Winnowed Wisdom 4 - Ron Dart

The Rabbi

There was once a young student keen to learn about God and the world.  The hunger to learn and grow in learning consumed the young student. It did not take long before the young student had accumulated

many facts and much information about the religious life. It was just a matter of time before the student decided it was best to study with a wise and insightful rabbi. The journey to the rabbi took many days, but the dream of learning more and more drove the student forward and onward. Upon meeting the older rabbi, the student told the rabbi about his longing to learn ever more and how the rabbi might assist him in such a process. The rabbi looked at the young student and said,

“Instead of feeding you with many cucumbers, I’m going to put a few hot peppers under your tongue. Come again and see me in a few years and tell me what the peppers have taught you”. The young student walked away confused, but a decade later he returned to the rabbi.

Eden’s Tree

There once was a tree and those who delighted in its fruit and shade were nourished and lived wisely and well. A sage came by one day and encouraged those who lived by the tree to see their inner life like a tree. “Let the roots go deep, tend the soil, allow the fair sun and varied weather of life to mature the tree”. Many listened attentively to the wise woman. “And”, she said, “pick from the fruit of your best desires, but be wary of indulging and picking from the fruit of your lower desires”.  Those who heeded the words of the sage, day by day, lived fuller and fuller lives. Those who picked from the fruit of improper desires soon forgot who they were and wandered from the tree, increasingly lost, in search of meaning and food to live by.

Ron Dart

Comments

[Idrian]

Is the first story similar in moral to the story about the professor & the Zen master?