Human experience is perpetually buffeted by opposing forces—pleasure and pain, gain and loss, praise and blame. Anchoring our inner state in external validation leaves peace entirely to the mercy of fleeting circumstances. The Eight Winds invites us to cultivate an unshakeable presence that remains centred regardless of which way the world blows.

“The Buddhists say there are eight winds. They are gain and loss, praise and ridicule, credit and blame, and suffering and joy. If you aren’t aware of them, they will blow you away like dry leaves in an autumn breeze. For example, when someone praises you and that tastes sweet, like candy in your mouth, you are being blown away by the wind of praise.

One day in ancient China a young man thought he had become enlightened. He wrote a poem to his master about how he was not blown away by the eight winds. Then he sent it to his master who lived three hundred miles up the Yangtze river.

When his master read the poem, he wrote “Fart, Fart” on the bottom and sent it back.

The more the young man read those words, the more upset he got. At last he decided to visit his master. In those days, a three-hundred-mile trip up the Yangtze river was a very difficult journey.

As soon as he arrived, he went straight to the master’s temple. “Why did you write this?” he asked, bowing. “Doesn’t this poem show that I am no longer blown about by the eight winds?”

“You say that you are no longer blown away by the eight winds,” replied the master, “but two little farts blew you all the way up here.”

 

From Soul Stories by Gary Zukav

Sri Lanka postage stamp (1981) on Sanchi Stupa, India, courtesy https://www.buddhiststamp.com/

Gary Zukav is a prominent American spiritual author and former Green Beret who gained widespread recognition after graduating from Harvard University and publishing his 1979 National Book Award-winning science book, The Dancing Wu Li Masters. He later transitioned from physics to metaphysics, capturing global attention with his 1989 landmark bestseller, The Seat of the Soul, which spent years on the New York Times bestseller list and was heavily promoted by Oprah Winfrey. Co-founder of the Seat of the Soul Institute alongside his spiritual partner Linda Francis, Zukav has dedicated his career to teaching the concept of “authentic power”—the alignment of the personality with the soul—and promoting conscious evolution through responsible choice and psychological awareness.