances. Too nervous to perform in front of the audience, the performers made several mistakes during the performance. Sometimes the whole magnificent piece turned into a nightmare, with the performer drowned in sweat and tears.
Although I encountered with several of those performers, I seldom practiced the piano. Because I was not that interested about my music, I did not have much passion to be indulged into my piece. Now it was my turn to turn the magnificent piece into a horrible mess. My hands were already beginning to stiffen even though I had not started to play the first note of the piece. I was trembling with fear and anxiety.
The Master knew all the things what was going on. The next day he tied a huge stone to the apprentice, demanding the apprentice to untie the stones of the fish, the frog, and the snake. What the apprentice found out was a dead fish, a suffocating frog, and a blood-stained dead snake. The apprentice only cried.
The music started without my intention. I just played the first note, and the other notes came along unconsciously. For the first time I discovered that the music of unconscious was not that pleasant than I had thought. My hands were playing the wrong notes more than hundreds of times. I just begged for the performance to end quickly so that I could rush out of the stage. However, the music did not end that quickly.
After five frightening minutes, the music finally ended. The audience, although disappointed with the disaster I created, gave a literal “formal” applause with no enthusiasm. As soon as I got out from the stage, I rushed to the bathroom and cried silently.
What would happen to the apprentice? What would happen to me? The two experiences the apprentice and I went through were shocking. Both of us were hit on the cold surface of reality. However, there were several people who already anticipated the outcome: in case of the apprentice, the master already knew what was coming: in case of me, my family and my teacher would have known that I would make a big mistake. However, the true value of the experience lies on the development of an individual, not on the harshness of the experience. Through the experience the apprentice learned the importance of life. Through the experience I learned the importance of courage and practice. Would the apprentice and I have learned the valuable lesson if we had not experienced a harsh reality first-hand? I will say no. Even though I encountered such mistakes in the viewpoint of the audience, or through second-hand experience, I could not understand or grasp what was important as a performer to understand. Similarly, the apprentice was constantly exposed to the life of the master. However, he was unable to recognize the importance of life. Therefore, first-hand experience can teach a person much more than exposed to second-hand experiences several times.
Then there arises another question: how intense should the first-hand experience be? Some of the viewers of the movie
Life is the cycle of experiences. How can we realize the essence of life? Through the experience of the death of the fish and the snake, the apprentice realized the importance of life and the enormity of murder. Through the experience on the stage, I realized the importance of practice. Then, is this one experience the end for the apprentice and me? There are still several substantial experiences we have to endure and learn. The essence of life can be only obtained through subsequent experiences. Philosophers in 16th century mentioned about the importance of experience. Since mankind cannot directly pinpoint the essence of a subject, they should encounter several experiments and experiences to reach closer to the essence. Similar to the idea of the philosophers, the movie hint that the apprentice will experience several important events which will give him dramatic changes: such as the marriage with a woman, crime, and the role as the new master. Maybe the time will tell to the one who had experienced so many agonies, happiness in life, tediousness in mundane routine, and sadness at the end of his life. Maybe in middle age the apprentice will be able to acquire the teachings of Buddha. Maybe in adulthood I will be able to discover the characteristic of piano and classical music.
The little but big experience became, is becoming, and will become a cornerstone of discovery for both the apprentice and me.
"Live and learn" is what your reflection inspires in my brain. Trial and error is the best learning process. I find it interesting that the Monk didn't intervene as he witnessed the boy torturing the animals. Some parents would have, and I kind of wonder if the monk feels any guilt for not preventing the demise of the small creatures. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteGood reflection. I can't believe you wrote so much in a short period of time. Impressive. And I like the structure cutting between both your experience and the little monks.