TheBanyanTree: Path to Wisdom - A story in two parts

[Roger Pye]

(This story came about because I was recently asked by a member of a 
healing circle how I perform distant treatments. Well, the technique I 
use I worked out myself and I also think that all healers and 
counsellors who do distance work should find their own way and not just 
copy someone else willy nilly.)


Once upon a time a woman consulted a Swami who lived in her village. At
the end of the consultation the woman said to the Swami "I want to be
full of wisdom like you, will you teach me to be a Swami too?"

The Swami looked at her gravely and shook her head. "Being a Swami is
not something that can be taught, I may only show you to the path, from
then on you must make your own way."

The woman thought about this for a moment, unsure of what was meant,
then she smiled and replied "OK, show me to the Path please."

The Swami sighed, she had a heavy schedule and the last thing she needed
was something like this which could go on for hours or, God forbid,
days or longer! Then she had what she thought was a brilliant idea. "Do 
you know the Wizard who lives at the other end of the village?"

'Wizard?' the woman thought to herself, 'there's a wizard lives here?
I've never heard of a wizard before!' Then she had a thought and to the
Swami she said "Do you mean the strange old man who lives in the old
house where the lights flash on and off at peculiar times?" because she
had wondered about this person for some time.

"That's him! If you contact him and tell him of our conversation he will
show you the way to the Path."

When the woman had left the Swami took her crystal ball from its usual
place and removed its purple satin covering. Gazing into the ball she
intoned "I wish to speak to the Wizard at the other end of the village."

Coloured lights flashed inside the ball and a string of numbers appeared
on the face of it. On her mobile phone the Swami punched the numbers and
waited, stroking the ball absentmindedly.

"Hello, Swami Fullgrand," she heard. "How may I, a poor itinerant fool
seeking after truth, help you who are so full of wisdom?"

She laughed. "Wizard, it has been too long since we last conversed.
Truth is I am so busy these days there is never time for anything out of 
the ordinary."

"It's that damned bear in the cellar," the Wizard said.

"Ah, it's him I want to talk about!" Not for the first time she wondered
how it was that John always seemed to know what she was talking or
thinking about before she mentioned it.

An hour or so later the Wizard's phone rang again. "Hello, Wizard John
here, it's Sharon, isn't it? How may I help you Sharon?"

"H - How do you know my name?"

A wave of anxiety washed through his ear and he chided himself for being
overly smart - as usual. "Caller ID - and the Swami said you'd be
calling."

"I asked her to teach me to be a Swami like her and she said you would
show me the way to the path I must follow."

"Not the path you must follow, you are the only one who may choose which
way to go. I may only show you to the beginning of the path, from then
on it will be up to you. First, however, you must release the bear from
the cellar."

"Bear? What bear? Are you saying I have a bear in the cellar? But I
don't even have a cellar! What are you talking about? . . . " There was
no reply and she realised she was talking to no one and nothing.
Cradling the handset she sat down wondering what the Wizard meant by the
bear in the cellar and what it had to do with the path to wisdom.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

	There are as many paths as there are beings in the Universe, how does 
one know which is the right one to follow and how to find it? Do any of 
you know?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
roger