Minghai

The story of Ming Hai and Su Ting's past lives from Searching for the Whale.

Ming Hai is a sixteen-year-old boy who will never grow old, because he is burdened by baleful energy.

His body and soul are bound to the day of the Xuanwu Rebellion.

He was born of an obsession. If he cannot dispel the baleful energy, he will become a demon instead of a Buddha.

In an ancient temple, a solitary lamp keeps him company.

Before the Buddha statue, amid wisps of blue smoke, a lotus lamp burns with a single wick. The wick calls out to him: "Hey, what's your name?"

He has forgotten the name he used in the mortal world, so he only says, "My name is Ming Hai."

A man and a lamp keep each other company. She is just a little flame kindled by a slender wick.

He says, "Let me give you a name. You're a wick in the lotus lamp before the Buddha. How about I call you Lianxin? Your Buddhist name is Ting. As I have heard, so I hear."

The little flame dances with delight and says sweetly, "All right! I'm so happy. I'm Lianxin, Ming Hai's Little Ting."

**

She was originally just a wick, a little flame in the realm of nothingness. It was exceedingly difficult for her to take shape, and she could not assume a human form. When he gathered her soul into the body of a dying little white snake, he thought perhaps he was simply too lonely.

Later, she took human form, and before him stood a breathtakingly beautiful nineteen-year-old woman. Looking at her, he regretted teaching her to take human form. She was his fate, and even more, his calamity.

But all she wanted was to be the little white snake beneath the lamp, keeping him company as he drank tea and copied scriptures.

As long as she could stay by his side, that was enough.

But he was tangled in the sins of his past and had already fallen into demonhood...

She called softly to him, "Hey, open your eyes and take a look at me, will you?"

I have let go of heaven and earth,

but I have never let go of you.

-- Cangyang Gyatso

Theme: Truth, goodness, and beauty.