This is tale of life between the young and old…
A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another, smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master. One day, when the priest was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticulously raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.
When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. “Isn’t it beautiful,” he called out to the old master. “Yes,” replied the old man, “but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I’ll put it right for you.”
After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden. “There,” said the old man, “you can put me back now.”
While it is great for a priest to arrange the cultivation of a garden, there are those just outside of the wall that can present there blessing onto our works of art. Of particular interest, the meeting of the priest and old master are two interpretation of life coming together. When they met, that is when the two mingled there view points of how life is. That is when a shared understanding creates the circle of life.
We are like a priest in a garden that works on an art. It is, in a way, an art of living. We too cultivate our everyday lives and try to organize and grow as a garden would making sure the hedges, trims, and fertilizations are met with its needs to flourish.
Though, just outside of the walls are others who have a different understanding. But in life, as we grow older, we become those outside the wall. Realizing Our view point can have a tendency to evolve. We need to look at our life from the beginning, middle, and to old age to understand the significance of the greater picture.
There is change between the two. It is like the seasons of a year. From a young thoughtful viewpoint, we could understand in one way. We approach in that sense. As growing older, we become full of wisdom, due to old age. Our thoughts might have some of the same patterns, but can be totally different.
Suppose we don’t move as far as old age, suppose instead we have a thought from one day to the next. Without going into the minor details, our thought have a bit of inspiration here and there and could possibly change it entirely. It is kind of like an evolution. It is also a way to spur a new thought.
Though to really understand this is to have a good scope of are thinking process. The idea is not to stray from our original design. Also, the Kleidoscope Effect is a possibility (refer to the Kleidoscope Effect blog entry).
The bright side is that life is ever growing and as we grow, we gain wisdom. Understanding what is wisdom is important, which is learning the practice of knowledge within daily life. So as we work with life, it is good to understand life’s greater picture. This could help when at times, when we are the priest working on a garden and a master on the other side of the wall.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Thought Lighthouse 