The young intrepid disciple

asked his master a tricky question,

about the profound nature of wisdom.

 

He said, “How can I find wisdom,

and how can I be wise?”

 

The master looked at the student

with a warm and generous grin

and gave an answer from

the head and the heart within.

 

“You are young,”

the master quietly said.

“And many would think that

wisdom is, for you, years away.”

 

“Well, I don’t agree!”

said the discipline impatiently,

“Wisdom should be mine as well.”

 

“But I believe,”

the master continued with a smile,

“That wisdom is not about

young or old or any

other great category

of the human world.

It is about seeing into

the emptiness and bringing

there your fill.”

 

“Is that all? I just don’t get

what you mean,”

said the young disciple,

disappointed and expecting

some profound formula

or great insightful truth

into the marvellous

mysteries of life.

 

“I can’t see what you mean!”

he repeated earnestly,

with great disappointment.

 

“Ah, there, there it is!”

replied the master,

with smiles that still

confused the mind

of this young and

eager collegian.

 

“There it is!”

the master repeated

once again,

with a genuine

thrill in his voice.

 

“There is what?”

the young disciple said,

more befuddled and

troubled than ever.

 

“You said you could not see

and there in lies the truth,”

the master said,

“For you looked but

did not see the emptiness,

and therefore you

did not know

how you should fill.

See the empty state of things

and know what then

you can bring

from your enlightenment.

There in lies

Wisdom’s eyes.”

 

The disciple was puzzled

and discombobulated

for a time, but then

he smiled and looked sublime.

 

“I get it!”

he said in raptures bold,

“I need to see

the empty hole, and

then once seeing

I can bring my whole.”

 

24/10/2016