Short story: A zen koan about a tree.
@innertalks (23002)
Australia
December 8, 2021 8:33pm CST
The old Zen master, Treeder Zerploski, was a tree lover, for, after- all, his parents had even named him after a tree, as he had been born under one, when his mother went into labour, while going for a walk, in the fields around her house.
He used to tell this koan about trees to his students then.
What type of a tree moves without legs?
His answer was, of course, all trees, because the wind moves the branches of all trees, but their roots are set in place.
We should leave our roots set in place within our soul too, and never abandon this most realer part of ourselves, from this root bound connection, which makes us who we truly are.
Even though we can move our branches around, and think that we are moving, only our souls, being uprooted, could ever really move us from who we really are, and this will only happen at our deaths.
The winds and ravages of life can change our outer appearances, and even the way that we think with our minds can be altered by our living such a hard life, and yet, our roots stay in their place, and our soul nourishes us from itself, and from God's love, which it is also embedded within, as its rich growingness of soil, to continue the analogy further.
"Let my soul smile through my heart, and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts."
The Indian spiritual teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda, (1893 to 1952) said this.
We should follow his guidance, and live deeply from our soul, shining through our hearts, and then travelling out to the world, through our minds, words, demeanours, and actions too.
Our soul's smile also echos God's smile.
A wind ravaged trees roots are often stronger because of this.
Let your soul be strengthened from your life's experiences, be they hard, or whatever, by smiling back at your soul, the same smile it is always sending to you.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
Don't become treed over by your tree, realise that your roots go deeper than what lies on the surface, looking like it is the whole of you.
3 people like this
2 responses
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
9 Dec 21
Let me then present the other side, does the tree wish to move?
2 people like this
@innertalks (23002)
• Australia
9 Dec 21
Can a tree wish anything for itself as a tree, or does it more just, just be itself?
Can a tree, or a rock, or anything not conscious, wish anything, or think anything, for itself?
I might posit that each part of creation has a soul, but that soul does not bestow consciousness on its vehicle unless it has a mind that can utilise it, otherwise, a tree, or a rock just bes, and watches all, through its soul observing all, as the ultimate, fixed observer, but whose eyes can see more than most, by it not possessing an interfering mind, but just a soulful heart.
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
9 Dec 21
@innertalks ah that brings up the argument, God's creation, all things have some connection to that. but I understand what you are saying, was mostly pushing the edge to see what your response would be
2 people like this
@innertalks (23002)
• Australia
9 Dec 21
@DocAndersen Yes, I like to slide along that edge, and I even enjoy getting incised by it, of some of my fixed thinking too.
I like to be made to sit up, and to have another kind of a look at what I am postering about.
I spelt that wrong, as I meant posturing, of course, but postering, putting up our own posters, and holding them up as sacrosanct, is perhaps the same thing, which pushing the edge can help to cut through too, as long as the posters are still made of paper, and are not carved from rock, or made from steel, which are far more inflexible to cut through, and to find the core of truth still resting behind them.
@Shiva49 (27420)
• Singapore
9 Dec 21
We need to take strength from the soul which should be a manifestation of the universal soul too. So our experiences and feedbacks should matter to the oneness of our journey.
Our reach could be limited physically The rooted tree remains stationary but spreads its wings through giving life and comfort to other species like the birds. We too should give out positive vibes and thereby spread cheer and comfort
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@innertalks (23002)
• Australia
9 Dec 21
Yes, well said siva; the tree makes the most of what it is, and we should learn to do the same.
When we be fully ourselves, all others around us are benefitted too, but when we are not being fully ourselves, but hoarding stuff selfishly to ourselves, not giving totally of ourselves to the world, we are not spreading that cheer, comfort, and inherent wisdom too, that we can give back to the world to enhance its collective learning, and consciousness too.
@innertalks (23002)
• Australia
11 Dec 21
@Shiva49 Yes, not so loud, and clear, though, when our own ears are stuffed with cotton, and our mouths are mouthing off with a sense of our own importance, as the Pollies do these days too.
They block their ears from any listening to others, and they speak their stuff with the loudest of trumpets, making it louder. They think enough noise will block all opposition.
@Shiva49 (27420)
• Singapore
10 Dec 21
@innertalks Thanks Steve, when we live selfishly our achievements prove fleeting.
When we live embracing society with good deeds in tow, our lives are infinitely enriched. The choice is loud and clear.
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