PORTRAIT OF A BEAUTY
Maggie H is a Global Explorer and Wellness Advocate from Hong Kong. Among many spiritual endeavors, Maggie practices and leads Qigong meditation to help people around the world find their inner balance. Find out more about this and other Eastern Philosophy & Meditation practices every month on the ICBRKR blog.
When I first met Musim, I couldn't help but think of the old portrait of a beauty painted by Sin Yun-bok. As if the young beauty from the painting had lived gracefully through the time of thunder and lightning, her face held no bitterness or tiredness but only kindness, generosity and gratitude. She looked like a wholesome chrysanthemum wearing the frost veil on an early winter morning.
Her spiritual name, Musim (無心, no-mind), was given to her by my teacher Master Seolwon for a good reason. The life she'd lived before she met my teacher was so rough that it sounded like a movie story, but it was impossible to make up a story like hers.
She doesn't know exactly who her birth parents are, nor is she aware of her age or for that matter even her birthday. She grew up as a poor but hard-working naive young girl. When she was around 16, a door-to-door saleslady selling cosmetics in her village observed her carefully and realised that she was a healthy girl with nobody to protect her. And so, she enticed her to meet a young boy's family for an arranged marriage by giving her sample cosmetics. Musim, not knowing how to say no to the kind lady, reluctantly put on a blue polka dot dress, lent to her by that lady, and wore awkward make-up for the first time in her life.
On the day of meeting the boy and his relatives, after having a bowl of noodles without even getting the chance to properly look at his face, Musim was taken to a faraway island somewhere without her knowledge. That's how her so-called arranged marriage began.
The boy, who was living with two younger brothers and a 92-year-old demented grandma, needed someone to take care of his grandma’s bodily wastes as all the other grown-ups of the family, including his parents, had died young from various unfortunate accidents or diseases. The arranged marriage was the glorified kidnap; she didn't know where she was and so didn't know how to escape. The family desperately needed a helping hand to raise the children, look after the grandma and do farm work, and so Musim was forced to take on multiple roles as a parent, nurse, maid, worker and wife.
Time went by and Musim had three kids of her own while she was fulfilling her multiple duties. There was no time to look after herself, and so she only noticed her pregnancy because her tummy was growing bigger. She delivered all her kids by herself at home without any medical help or support from others.
She was also a very religious person, so she and her husband, who was a carpenter, were regularly volunteering themselves at the nearby temple for over twenty years. She learned that the family's misfortune could be helped by praying sincerely and building good merits by helping others. In this way, the poor souls of the deceased family members would be guided to a better place and the family's misfortune could be stopped from happening in the future.
They were often called to the temple to help out on days when others couldn't make it, such as family holidays or emergencies. They never thought of it as trouble because they were just happy they could be of service so that others could have holidays with their own families. Also, as they worked hard day and night, they were able to purchase a small patch of land where they grew vegetables, and all the harvest from that land went directly to the soup kitchen. On some days the vegetable prices were sky high due to the bad season to give them away for free but they never minded the cost of it. They were just happy with being able to help others.
Musim and her husband continuously worked hard day and night and their kids grew up well like their parents. At some point, the family's misfortune of dying young stopped and they started to accumulate wealth.
From all the hard work she had done throughout her life, her hands were rough and fingers were twisted but her smile was so warm and kind like the spring sunshine that could make flowers bloom.
She never blamed anyone for her rather tough life or compared herself to others. She only devoted herself to her multiple roles and was truly happy to release others from their pain and suffering.
Every day on her way home after a long day of hard work and selfless service, she and her husband hold hands and say to each other that they are happy to have each other and that it was another meaningful day together.
According to the Buddhist dictionary, Musim (no-mind or no-thinking) means non-existence of the mind and intellect or any delusion or even attachment to any desire and worldly things. This is Nirvana, the true mind, or the Buddha. However, one must remember that the mindless mind is not blank emptiness without any sense like an inanimate thing, but the consciousness is still alive, yet there is no speculation; just a quiet state of no-mind of a sage in ecstatic contemplation.
I am grateful that I met the living no-mindedness. At any time, if I ever get confused or unsure about being good and kind to others, I'd think of Musim, the true beauty and adjust my compass.