Chapter 25 - The Teacher, Teaches by Example
It was during the final month of their third year together that the prince no longer came to the Forest of K'an. The sage had waited, but deep down he knew that the prince was no longer his student. There was a genuine sadness as the sage had enjoyed teaching the prince about this spiritual aspects of man, but now it was up to the young prince to become his own teacher and it was time for the sage to move on. It was time for him to refresh himself and live in the spontaneity of the Tao.
He woke before the sun and gathered his small pack and walked out the door of the home that had been his for the last three years. He did not look back for the energy of the house was no longer there. He walked past the Lake of Li but even she had lost her glow. He walked out the Forest without another thought. The Tao had given and now it had taken away.
He came to a fork in the road. Many years ago he had chosen the road that seemed the brightest, but now as he looked down both roads there seemed little to distinguish them. With no clear feeling on which way to go the sage sat under a plum tree and enjoyed the warmth provided by the early morning sun. He sat and watched as travelers passed by, most increasing their pace when they came near him, but the occasional one would stop and sit for a while. Some would talk to the sage but most just rested awhile under the shade of the plum tree. Those who stopped and sat under the plum tree with the sage, noticed that they soon became energized and were again ready to begin their travels.
The sage went into a meditation to ask his higher self what his next step was to be. After a long meditation he was none the wiser; it seemed like the Tao had forgotten him. Of course he knew better than that and if the feelings did not change he would just sit and enjoy his rest under the plum tree. When he opened his eyes he noticed that travelers had left food and some of their wares for him.
It seemed like he had received his answer. For now he would sit under the plum tree and be in the moment. He had never been so abundant in all his life. In a matter of days he had more of anything than you could think of; more than he would ever use in a hundred lifetimes.
The sage was at a loss to understand why?
When another traveler left more goods and food for him the sage said, "Why do you leave these wondrous gifts?"
The woman who left them replied, "Sage it is to thank you for healing our son. The other day we were on our way to a great healer and my son who was very ill needed a break from the travel; so we sat with you under the plum tree and when we were ready to leave he was completely healed. So this is our gift of thanks." With that said the woman bowed to the sage and walked away and back to her village.
Over the next few days others recounted similar healing stories but most who came and sat with the sage, just seemed to feel better, more refreshed from just sitting under the plum tree and listening to the stories that he had begun to tell the children.
The children themselves started coming in their hundreds as they heard of the sage and his wonderful stories. Each day in the early afternoon the children would arrive and sit around the sage in a circle under the shade of the plum tree and he would tell them a story. After which they were free to take one of any of the gifts that were left behind.
Over time the stores of the goods left for the sage did not diminish as you would think but grew and grew. It seemed like everyone in the village and the surrounding villages were stopping, to add to his ever growing supply of food and handmade goods.
And so began the legend; each night while all the villagers were asleep the sage would walk into town carrying armfuls of food and other gifts that he had received under the plum tree. He would stop at each house; send a molecule of his being into the house to understand the needs of each person and when they awoke each person would find what it was they needed to aid them on their own journey.
This continued on for many months and when some of the villages realized what the old sage was doing they would come to plum tree late at night and help the old sage distribute the goods. This happened every night and in the morning the right gift was there for the right person, whether they were just hungry or on a spiritual journey; it was if the Tao knew what they wanted and delivered it at the most appropriate time. Even the villagers who helped Huo would wake to find food and gifts left at their houses. It was wonder that people never got used to.
The day came when it was time for the sage to leave. Never had he seen such abundance. It was as if in the giving that people received more. This years harvest had been the best the countryside had ever seen.
In the days that followed children continued to come to the plum tree to listen to the sage tell his stories and even though he was no longer there, one of the adults or the children themselves would tell stories that the sage had taught them. Occasionally they would make up stories about where the old sage had gone and who he was helping now; for the legend continued to grow.
People still left their excess goods and come nightfall some of the adults from the village would come and distribute out what had been received. It was in the giving that everyone received. Without knowing it everyone was giving and receiving as they should, out of their abundance in line with the teachings of the Tao.
Of course the best teachers never teach they just do and the example of the sage continues to this day in many villages around the land even though people could not tell you why they are doing it.
**********
My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/
No comments:
Post a Comment