Nestled in the mountains was this peaceful monastery, surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms and maple trees. As it was spring the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and the monastery looked very picturesque. Both Jack and Jill took in the beautiful scenery, the fresh mountain air, the sound of the birds and the distant stream, snow covered mountains and stood there awe struck. They had never come across such a beautiful place and for sometime they forgot why they were there.
Then Jill remembered and asked Jack, "didn't you have some questions, you wanted an answer to". It was as if Jack suddenly was brought down to earth and he exclaimed "ah yes my questions".
Both Jack and Jill entered the monastery, inside there was a huge statue of buddha with half closed eyes sitting in a meditative posture. At the base of the statue sat an old monk in a cross legged posture, with eyes closed and in front of him a huge hall completely empty. Jill whispered " I think he is the master, lets try and ask him your questions".
Jack and Jill walked up to the monk and sat in front of him, waiting for him to open his eyes, while awestruck with the glow and peace on the monk's face. The monk had a shaven head with a white beard and was wearing a saffron coloured robe.
After some time the monk opened his eyes and said " The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart".
"What does that mean ?" said Jack.
"I think he means the answer to your question of Who am
I ? And what is your relationship with this I lies in your heart" said
Jill.
Jack said " I have already tried to reflect and found that I am not all the things I have collected or experienced, I am not this body or this mind, or the thoughts in the mind, perhaps I am this egoic identity that I have built over time called Jack".
The monk said " that which you say is not you is what ?"
"Its an experience" said Jill.
"What is the nature of the experience ?" asked the
monk.
"its always changing and there are infinite types of
experiences" said Jack.
"So is your ego changing" asked the monk.
"yes it is" said Jack.
"So that means it too is an experience" exclaimed
Jill.
"If you are not any of these experiences, and yet you enjoy all these experiences who are you ?" asked the monk.
"I am the witness, the experiencer" said Jack.
"That's right, so your relationship with everything is
that of experiencing" said the monk.
The monk then closed his eyes and said "lets do an experiment"
"First close your eyes, and sit comfortably and relax your body" said the monk.
"Now just do as I say. Imagine you are entering this monastery, I want you to leave everything you have outside the monastery door, your bag, your water bottle, all your physical belongings. Also leave any ideas, any concepts you might have of what we are going to do now. Leave any thoughts you may have of your past, present or your future outside the door. Now let go of everything, even the desire to find an answer to your questions. Just relax and empty yourself of everything, every concept, every idea, everything for the time being.
Now tell me that which you now are, does it have a name ?"
"No name" said Jack and Jill.
" Can you see it " asked the Monk
"No" said Jack and Jill
"Can you hear it" asked the Monk
"No" said Jack and Jill
"You can't see it, you can't hear it, does it have any
qualities at all" asked the Monk
"No qualities" said Jack and Jill
"Does it have a place ?" asked the Monk.
"No place" said Jack and Jill
"How far is it ?" said the Monk
"No distance" said Jack. "It is here"
said Jill
"When was it born" said the Monk
"Don't know" said Jack and Jill
"Does it die" said the Monk
"No" said Jack and Jill
"So it is neither born, nor it dies" said the Monk
"yes" said Jack and Jill
"Is it always there" asked the Monk
"yes" said Jack and Jill
"Does it ever change" asked the Monk
"No" said Jack and Jill
" Are there many of these" asked the Monk
"No just one" said Jack and Jill
"Is there any limit to it" asked the Monk
"No limit" said Jack and Jill
"So that which you are has no name, no qualities, it does not belong to a place, it is here and now, it is neither born, nor it dies, it is always there, it never changes, it is the only one and it is limitless. Is that right ?" asked the Monk
"yes" said Jack and Jill.
"Did you imagine all this" asked the Monk
"No" said Jack and Jill
"You can open your eyes now. Tell me all the things that you left outside, what are they ?" asked the Monk.
"They are not the real me" said Jack. "They
are all an illusion, they are all changing experiences" said Jill
"I am the experiencer of all these experiences"
said Jack.
"That's right, that is your true relationship with everything, you are the experiencer of all the experiences that are out there, no husband, no father, no son, no owner, you are the witness of all that is" said the Monk.
"You have travelled far, soon it will be dark, it is time for you to go, you can come again" said the Monk and with a little bow, he closed his eyes again.
Jack and Jill bowed to the monk and walked out of the monastery, suddenly realising, the sun had already set and they needed to hurry to get home before dark.
As they walked Jill asked Jack "did you get the answers to your questions"
Jack said "My mind was blown away, all the
misconceptions I had about me were shattered. I know now, I am birth less,
deathless, eternal, never changing, with no attributes and I am the experiencer
that experiences everything. That which I thought was me was an egoic identity
that is nothing but another experience. The real me is beyond all the
experiences. We must come here again next Sunday".
"For me, the experiment made everything so real for me. All the time I was in peace, I had forgotten everything. I think I am going to practice to be empty and drop everything as the monk taught us " said Jill.
As they walked past the monastery, there on the monastery gates, on a black board they saw the following thought of the day and it all started to make sense.
Nothing ever exists entirely alone. Everything is in relation to everything else.
- Buddha