VOLUME VII, CHAPTER 7, SECTION 2
Earth Is the One and Only Paradise: Counting Out the Seven
The last section made plain that the human world we come home to is Earth, the one and only planet, and at the end pointed out that it is the one and only paradise in this universe, with seven: air, water, soil, sunlight, the turning seasons, the smoke and warmth of the human world, life that renews itself without end. This section counts these seven out clearly, one by one. Count these seven clearly, and only then do you know why this planet can be called paradise, why it is a treasure not to be found anywhere else, why it is worth this generation guarding with their lives. Paradise is not somewhere else, not in the next life, not in the sky. It is right here, on this planet under our feet that has all seven.
One. The First: Air
The first, air. This planet is wrapped in a layer of atmosphere that is just right, for all living things to breathe.
This layer of air, people breathe day after day, so used to it they all but forget it is there. Yet it is exactly this one breath that is the first thing every living thing leans on to live. Its makeup is just right: enough oxygen for people to breathe without burning the body, with all kinds of gases blended in between, nurturing grass and trees, nurturing living creatures. Look out at other planets. Some have no air at all, some have air that cannot be breathed, some have air thick as poison, some air so thin it is as good as none. Only this one has this layer of air just right, so right that people can breathe in and out without the least effort, and live a whole life without a care for it. This breath of air, costing no money, costing no effort, never running out, is exactly the first proof of paradise. A person who has ever been cut off from breath for a moment knows how precious this one ordinary breath of air is.
The most precious things, people often fail to notice at all, because they are too ordinary, too easy to come by. Air is exactly so. It has no color and no smell, cannot be seen or heard. From birth to death, people use it without stopping for a moment, and yet almost never once say thanks for it. But think, if this layer of air suddenly grew thin, grew foul, fell into disorder, people could not live a moment longer. This planet's richest gift is hidden in exactly this most unremarkable thing, the easiest to overlook. Know this layer, and you know the first good of paradise: it gives the most needed thing, in the most ordinary, most selfless form, free, to every living thing.
Two. The Second: Water
The second, water. On this planet, rivers, lakes and seas, rain and dew, springs and streams, water flows without end.
Water is the source of life. A person's body is seven tenths water. Grass and trees grow by water, all living things live by water. On this planet, water flows round in all kinds of forms: rain falling from the sky, springs welling up from the ground, streams forming in the mountains, gathering into rivers, pooling into lakes and seas, rising as cloud, falling again as rain, round and round, never drying up. This round of water nurtures every living creature on this planet. Other planets have not a drop to be seen, or have water sealed into ice ten thousand ages hard, or have water that cannot be drunk. Only this one has water that is just right, flowing, drinkable, usable, nurturing generation after generation of living things. To cup a mouthful of clear water and drink is this planet's most ordinary and richest gift to living things. This ordinary mouthful of water is also one proof of paradise.
And look at this round of water, how fine, how selfless. It rises from the sea, turns into cloud, drifts inland, falls as rain and snow, soaks the great earth, gathers into rivers, flows back to the sea, round and round again, without a stop for hundreds of millions of years. This round, no one runs it, no one charges for it, and yet it carries sweet rain to every field, every stream, every thirsty mouth. The human race, together with every living creature, is raised and soaked within this selfless round. Such a round of water, made by heaven, never ceasing, is not to be found anywhere else. This planet alone has it.
Three. The Third: Soil
The third, soil. The face of this planet is spread with a layer of soil that can grow all living things.
This layer of soil looks the most unremarkable, yet it is what all growing things rely on. A seed falls into the soil, gets the soil's nourishment, the water's moisture, the sunlight's care, and it can sprout, put out branches, flower, bear fruit, grow into crops, grow into grass and trees, grow into a forest. On this layer of soil people grow their grain, build their homes, bury their forebears and raise their descendants. Other planets have only dead rock and gravel, or only frozen waste, and cannot grow a single blade of grass or bear a single grain. Only this one has this layer of living soil that gives birth to and raises all living things. Feet planted on the ground, that "ground" is exactly this layer of soil that can grow everything. This layer of soil silently bears all living things and silently raises all living things. It is the deepest, most wordless proof in paradise.
Four. The Fourth: Sunlight
The fourth, sunlight. This planet sits at just the right distance from that star, and gets a share of light and heat neither too much nor too little.
Sunlight is the force by which all things grow. Grass and trees, by sunlight, turn water and air into nourishment, feeding themselves, and feeding the creatures that eat them. This share of light is the source of energy for nearly all life on this planet. And this planet's distance from the sun is just right: a little closer and it would be scorching like a furnace, all things burnt dry; a little farther and it would be bitter cold like ice, all things frozen to death. Only at this distance, neither far nor near, does it get a share of light and heat just right, not fierce, not cold, nurturing the seasons, nurturing living creatures. The first ray of morning sunlight through the window lattice, that warmth on a person's face, is one more ordinary gift this planet gives people. This share of sunlight, just right, is also one proof of paradise.
These words, "just right," are where the deepest secret of paradise lies. A step farther, a step nearer, and it is the difference between barren cold and scorched earth. This planet happens to stop at exactly that point, neither far nor near, just right, and has not strayed from it in hundreds of millions of years. This share of just right has raised up the life that fills the planet.
Five. The Fifth and the Sixth: The Turning Seasons, the Smoke and Warmth of the Human World
The fifth, the turning seasons. The sixth, the smoke and warmth of the human world. Of these two, one is the beauty of heaven's time, the other the warmth of human affairs.
The turning seasons are an order of time set by heaven and earth, as this planet travels round the sun and turns on itself without rest. Spring sprouts, summer grows, autumn reaps, winter stores, the cold comes and the heat goes, round and round without end. Start of Spring, Clear and Bright, Summer Solstice, Frost's Descent, one season after another, each year clear. This order of time not only nurtures crops, grass and trees, but gives people's days a shape with a rhythm, with something to look forward to, with its own customs. The smoke and warmth of the human world is the warmth that rises up on this planet as people gather into groups and live out their lives: the cooking smoke in the morning, the bustle of the market, the night talk around the stove, weddings and funerals, welcomings and farewells, the comings and goings of human feeling. This beauty of the seasons, this warmth of the smoke, other planets do not have. Only this planet, which has people, has life, has feeling and loyalty, has them. The beauty of heaven's time and the warmth of human affairs, one coming from heaven, one born of people, together are the two most moving, most tender things in this paradise.
Six. The Seventh: Life That Renews Itself Without End
The seventh, life that renews itself without end. On this planet, grass and trees, fish and insects, birds in flight and beasts on foot, in a thousand shapes and a hundred forms, renew themselves without end.
The first six together raise the seventh: the life that fills this planet, renewing itself without end. Birds flying in the sky, fish swimming in the water, beasts walking on the land, flowers opening in the woods, rice growing in the fields, everywhere living things, everywhere life. Each has its own look, each its own way of living, leaning on one another, together making one great web that renews itself without end. This life could only be raised with the first six all in place: air to breathe, water to drink, soil to grow in, sunlight to nurture, seasons to follow, a human world to dwell in. Only then can all living things, on this planet, generation after generation, renew themselves without end. Other planets are dead and silent. Only this one is full of the noise and life of living things. This life that renews itself without end is the richest proof of paradise, and the most moving fruit raised by the first six together.
Seven. All Seven Together, This Is Paradise
Air, water, soil, sunlight, the turning seasons, the smoke and warmth of the human world, life that renews itself without end. These seven, counted out one by one and seen together, are a paradise.
What is paradise? No need to imagine it in the next life, no need to seek it in the sky. Paradise is a place with just the right air to breathe, clear water to drink, rich soil to till, warm sun to bathe in, seasons to follow, smoke and warmth to dwell in, living things to be close to. In this place with all seven, people can breathe, drink, till and live without the least effort, can watch the seasons turn, enjoy the smoke and warmth of the human world, be close to all life renewing itself. Is this not paradise? This planet, with all seven, is exactly such a paradise. And look out over this vast universe: of all that people know and can reach, only this one has all seven. Other planets often have not one of the seven. So this planet is not only a paradise, it is the one and only paradise in this universe. To be born here is a blessing as great as heaven. And to keep this one and only paradise is a duty as great as heaven for this generation. The next section follows on into a heavy fact: this one and only paradise is, right now, being pushed toward hell.
Having counted these seven this far, a wonder and a gratitude long missing should rise in the heart. People live on this planet, breathing air just right in the morning, drinking clear sweet water when thirsty, feet on soil that can grow all living things, bodies bathed in sunlight neither fierce nor cold, eyes on the beauty of the turning seasons, hearts warmed by the feeling of the smoke and warmth of the human world, surrounded by life that renews itself without end. These seven, every one in place, every one just right, every one come free. People seeking blessing often seek it far away, seek it in the next life, seek it in the sky. They do not know that the greatest blessing was laid out under their feet long ago, and only because it is there every day, too ordinary, have people looked at it and not seen it. This section counts out the seven precisely to make people open their eyes again and look at this paradise under their feet that they have had all along, to grow a measure of wonder, to keep a measure of gratitude. And only then can the resolve of the next section, to guard it and keep it, grow.
Credit to the ancestors; the mistakes are mine: Tiger Lyon.