The MapOne day, a man traveling
on an old dirt road surrounded
by colorful flowers
and beautiful scenery came
upon a rather ordinary
looking cafe. It was a
strange site to see on such a
road as he was traveling.
And in fact it seemed as though it didn't even belong.
The man stopped at the cafe's entrance, which was
little more than an old wooden door. And after a
moment's thought, and some hesitation, he decided
to go in.
Inside, the cafe looked rather ordinary as well. It
was filled with ordinary people, and in fact seemed
rather dull and mundane. The man was already
missing the many wonders outside the cafe, but he was
feeling a little thirsty so he ordered something and sat
down at a worn out looking table in the corner. The
light above shined down upon the man showing his
features in greater detail. He was an old man, well
dressed, yet rugged in appearance. Upon closer
observation it seemed as though life itself had etched
the collective struggles of humanity upon his physical
frame, beyond even what one might expect from
someone as old as he. It was not easy to tell if the scars
on his face were from some unsavory employment,
general hardships, or some internal struggles that
could no longer be kept at bay.
Upon shifting one's perspective just a little
beyond these tell tale signs of hardship and struggle,
something else could also be seen. Subtly hidden
within the hard callouses that surrounded his eyes,
like the sparkle of a diamond in the midst of crumbling
rocks, one could see a hint of youthful and
excited energy that was slowly growing brighter and
brighter.
After several minutes of sitting quietly without
touching his drink, other than to move it around the
table, the man began to look around nervously at the
other people in the cafe. He noticed that they all
looked rather ordinary as well, and seemed to be
quietly engaged in the cafe's general peacefulness.
While observing this, he was somewhat surprised to
see a dragonfly buzzing quit freely around the cafe.
No one else seemed to notice or at least pay it much
attention.
After the moment had passed and the old man
had moved his drink back and forth a few more times
without taking a sip, it became quite obvious that he
could no longer contain the youthful and excited
energy, which had now built up to such an extent that
it seemed to fill his entire body. A decision was
formed, and he stood up moving with unbridled
purpose towards the center of the cafe.”
“The cafe itself seemed to absorb the man's now
overflowing mixture of excitement and nervousness,
as if the subtle silence and peacefulness had its
own energy beyond what the old man could muster.
But slowly the cafe seemed to change by some will
of it's own, and all eyes turned to look upon the old
man.
"Do you people know what I have discovered?!"
he said. "It is the greatest discovery in human
history! And I have decided to share this with you
here today, because others must know of this
wonder." He then reached into one of the pockets in
the expensive looking coat he was wearing, and
slowly, with the reverence of a priest who had in his
possession the holy grail, he pulled out what seemed to
be a map.
Again he spoke "Here in my hand is a map of
Reality! Not an ordinary map, oh no, but one which
allows me to go anywhere and do anything in Reality
that I want, anything I can imagine!" The man's
excitement itself now seemed to take him into another
reality, one in which his youthfulness turned to
longing. "This world can no longer hinder me from
doing whatever I want. I will no longer be looked
down upon as a poor old man. I can be richer than
Kings! I can have all the beautiful women I want! I can
travel to other dimensions! I can even rule the world,
the universe!" While he continued talking about all the
things he could do, and how much power he now had,
another man, who had been sitting silently with his
drink at another table across the cafe stood up and
walked over to the old man.
As as this strange, but rather ordinary looking man,
came before him, the old man suddenly stopped
talking. Then, for reasons he couldn't seem to fathom,
he was drawn to look into the strange man's eyes. For
nearly a minute they just stared at each other. Then,
without warning, the strange man grabbed the map
from the old man's hand, and tore it into several pieces.
After a moment, the old man, realizing what had
happened, began to scream. "What have you done!
You fool! Why would you do such a thing? You
ignorant fool, do you know what you have done!"
The strange man remained silent, as the peacefulness
of the cafe again seemed to absorb the angry cries
of the old man.
When the strange man finally spoke, it was in a
voice that seemed to echo the same silent peacefulness
of the cafe.
“I have given you a new map, one which does not
require paper. It starts here, in this very moment, and
you will create it as you travel. You will discover
places which were not even printed on your old map,
and journey to worlds yet unexplored and uncreated.
All you need to do is open your eyes and your heart
to see the wonders before you, and go where you
will" said the strange man.
After hearing this, the old man said "I think your
all crazy! And want nothing to do but sit here and
waste your lives away. So I will leave you here to
your quite boring lives, and hope to never see you
again!" On saying this, he walked out of the cafe in
great despair, and back onto the road.
Though he hadn't been in the cafe for very long,
as he stepped out onto the road he noticed that it
seemed darker than before, and colder. The sun no
longer brightened the colors of the plants and
flowers, and the wind seemed to blow with a subtle
harshness. "Fools...I could have changed the world"
said the man to himself, as he continued his journey
down the old road, now lost in thoughts of dreams
deferred.
After he had walked for awhile muttering to
himself and to anyone else within hearing distance
who might sympathize with his great loss, he began
to notice that the old road he was walking on was
beginning to lose its distinction and was fading into
the landscape. "What's this?! Ack! If I only had my
map... Now I'm just an old man who has reached the
end of the road." said the old man in a tired voice
filled with exhaustion and despair.
He sat down barely able to stand anymore, and
decided to sleep, not caring what manner of beasts or
man might be about. He decided that this might as
well be the end of his life too if God or anyone else
wanted it more than he. Dreams came to him filled
with wondrous exotic places and mighty oceans that
echoed the voices of creation, the most marvelous
dreams he had ever had that filled his heart with
longing.
When he awoke, he found himself lying in the
middle of a grassy field surrounded by flowers of such
vibrant colors and sweet scents that he almost cried at
the beauty of it. "How did I get here? This can't be the
same place where I went to sleep last night... How
could I have not seen such beauty as this?" said the old
man now feeling a youthful and excited energy rising
into him once more. As he looked in wonder at the
sights around him, feeling the warm breeze blowing
softly through his thin hair, he noticed something that
looked like a path just beyond the other side of the
field.
He slowly walked over to the path across the field,
enjoying the beauty that surrounded him, and began to
travel once again. As he walked he began to hear
sounds that he hadn't heard before...sounds of moving
water rushing back and forth.
He noticed the path had turned to sand, and all sorts
of exotic trees and plants now surrounded him on
either side, but what really caught his attention was the
wondrous ocean that lay before him that seemed so
vast he couldn't even imagine an end to it. As he took
in the scenery before him he began to realize something.
The man in the cafe had been right after all. He
really didn't need a map of Reality, because Reality
was all around him, and inside him, and nothing was
really ordinary. He only needed to open himself to the
wonders before him.
He smiled as he walked along the beach knowing
there was much to learn and discover.
© , all rights reserved. Alex N. Moyer
http://www.yourspiritualrevolution.orgFree International Spirituality EZine(Nov-07 Issue)