Like everyone else said, this was an allegory, and not only that, it was allegory upon hamfisted allegory. I too was a little disappointed at first that it wasn't about Paul Tan achieving shape-shifting.
I would say on the whole, the story was about shifting one's perspective. I knew Damo would be resistant to change, and the irony that while he worked stretched his body, he couldn't stretch his mind to see another POV. His attempt shapeshift to a new perspective after discovering Paul Tan's with the other Synan was pretty poignant.
However, I was also disappointed in Paul Tan, but not for the reasons everyone else has mentioned. I was quite touched at how the teachings of Wan She was influencing him--particularly him talking about changing himself to fit what he thought his partners wanted. I really wanted him to find that base identity for himself. However, when he was caught with the other Synan, I found myself sympathizing with Damo, not him.
For the most part, Damo has this thing against the "aliens" (humans) who only seem curious about Synan because of their shape-shifting nature. This can be easily seen through other ethnic cultures, flocking to Japan, for instance, because you're only interested in the "anime culture" and not seeing Japanese as a whole unique culture in itself. Apparently, Damo has had enough dealings with humans to be suspicious of their motives--after all, he did lose his lover to them (and I find it interesting that the lover wound up on earth working in a brothel). The reasons Damo brought up to Paul, to me, were quite valid, "You humans are only titillated by what we are...He can change himself to fit your idea. What can you do for him?"
Paul Tan's reasons on the other hand felt false to me. "But I love him!" Really? That's all? At the risk of calling myself a prude, here he is at a religious temple, where students are learning Wan She, and he hopped into bed with the Synan after only two weeks. Two weeks! Really? The least he could have done was lock the damn door! (But then again, I can't remember if this was a place where they felt no need to lock the doors, or if it was actually the Synan who came onto Paul Tan. Who knows.) Paul Tan came across to me as a guy who only lives through his emotions. He has no consideration for his environment or for others.
I especially felt that when Damo goes to the other Synan and asked if he loved Paul, and the Synan responded, "I was starting to..." not, "I did love him." which told me that the Synan was more attracted by the ideas Paul brought up, not Paul himself. If this affair had been allowed to continue on, I get the feeling the Synan would lose interest, and Paul, too caught up in his emotions, would be heartbroken. Paul, in effect, appeared to be repeating the same mistake that he did his previous lover.
I think if Paul have been seriously committed to learning Wan She, even to the point of holding off on relationships to work on himself, He and Damo would have grown quite close--I think, even to the point where Damo would indeed be open to interspecies relationships. As the story pointed out, such things take time. But Paul Tan was only interested in his own needs and couldn't look outside himself; Damo tried, but he couldn't maintain it. A lose/lose situation for all.
Dang. This story struck me in ways I couldn't imagine. I actually relistened to it, but this time from a secular/Christian perspective, and found it worked just as well for an allegory of seeing ancient teachings with new eyes and applying those principles to change the world, or at least change rigid thinking, one person at a time. I don't think I like this story, but spiritually, it really affected me.
