Tribute to the Sovereign

Tribute to the Sovereign

From "A Question of Presence" by Sergio Antonio

I often go to China on business. The owners of Chinese companies almost always have in their office a special table, elaborate and valuable, for making tea; during the conversation the host prepares and pours tea for everyone in small cups, which he refills punctually. It is the owner, the important man, who personally carries out this little ritual of hospitality.

During one of these visits I noticed that the young man who accompanied me and acted as my interpreter made the same gesture each time his cup was filled. He tapped two fingers with his hand resting on the table, as in the photograph: two short taps. An almost invisible gesture, which looked like a secret signal. When the meeting was over, I asked him why, and he answered by telling me a story.

"A long time ago, Emperor Qianlong and one of his ministers were traveling, and the emperor wanted to enter a house and meet a family of his subjects without the family knowing who he was. As always, when a guest arrived, tea was prepared, and the emperor himself began to pour it for everyone.

“The minister was embarrassed: he, an inferior, served by the sovereign himself! But he could not protest; he was bound to keep it a secret. So he merely tapped his fingers on the table, invisibly, to signify: I, your subject and inferior, kneel before you."

The superior being who manifests himself as a secret guest is a popular image in esoteric literature. I’m thinking of the story of Tobias and the angel, of the risen Christ breaking bread, of Krishna revealing himself to Arjuna, of the countless apparitions of incognito gods in all mythologies, of fairy tales. Sometimes some of the characters penetrate the disguise but, since they cannot reveal it, they show their respect with a secret signal.

In the same way, when a student is visited by higher centers, it will be invisible to most, to those who do not know.

But any of his companions who knows what presence is and meets its eyes will immediately recognize the Sovereign. The gaze between two people who are present, no matter how brief, under what trivial conditions, is an unparalleled experience. Learning to recognize these moments in oneself and others and to let them be, to support them with an invisible motion of gratitude, is a form of tribute to the Higher.

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Photograph by YingWei Zhao. Courtesy of the author.