Only from the heart you can touch the sky.
-Rumi
Another high sounding phrase i said, but then i came upon this story.
One day, a young boy came into the monastery and asked the Chief Monk, to give him some work and food.
The Chief Monk asked him: What have you read? What work can you do? What do you know?
The boy replied: I have not read in school nor do I have special skills but I can do jobs like washing utensils, cleaning up the cottages etc.,
The Chief Monk asked Are you sure you do not know anything else?
The young boy replied: Oh, yes, Sir. I play good Chess.
The Chief Monk said: Oh that's good. Now I shall test you in your game. He asked another monk to come with chess board and a table and then the pieces were all set on a table so that the game could start.
Before the game started the Chief Monk said: Now see here, I have a sword in my hand. The one who is defeated, his left ear will be severed.
The boy became nervous. However, without any other way to go, he agreed.
The game started. Initially, the boy made some mistakes in moves. His position on the board went from bad to worse. But then he concentrated completely and improved the position to a winning level.
As the game went on, the boy looked at the monk sitting opposite, concentrating on the board. The monk did not appear nervous but obviously he must have been disturbed within.
The boy then thought,
"I am a useless fellow. Nothing will change in the world if I lose the game and lose my ear. But this monk, is well read person, doing meditation and is sure to attain Buddha Hood. Why should he lose?"
So the young boy made a wrong move, so that the monk opposite could win the game !
The Chief Monk suddenly flashed his sword on the table and all the chess pieces scattered in different directions.
He then said to the boy: "The game is over and you are in. You can stay with us in the monastery hereafter."
The boy did not understand.
The Chief Monk explained:
"I did not ask you to play chess to find out how good you were in the game. But I was looking for two essential qualities that are necessary for Self realization.
One is Maha Prajna. The Great Awareness.
I found that in you. When your position in the game became bad, you put your entire attention on the game and improved the position.
This is Maha Prajna.
The second is Maha Karuna- The Great Compassion.
I found that also in you. When your opponent was about to lose the game, you looked at him with great compassion and deliberately made a wrong move so that he could win.
These two qualities are adequate to do sadhana and make life Meaningful
You are in.
And this my friends, explains why Tibet is closer to the sky.
The full quote is about a dragon explaining its origins. According to this, dragons are innately wise but value compassion and benevolence more because they had to achieve those things. Due to the subject of the thread, I cut it down to just the part about wisdom.
