A young man seeking further knowledge sets out on his bike into the country-side. He is driven by the joy of exploration, and his enthusiasm knows no bounds. Far beyond his usual territory, he finds a new path. Here there are no more signs to guide him, and he must rely on what his eye can see and what his stride can measure. Now what was only an intuition becomes experience.
His path ends at a wide river and he sets off on his bicycle. He sees that proceeding will require leaving everything he has on the riverbank, quitting the safety of the solid ground, putting himself in the hands of a force that is stronger than he is and allowing himself to be overpowered and swept along. He hesitates, and then retreats.
This is his first revelation.
Riding home, he admits to himself that he understands very little that could be helpful to others, and even that little he knows, he could scarcely communicate. He imagines himself to be a bicycle rider following another whose fender is rattling. He imagines calling out, “Hey, your fender’s rattling!” The other answers, “I can't hear you. My fender’s rattling”.
He realizes: “He didn’t need my help at all.”
This is his second revelation.
A short time later, he asks an old teacher. “How do you manage to help others? Many come to you asking for advice, and they leave feeling better even though you know little of their affairs?”
The teacher answers, “When someone loses courage and doesn’t want to go on, the problem is seldom lack of knowledge but rather wanting safety when courage is called for, and seeking freedom where necessity leaves no choice. And so, he goes in circles. A teacher resists appearance and illusion. He finds his center and waits for a helpful word, as a ship with sails raised waits to catch the wind. When someone comes seeking help, the teacher is waiting where the visitor himself must go, and if an answer comes, it comes for both of them, for both are listeners. “
And then the teacher adds, “Waiting at the center is light”.
Hellinger, Bert. Love’s Own Truth. Phoenix, AZ. Zeig,Tucker & Theisen Ed 2007 (pg 1).
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