What to do when you find paradise?

Two people are lost in the desert. They are dying from hunger and thirst. Finally, they come to a high wall. On the other side they can hear the sound of a waterfall and birds singing.

Above, they can see the branches of a lush tree extending over the top of the wall. Its fruit look delicious. They can almost taste it. The multisensual experience of paradise alters them.

One of them manages to climb over the wall and disappears down the other side. The other, instead, returns to the desert to help other lost travelers find their way to the oasis.

What is your own dream of paradise? How does finding it or realizing it affect you? Which qualities stand out in yourself?

Everything comes full circle

Many people focus on the sensation of fear and are unsure what to make of this. You may not realize that how you think and feel creates the life you lead.  Everything comes full circle. Consider revelations triggered insidec you by this Zen tale:

A man was running from a tiger, and he came to a cliff. He began climbing down a vine, hoping that the tiger could not follow him down and he could thereby escape. As he was on his way down, however, he spied a second tiger waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff. As he hung there on the vine, wondering what to do, he saw a rat begin to chew through the top of the vine.

Then he spied a strawberry, just in arm's reach. He reached out, plucked the berry, and ate it. It was the most sweet and succulent berry he had ever tasted. He closed his eyes and tasted the berry with his whole being, and said aloud, "what a wonderful berry this is!"

Then the rat finished chewing through the vine and the man fell to the ground, breaking his leg. With his leg broken, he could not run. The tiger on the ground came up to him and batted him around as kittens do mice, giving him one painful cut after another. One swipe tore out his left eye. Eventually the tiger tired of playing with him, and bit a large chunk out of the man's stomach for its dinner.

The man went into shock, the pain of the wound coursing through his entire body. But he did not die: he hung on to life for five more days as the two tigers (who, it turned out, were mates) used him as a source of food. His mind was dulled by shock, but not enough to keep the fear and pain from filling his world like a bright light. After five days of agony unlike any that can be described, he finally died.

His corpse continued to serve as a food source for the tigers for several more days. After that, the rat that had chewed through the vine came to gnaw on what was left of his bones.

Find the Way

This Zen tale is from the annals of Zen.  Take heed, step back from what you believe, and learn to find your way;

A master was asked the question, "What is the way?" by a curious monk.

"It is right before your eyes," said the master.

"Why do I not see it for myself?"

"Because you are thinking of yourself."

"What about you: do you see it?"

"So long as you see double, saying I don't and you do, and so on, your eyes are clouded," said the master.

"When there is neither 'I' nor 'You,' can one see it?"

"When there is neither 'I' or 'You,' who is the one that wants to see it?"

Relate to the butterfly?

The great Taoist master Chuang Tzu once dreamt that he was a butterfly fluttering here and there. In the dream he had no awareness of his individuality as a person. He was only a butterfly.

Suddenly, he awoke and found himself laying there, a person once again.

But then he thought to himself, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"

How do you meet him?

Goso said, "When you meet a man of the Way on the path, do not meet him with words or in silence. Tell me, how will you meet him?"

If you are not yet clear about it, you are far from saving yourself. Yet, all is not lost. Consider the alternatives.

You need not punch him in the jaw.

Be watchful in every way. When you have realized this wisdom, peace and order will reign over your mind.