A Love Story
"When the power of love
overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace."
—Jimi Hendrix
There's an old story about a group of monks living with their master
in a Tibetan monastery. Their lives were disciplined and dedicated,
and the atmosphere in which they lived harmonious and peaceful.
People from villages far and wide flocked to the monastery to bask
in the warmth of such a loving spiritual environment.
Then one day the master departed his earthly form. At first the
monks continued on as they had in the past, but after a time, the
discipline and devotion that had been hallmarks of their daily routine
slackened. The number of villagers coming through the doors each
day began to drop, and little by little, the monastery fell into a state of
disrepair.
Soon the monks were bickering among themselves, some pointing
fingers of blame, others filled with guilt. The energy within the
monastery walls crackled with animosity.
Finally, the senior monk could take it no longer. Hearing that a
spiritual master lived as a hermit two days walk away, the monk
wasted no time in seeking him out. Finding the master in his forest
hermitage, the monk told him of the sad state the monastery had
fallen into and asked his advice.
The master smiled. "There is one living among you who is the
incarnation of God. Because he is being disrespected by those
around him, he will not show himself, and the monastery will remain
in disrepair." With those words spoken, the master fell silent and
would say no more.
All the way back to the monastery, the monk wondered which of his
brothers might be the Incarnated One.
"Perhaps it is Brother Jaspar who does our cooking," the monk said
aloud. But then a second later thought, "No, it can't be him. He is
sloppy and ill tempered and the food he prepares is tasteless."
"Perhaps our gardener, Brother Timor, is the one," he then thought.
This consideration, too, was quickly followed by denial. "Of course
not" he said aloud. "God is not lazy and would never let weeds take
over a lettuce patch the way Brother Timor has."
Finally, after dismissing each and every one of his brothers for this
fault or that, the senior monk realized there were none left. Knowing it
had to be one of the monks because the master had said it was, he
worried over it a bit before a new thought dawned. "Could it be that
the Holy One has chosen to display a fault in order to disguise
himself?" he wondered. "Of course it could! That must be it!"
Reaching the monastery, he immediately told his brothers what the
master had said and all were just as astonished as he had been to
learn the Divine was living among them.
Since each knew it was not himself who was God Incarnate, each
began to study his brothers carefully, all trying to determine who
among them was the Holy One. But all any of them could see were
the faults and failings of the others. If God was in their midst, he was
doing a fine job of hiding himself. Finding the Incarnated One among
such rubble would be difficult, indeed.
After much discussion, it was finally decided that they would all make
an effort to be kind and loving toward each another, treating all with
the respect and honor one would naturally give to the Incarnated
One. If God insisted on remaining hidden, then they had no recourse
but to treat each monk as if he were the Holy One.
Each so concentrated on seeing God in the other that soon their
hearts filled with such love for one another the chains of negativity
that held them bound fell away. As time passed, they began seeing
God not just in each other, but in every one and everything. Days
were spent in joyful reverence, rejoicing in His Holy Presence. The
monastery radiated this joy like a beacon and soon the villagers
returned, streaming through the doors as they had before, seeking to
be touched by the love and devotion present there.
It was some time later that the senior monk decided to pay the
master another visit to thank him for the secret he had revealed.
"Did you discover the identity of the Incarnated One?" the master
asked.
"We did," the senior monk replied.
"We found him residing in all of us."
The master smiled.
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Just imagine how our lives would change if we did as the monks did
and treated everyone and everything as if we were in the presence
of God.
If instead of finding fault, we chose to find God, it wouldn't be long
before our perception of others would be so completely changed that
finding any fault at all would be foreign to our behavior.
If we treated everyone in our lives with as much reverence and
respect as would naturally be reserved for God, it wouldn't be long
before we felt God's presence everywhere, in everyone and in
everything. Like the monks, our days would be filled with awe and
splendor.
Prayers
From The Blessings Experiment
