There was a young man who climbed atop the tallest mountain in his country to ask a wise man what the purpose of life is. When he got to the top he saw a frail old man sitting firmly upon a small patch of grass. Quickly the young man shouted "what are you doing? Surley you will kill the grass if you sit on it! If you kill it, it can not flourish!" At the young mans statment the old man opened his eyes and gentley said, "If the grass were to flourish there would be many mountain goats grazing on upon this mountain." The young man looked puzzeled and said, "yes, that is called balance." The wise man then bowed his head and said, "no, I am balance." At that moment the young man began his journey down the mountain. His life now had purpose.
At a time like this, which exists maybe only for me, but is nonetheless real, if I can communicate, and in the telling and the bearing of my soul anything is gained, even though the words which I use are pretentious and make you cringe with embarrassment, let me remind you of the pilgrim who asked for an audience with the Dalai Lama. He was told he must first spend five years in contemplation. After the five years, he was ushered into the Dalai Lama's presence, who said, 'Well, my son, what do you wish to know?' So the pilgrim said, 'I wish to know the meaning of life, father.' And the Dalai Lama smiled and said, 'Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?'
I'm curious, in what way do you think life is like a beanstalk? I don't get that impression personally. I think a beanstalk is too linear to represent life. But I'm missing the point of that story. What do you think?
