Why is more not enough?

There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.

One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"

Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"

Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"

Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"

Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"

Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.

He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.

See Zen Stories to tell your neighbours:

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Facilitate a dying wish

Life on this planet does not always seem easy.  Amidst the constant acts of identifying and overcoming your own challenges, you may suddenly turn attention to help others realize a dying wish. Every gesture also helps yourself.  Part of you is in the process of dying, going through transitions. Another part of you is learning how to truly feel renewed. 

Whether or not you realize it, every moment teaches you based on how you choose to live.  Many people arrive at a point in their lives when they assist loved ones in primary care during illness.  You may do it directly or indirectly, hands-on or from a distance, for parents, grandparents or someone unrelated. How can or do you already help someone realize an end-of life  dream? What does it mean to you to be part of that?

Some people do not feel giving up the life they lead is a sacrifice when the alternative is genuinely enriching someone else's existence.  Changes in someone's health often trigger wake-up calls for family members. Do you ever ask yourself if such conditions invite changes in areas of your life?

To learn someone you care about is in an advanced stage of a serious illness might compel you to transform your life. You learn to turn thinking off, to re-awaken dormant power of intuition. You just do what is instinctive, what makes sense in the moment. This inner process opens channels of love within you that logic may have temporarily obscured.

One person's apparent crisis is everyone's crisis and also a blessing in disguise. The immortal soul dances through space and time and taps you gently when you are not being true to your authentic self. The dying wish of someone to accomplish a task with your help may hide another dying wish inside for you to be who you are. You do more than one thing unaware.

Wherever you are, stop as a meditation exercise.  Look around. Be everything you see. You are part of all things, and also part of something bigger you do not yet comprehend. Notice what you do and where you do it right now. Who is with you? Who's spirit do you feel nearby?  What you are not doing and what you stop doing are just as purposeful as what you are. 

Revive dormant levels of awareness

As it stands, not every human being is yet open to what is often described as the inflow of "cosmic consciousness."  Some people falsely believe mystic messages they receive are delusions. Nothing could be further from the truth. This stuff actually stays with you or can be re-awakened if you let it;

1) Reflect on childhood. In the early years, children interact with what adults view as invisible friends, sense the presence of fairies, angels, magical beings and mythological creatures.  Enchanted worlds are within. They never actually leave you. You re-awaken anytime. Reality is multi-dimensional. Although your perception may shift, this does not alter what is.

2) Reconnect with nature.  You may have had pets as a child.  You interact with insects. You watch caterpillars, ants, worms and the like.  The need to survive compels behaviour that defies what Science tells you is possible. Consider the bumblebee. Science tells you its measurements and density are such that it cannot fly. Apparently, nobody told the bumblebee.

3) Sense evolution occurs in an instant. Humans are conditioned to believe it takes years for species to evolve. The distance between how you think and what is real is as far as you choose to believe. When Science tells you incubation periods and lifespans, this is only one perspective. From some vantage points, evolution is instantaneous. Time is an illusion.

4) Stop playing it safe. Listening to the stories of others or sleeping with books does not enable you to raise awareness through osmosis. To incarnate brings the responsibility to gain practical experience. No person skips layers of awareness.  Tapping into inner knowing happens in stages with context.  The divine Source is random order chaos on some levels. Your choices shape your destiny.

5) Unveil your dormant capacities.  Re-lign with the time-traveller side of you that is temporarily disconnected from your core.  Stop repressing your telepathic energy.  You are part of a multi-dimensional being interacting as part of an inter-dimensional race. You are not at all who you appear to be. You are working out karma, dharma and/or misunderstandings.  

What wisdom do fireflies offer?

A moonlit stroll in the forest enables you to sense noctural beetles.  They invite wake-up calls, shift attention from what does not matter so you awaken to what is. As beacons of light, they flicker in code.  What wisdom do such fireflies offer?

1) Your body becomes weightless. Part of you seems to float.

2) Your breathing slows.  Energy changes vibration inside.

3) Your feelings of pain, frustration, and all illusions diminish.

4) Your sense of time dissolves to focus entirely in the now.

5) Your intake of color, sound, and smell, grow much sharper. 

6) Your mind, body and spirit respond with restful awareness.

7) You reach a level of inner silence where peace is accessible.

8) Your soul recalls insight of empathy, tolerance, forgiveness.

9) Your perspective shifts from the self to interconnectedness.

10) Your being merges with expanding love and divine unity.

Empty that cup of tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"