sunday, august 21, 2011

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‹› value ‹›

she had quietly strolled through the village, past houses and shops, witnessing the actions and interactions of the people therein and on the path. no one noticed her as she had covered herself with invisibility. but she saw them, and as she watched she knew what to offer in the day's gathering. when she came to the wide tree at the center of the village, she uncovered herself so all could see her as they expected. she floated up to sit in the tree, larger than life, adorned with the grace of pink lace for loving thoughts, and glowing with a gentle aura. from this perch, in the image of Kuan Yin she called to them all softly to join her, which of course they did, and gathered 'round the massive tree.

"for today's teaching" she began, "i have two questions for you to consider. the first is this: what do you value most in the people you meet, your friends, your loved ones?" they all tried to answer at once, vying to be heard. "please, dear people, this cacophony is unintelligible. besides, some of you may have the same answer. please, one at a time."

"compassion" answered one woman, and several others nodded agreement. "one of my personal favorites" offered Kuan Yin with a deep knowing smile. "and..."

"tolerance" said a man glaring at a woman next to him. "an admirable trait. another?"

"truthfulness" offered the woman next to the man without looking at him. "beneficial in any interaction" smiled Kuan Yin. "more?"

"forgiveness" "merriment!" "patience" "gratitude...."  rolled out the responses.

"very well done" she whispered  as the voices finished. "now, my second question: do you value these things in yourself? can the people you meet, your friends, your loved ones, expect to find these attributes in you?" no one said anything. "consider this beautiful tree, then. look at her glorious wide branches and see them as the traits you value in others. now, ponder upon how her roots must run underground to achieve this width of blessings ~ by nature, they must be as wide and strong as her branches. place yourself into this tree, dear friends. if you wish to get compassion, one of her most important branches, you must have compassion inside of yourself, in your roots. it is true for all of these attributes you value; if you wish forgiveness, forgive. if you wish patience, be sincerely patient... and so it goes. if you can cultivate these in your roots and value them in your full being, you will more readily find them in others. this is a truth of the wise and long~lived."

as Kuan Yin began slowly to cloak herself to invisibility again, the people of the village started looking around at one another as if they were looking in mirrors. at last, they could only hear her voice say:

"one last word ~ mercy. when you see that in others which you dislike, look carefully; for you will likely find that inside your root system too. a good chance to practice mercy for self and others. farewell...."

we shall be what we see...

blessings, saxz ∞