“After a long and arduous journey a young Japanese man arrived deep in a forest where the teacher of his choice was living in a small house he had made. When the student arrived, the teacher was sweeping up fallen leaves. Greeting his master, the young man received no greeting in return. And to all his questions, there were no replies. Realizing there was nothing he could do to get the teacher’s attention, the student went to another part of the same forest and built himself a house. Years later, when he was sweeping up fallen leaves, he was enlightened. He dropped everything, ran through the forest to his teacher, and said, “Thank you.”
– John Cage sharing an old Zen story in his book Silence
Dr Bill Wooten 
Thanks Bill for sharing 🙂 , you have such amazing blog posts 🙂 have a really great day !
Thanks Anne for the kind words. Be well
Thank you Bill!
Reblogged this on thetruth.
Thanks. This is very thought-provoking.
Thanks Georgia
I am not sure whether I truly get this one. Is the message ‘silence is golden’ OR ‘true ZEN means switching off from everything even human contact’ OR ‘even in the sublime state of peace, one still has to sweep up fallen leaves’?
Sometimes the spirit of enlightenment comes to those who are contemplative and not from an external source. We all have those ‘ah hah’ moments when life gains that clarity
Reblogged this on Teacher as Transformer and commented:
Sometimes it takes time for wisdom to appear. This is an incredible koan for me to hold close and remember when I am impatient.
Thanks Ivon for the repost.
You are welcome Bill.
Incredible lesson.Thank you.
Magnificent the photo is amazing and the story of one finding himself is gentle and sweetly done.
Great lesson. Very nice post.