This tree right here, (pushes against tree, punches, kicks it) it is very strong. It is firm. It flexes with the wind and remains through the storms and through the rain. And even against really strong short guys kicking it. It's roots are firm. They have grown beneath the ground, beneath perception. Before it grew big and strong it was doing this, unnoticed.
This student before you asked a question once. "Why am I here?" Why am I on the Earth?" He had asked. To which, there was no reply. No answer. Just people. And trees. He rooted himself firmly into the moment. He rooted himself in experience and threw himself into the doors when opportunity came knocking. "I know all of the answers." Said his father. They're all in this book. The child adored his father and so he listened. He rooted himself in this book and learned the ways of which it taught.
"I do not know, my child." His mother said. "I'm open to all kinds of thoughts and teachings. Which is true? I do not know." she said. So this student too, kept his mind open. When the wind blew and the leaves of his mind trembled, he considered there must be more. Every human and every experience, every animal and every situation got this same treatment. "Why am I on the Earth?" He would ask. Oh, how the answers varied! Oh, how beautiful they were. How dirty they were. How... How confusing they were... In all these things, he began to take root. Selecting which is good and useful, disregarding which is useless and adding what is essentially himself.
There is truth in all things, he would say to himself and yet, there are lies in all things. "No way is The Way." He said to his father. "My son, there is only but one way." He said. "To walk this world perpetually as a student is the only way." The child explained to his father. In this way we become firm through the rain and storms. In this way alone, we continue to grow and progress. In this way, we become like trees, of which we were made to surpass and grow far greater than any tree. Our roots are our ability to absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is essentially our own. And the child continued to grow and grow and grow. And he soon surpassed his father and his mother and all those who walked the Earth. They followed him and together they grew a new world. "This tree right here..." He began...
Drawing is property of and created by David Lion
