A Zen Story

Written For & Inspired by

Steve Cohn

by

Eric Sander Kingston (www.ericsanderkingston.com)

One day a student, who had been seeking a great treasure of silver,
and who had been wandering many, many days, got lost deep in the
forest. No matter what he did he could not find his way out. He just
kept following an old worn out, out dated map. He wandered very far
until he finally came across a wise master who he saw pouring 100 bags
of fine silver into a river that ran along the forests path. When the
master began pouring the last bag of silver into rushing river, the
astounded student ran over crying, “Master, master, why do you pour
this treasure of silver into the river???” The master looked at him
and replied, “All I have are these small bags to carry things in and I
need them to carry something else?” The student replied, “But this
silver is very precious! You may not find anything else like this!”
The master replied, “But you could not even find your way out of this
forest.” The master then sat down. Next to him was dirty brown blanket
that appeared to cover a pile of dirt. The master continued, “You are
lost in the forest because you cannot step away from your old path,
empty your cup, and seek a new path of higher knowledge. By not
letting go of your past habits, and old worn out map, you have been
led in mindless circles seeking only a treasure of silver.” To this
the student replied, “This may be true master, but I am not lost
enough to pour out 100 bags of silver into the river when I see you,
yourself, are poorer than I!” “Am I?” replied the master. The master
then reached over and pulled away the dirty old blanket to reveal, not
a pile of dirt, but a pile of shimmering gold.

Written by,

Eric S. Kingston