There were once three men — a cleric, a scientist and a mystic — who were lost in a dark & dreary forest on a cold & stormy night. As it turns out, it was also quite the dangerous forest; clotted with dense vegetation, filled with jagged boulders & home to many wild beasts.  The path upon which the three were traveling was also somewhat overgrown and was proving to be quite difficult for them to follow.

Suddenly, there was a crashing of the clouds, and a great lightning bolt smashed down into a tree to the side of the path just ahead.  And when it did so, the religious man looked to the heavens to see where the bolt had come from, the scientist looked off to the side to see where it had hit … and the mystic looked down upon the path, and saw the way clearly lit before him.

My Friends, we are all currently lost in a forest much more untamed and much more foreboding, on a night far darker and far stormier than the one faced by our three travelers.  Fear and desire and uncertainties cloud our view of Truth, and the winds of religious dogma, political subterfuge and cultural “norms” continue to pull & tug us off-course.

And yet sometimes flashes of lightning come to us as well — teachings as lucid and bright as the morning sun; teachings that remind us of where we are going; that remind us why we are here.   Buddha was such a lightning, Lao Tsu was such a lightning, Jesus was such a lightning, Rumi was such a lightning, Gandhi was such a lightning, Peace Pilgrim was such a lightning … They and all those similar came to show us The Way, and others like them will follow, bringing their same Light to us again & again.

And when they do, remember to look not to the heavens from whence they came, nor gaze upon the faces and the bodies they happen to inhabit, but rather look instead at your own Life … and use their Wisdom to light your Way.

For assuredly, neither mental prayer nor verbal worship nor emotional reverence will ever grant us the deep Clarity we seek … for true Guidance comes only to those who have the courage to look away from their Wise Ones long enough to use their radiance to see the Path underfoot.   And then, once that instant of illumination has subsided, true Peace awaits only those who set boldly forth into the gloom; only those who choose the Courage to step out upon that Road once the lightning has faded and the Route becomes shrouded in darkness once more.

For these are the ones who understand what it means to truly Live; these are the ones who understand what it means to cherish the time they have been given; these are the ones who come to understand how it feels to be reborn as a true Human Being … Like Jesus & Buddha & Gandhi before them, these modern-day mystics have dedicated their moments to living, and they have dedicated their lives to Love.

The time has come for us all to choose anew, my Friends … Will we continue to be “clerics” and merely worship the wonders of the heavens, or will we choose to become “mystics”, and act as agents of God below?  Will we continue to be “scientists” and merely hypothesize on matters of dis-ease & discord, or will we choose to become “mystics”, and actively bring our Peace thereto?

Religion and Science have brought us this far along our Human Journey …
It is time for you new mystics to bring us HOME.

(inspired by Jesus & Osho)

Filed under: Wisdoms from the Journey by Scaughdt