In Search of Peace and Harmony — The Message Behind My New Work, “Peng”

● Zhuangzi’s “Peng”: Liberation Through a Shift in Perspective

The “Peng,” which appears in the opening chapter of Zhuangzi, titled “Free and Easy Wandering” (Xiaoyaoyou), is an unimaginably enormous bird transformed from a giant fish called “Kun” that dwells in the Northern Sea.

Its back stretches for thousands of li, beyond anyone’s ability to measure. With a single beat of its wings, it soars to a height of ninety thousand li, flying toward the Southern Sea.

Yet, confronted with this overwhelming scale, the cicada and the little dove on the ground mock the great bird, asking, “What is the point of flying so high into the sky?”

Through this story, Zhuangzi illustrates the difference between a life constrained by immediate gains and losses and one lived in boundless freedom.

As long as we remain like those small creatures on the ground, bound by calculations of profit and loss, conventional wisdom, and the judgments of others, we can never truly escape anxiety, frustration, or conflict.

The “Wings of the Journey South” (Tonan no Yoku), with which Peng takes flight toward the Southern Sea, symbolize the journey through which human beings break free from their narrow frameworks of thought and attain an “absolute freedom of spirit” as vast as the universe itself.

In other words, Zhuangzi is telling us that absolute and infinite human freedom is indeed possible.

To let go of attachment and rise to a higher perspective, as though connecting heaven and earth—this is the spiritual state Zhuangzi sought to attain. And it is a state that we, too, should be able to reach if we truly seek it.

● The Prophecy Shared by the Elders of Sedona: The Union of the Condor, Eagle, and Quetzal

Meanwhile, at a gathering of Indigenous elders that I attended in Sedona this April, the central theme was a prophecy that had been passed down through generations:

“The Union of the Condor, Eagle, and Quetzal.”

Each bird symbolizes a different spiritual force:

Condor (South America):The spirit of the Earth, intuition, sensitivity, and feminine energy.
Eagle (North America):Advanced intellect, science and technology, material civilization, and masculine energy.
Quetzal (Central America):Noble beauty, mystery, spirituality, and harmony.

Throughout human history, these birds, representing different energies and cultures, have flown through separate skies. At times, they have stood in opposition to one another, divided by their differences.

Yet the prophecy tells of the arrival of a new era—an age when all these birds will finally fly together beneath the same sky, recognizing and honoring one another’s strengths, and ushering in an era of peace and harmony.

Of course, these birds are metaphors for humanity itself.

This represents the meeting and reunification of the material civilization built by modern society and the traditional spiritual wisdom that Indigenous peoples continue to preserve.

It represents harmony between masculine and feminine energies.

And, above all, it symbolizes true peace: a world in which people of diverse cultures and backgrounds join hands as one family, sharing a home upon Mother Earth.

● The Message the “Kings of the Sky” Bring to Our Modern World

Both Zhuangzi’s Peng and the birds spoken of by the elders of Sedona share a remarkable quality: they are beings that look down upon the world from extraordinary heights.

Here on the ground, in the world where we live our everyday lives, conflicts and divisions seem endless.

National borders, race, religion, differences in beliefs and perspectives, personal egos, and competing interests continually give rise to disputes and hostility.

Yet, from the height of ninety thousand li, as described by Zhuangzi, not a single border can be seen upon the Earth.

No—perhaps those borders never truly existed in the first place.

Everything is part of the vast, interconnected life of this one great planet.

All life belongs to a single continuum, originating in the universe itself.

The prophecy shared by the elders of Sedona—that the Condor, Eagle, and Quetzal will come together in a new era—resonates deeply with the worldview Zhuangzi expressed through the soaring flight of Peng.

When we free ourselves from everyday anxiety, hatred, and the consciousness of separation, and elevate ourselves to a higher state of awareness, an era of true peace can become a reality.

Just as Peng spread its wings and soared across the vast sky toward the Southern Sea, and just as the prophecy speaks of a future in which the birds fly together beneath one sky, the world we inhabit is now approaching a time of profound transformation.

But this transformation will not come from outside us.

It depends on the state of being within each and every one of us.

When we release our attachment to gain and loss, our anxieties, our suspicions, and our fears, and unfold the “Wings of the Journey South” within our own hearts, we become capable of creating harmony and peace from within ourselves.

The words entrusted to us by the elders of Sedona carry a hope for the future.

Yet they are also a memory deeply engraved within our hearts—a memory of the one life we all share.

So, let us spread our magnificent wings and rise together into the boundless sky—

Higher and higher...

In search of harmony and peace.