Enlighten me as to the path I should take, asked the Prince.
My words will only vanish like footsteps in the sand, answered
the wise man. However, I give you a piece of advice. On your path, you will
come across three gates. Read the sayings on each one of them. You will be
overwhelmed with the need to follow them. Do not seek to turn away; you would
be condemned to live again and again that which you had run away from. I cannot
say any more. You must feel all this in your heart and flesh. You may go.
Follow the road right ahead.
The wise old man disappeared and the Prince started walking
on the Life Path. He soon came across a large gate on which one could read:
CHANGE THE WORLD
This is precisely what I intended to do, thought the Prince,
there are things that I like in this world, others don't suit me.
And he started his first struggle. His ideal, his enthusiasm
and his power pushed him to be confronted with the world, to conquer, to shape
reality according to his way of thinking. He experienced the pleasure and the
exhilaration of the conqueror, but his heart was not at peace. He managed to
change certain things but others would not give way.
Lots of years went by. One day, he met the wise Old Man who
asked him:
What did you learn on the path?
I learned, replied the Prince, to see what is in my power
and what is beyond it, what depends on me and what doesn't.
Well done, said the Old Man. Use your strengths to act upon
what you can influence. Forget about what you have no hold on. And he
disappeared.
Later on, the Prince came across a second gate. One could
read on it:
CHANGE OTHERS
This is precisely what I intend to do, he thought. Others
give joy, pleasure and satisfaction, but also cause pain, bitterness and
frustration.
And he rebelled against all that could disturb or displease
him in his fellow beings. He struggled to alter their minds and extirpate their
weaknesses. This was to be his second battle.
Many more years went by. One day, as he was meditating on
the uselessness of his attempts to change others, he came across the wise man
who asked him:
What did you learn on your path?
I have learned, said the Prince, that the others are neither
the cause nor the source of my joys and my sorrows, my desires or setbacks.
They merely reveal or trigger them. It is within me that everything takes
place.
You are right, said the Old Man. The others are a mirror of
yourself. Through what they awaken in you, they made you aware of yourself. Be
grateful towards those who fill your soul with joy and pleasure. However, be
also grateful towards the ones that hurt and frustrate you, for through them
life teaches you what you have yet to learn and the long way ahead of you.
And the Old Man disappeared. Soon after, the Prince arrived
in front of a door where these words appeared:
CHANGE YOURSELF
If I am myself the cause of my problems, this is what I have
to do, he thought. And he started his third struggle. He tried to change his
character, to fight his shortcomings, to remove his drawbacks, to alter
everything he did not like about himself, anything that did not fit with his
ideal. After many years of struggle during which he met with some success but
also setbacks and opposition, he met with the Old Man again who asked him:
What have you learned on the path?
I have learned, said the Prince, that there are things
within ourselves that we can improve, others that resist us and that we can't shake.
That's good said the Wise Man.
Yes, continued the Prince, but I am getting weary of
fighting against everything, against others and against myself. Won't this ever
end? When will I be at rest? I wish to stop fighting, to give up, to let go.
This happens to be your next lesson, the Wise Old Man said.
But before going any further, turn around and look back at your journey. And
off, he went.
Looking back, the Prince saw in the distance the third gate
and realized that one could read a different message on the back of it:
ACCEPT YOURSELF
The Prince wondered why he had not noticed this inscription
when he went through the gate the first time in the opposite direction. When
one is fighting, one becomes blind, he said to himself.
He also saw, spread on the ground around him, everything he
had rejected and fought within himself: his faults, his dark side, his fears,
his limits and his old demons. He then learned how to recognize them, accept
and love them. He learned how to love himself, without comparing himself,
judging himself, blaming himself.
He met again with the Old Man who asked him:
What have you learned along the path?
I learned, replied the Prince, that to hate or refuse part
of myself was to condemn me never to be at peace with myself. I learned how to
accept myself completely, unconditionally.
Well done, said the Old Man, it is the first stage of
Wisdom. Now go through the third gate again.
Just as he had reached the other side of the gate, the
Prince saw the back of the second gate and it said:
ACCEPT OTHERS
All around him, he recognized the people he had met in his
life, those he had loved, and those he had hated. Those he had helped, those he
had fought. But much to his surprise, he was now unable to see their faults, which
had disturbed him so much, against which he had fought before.
He met the Wise Old Man again:
What have you learned on your path?
I have learned, replied the Prince, that by being at peace
with myself, I have nothing to blame others for, nothing to fear from them. I
have learned to accept and to love others totally and unconditionally.
Well done, said the Wise Old Man. It is the second stage of
Wisdom. You can go through the second gate again.
When he arrived on the other side, the Prince read on the back
of the first gate:
ACCEPT THE WORLD
That is strange, he thought, why didn't I see this
inscription the first time? He looked around him and recognized the world he
had tried to conquer, to transform and to change. He was hit by the brightness
and the beauty of all things. By their perfection. And yet, it was the same
world as it used to be. Had the world changed or had his perception of it
changed?
He came across the Wise Old Man who asked him:
What did you learn on your journey?
I have learned, the Prince said, that the world is the
mirror of my soul. That my soul does not see the world but sees itself in the
world. When it is cheerful, the world seems merry. When it is gloomy, the world
seems sad. The world is neither merry nor sad. It just is, that is all. It was
not the world that was troubling me, but the idea I had of it. I learned to
accept it without judging it, totally, unconditionally.
This is the third stage of Wisdom, said the Old man. You are
now at peace with yourself, with others, and with the world.
A deep feeling of peace, serenity and fulfilment overwhelmed
the Prince. Silence was within him.
You are now ready to cross the last Threshold, said the Wise
Old Man, the Threshold from the Silence of Fulfilment to the Fulfilment of
Silence.
And the Old Man disappeared.
Charles Brulhart, December 1995
OTHER POST:
SHAKE IT OFF
MICHAEL JORDAN
WORSE THAN A CLOWN
YAJNADATTA, THE MAD MAN
OTHER POST:
SHAKE IT OFF
MICHAEL JORDAN
WORSE THAN A CLOWN
YAJNADATTA, THE MAD MAN
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