Li got up this morning as he usually did. Just a day like any other filled with the
standard routine of every new monk within the order of Ern Dien. His routine included rolling out of bed to
land upon a wooden floor where he would find no greater option than to pray
before he began his day. After prayer,
he would put on the ring of his order and complete all his morning duties. All just preparations for what he considered
the most exciting part of his day...the passing of the traveler.
You see, there wasn't much excitement upon this hilltop monastery
so when a man of great wisdom comes up from the towns beneath the hilltop, many
become intrigued. No one knew his name
but people would come in droves to hear him speak. He hid under a cloak but he spoke with such
depth, sincerity and passion that he drew people in. Everyone knew there was something more to
this man but where in the valley could he have possibly come from? How could it be that such wisdom could
possibly come from such low places? Places
that were beneath them all. In just a
few days, Li would come to know the answer to that question. As fate would have it, Li drew closer to the traveler as he spoke than he had ever gotten before and he noticed something that shocked him. As the traveler bent over to pick up his
staff just before he was about to leave, Li noticed that the traveler wore a
necklace. At the end of that necklace
was the very same ring Li placed upon his finger every morning...the ring of
the house of Ern Dien. Li hurriedly ran
to ask a shepherd about his discovery and was dismayed to receive a terse
dismissal in the place of an answer. He
knew then his only option was to ask the Master...something he understood was
against the rules.
This monastery had three shepherds and one Master. The Master would share the teachings with the
shepherds and the shepherds in turn would share His teachings with the
monks. None other but the shepherds were
allowed to see or speak to the Master so Li's task was one of great
risk to his place in the order. Yet of all the things he has heard
of the Master, he knew that the Master would never turn him away. He knew that the Master had established these
rules for the sake of order and not as others had assumed...to remain hidden. Mindless tradition had made it seem so but
nothing could be further from the truth.
Most just followed the shepherds without question and the shepherds were
fine with such unquestionable devotion.
Most shepherds took that responsibility with care and these were proven
by their length of their tenure. Yet the ones that
abused such absolute power would be cast out in short order. So Li knew that those that sought the Master
beyond the shepherds would find Him and in doing so...would come into what all the shepherds just understood as the realm they called "more". Most feared entering this realm as a place of
confusion and chaos so they kept to the shepherds’ basic training as it was
deemed "safe". Li wasn't
interested in the "more", he just wanted to know about this traveler
and he knew that the Master was the only one who could provide answers.
That very night, Li began making the climb on his own as the bedtime gong
of the monastery rang. Tired and hungry,
he finally came to the Master's steps and just as he was about to knock on the
great door, it suddenly swung open and there stood the Master's servants. They said nothing but greeted him with a
smile and led him to a room with a
calmness about it. In this candlelit
room was a comfortable bed on which sat a new set of clothes. He was allowed to eat, bathe and rest for the
night...the Master would see him in the morning.
The next morning Li woke up as he normally did and followed
through with all the preparations of his order as best he could given his new
surroundings. When he was done, he was instructed to sit in the rear garden in
front of the Grand Tree. This was the
tallest tree in the center of the garden and before it...a
bench just big enough for two. This was
an odd tree in that it carried a frightening beauty. Its aroma was bittersweet. If inhaled
deeply enough, it would produce an uncomfortable laughter. Li was instructed to sit before it and wait
for the Master. He sat waiting and
wondering as time passed with no sign of Him.
Several times the servants passed and even though he was tempted to ask
them about the Master's whereabouts, he sat patiently waiting. After a few hours of stillness, the Master
came and sat beside him. Li bowed in
nervous excitement, "My Lord!!" he exclaimed as the Master gently grabbed his
arm to gently guide him back to his seat beside Him. They both sat in stillness for some time
before the Master...began to speak...
The Master began to speak in assured gentle tones:
"I know why you've come. You have come to ask about the Traveler. You have seen that he carries with him the
ring of My Order yet he does not wear it on his finger as you do. You wonder how a man can carry so much wisdom
with him and come from places you do not when you are supposed to be from My
house...where all truth may be found."
He stood up and walked to the tree.
Putting His hand upon the tree He continued..."I can tell
you this: his plight, you could say, begins and ends at the root of this
tree. He was a prodigy of this order and
when he was about your age, he made the climb as you have to ask for the
"more" only a few dare seek. Yet
the "more" he sought was not for glory or fame. He sought the "more" so that he
could know Me better. He wanted to
please my heart as well as my soul and he understood that in order to do this,
he would need wisdom.” He turned pointing
earnestly to Li and said “Wisdom, my child, transcends beyond the intellect of
man, piercing his heart to the very atom of his existence...and by
extension...My Own. He came wanting the Wisdom
of Solomon. A wisdom that can break a
man's spirit if he is not centered properly.
Solomon was raised with all the greatest teachers when it came to the
laws of heaven so he was grounded in the poverty of piety yet on the other side
of his life, he came to know the abundance of self as he came to indulge in
every pleasure known to man. Somewhere in the middle of both excesses...he
found the bitterness of this tree."
And in a faint whisper, He said "...and the greatest power man will
ever possess." "This, my child, is the infamous Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil. She stands
in this garden as a testament to all the perils and power of wisdom.” Turning again towards Li, He said “Solomon
was able to identify with and detail the hints of darkness within the light of men
as he was also able to identify the hints of light...within the darkness of
men. A task very few men could handle as
man is a being created to follow. He
will always choose a side and there is nothing wrong with staying safely in the
light but understand that this safety is enabled by limits and limited
understanding only requires limited responsibility. Men that selflessly seek "more"
are tasked with greater responsibility as the “more” removes such limits placed
upon them. Some of my greatest servants
questioned Me in ways others dared not and they all found themselves many times
making decisions I would have never had them make. Most of them strayed from my path but ALL
found their way back. Yet what was
different about them was what they carried back with them...after they had
strayed. They now carried with them a
newfound wisdom of the strength found within weakness. A relatable spirit that was able to reach the
heart of all men without the need for judgement. An understanding of their own humanity and an
enlightenment of the true nature of man.
That his strengths and his failings were not dependent on which side of
the pendulum he was on. That virtue and
vice could be found on all sides of the spectrum. This allowed them to see the truth of all
things at their core enabling them to determine what kind of word was needed
for the wound they needed to heal.
Acknowledging their own weaknesses based on the truth of their awareness
to place my essence within them where it was lacking. This had made them formidable and strong! Beyond this, they also came to appreciate
life at its depth. That every experience
within every second had value because all on this earth has an end. That the insignificance of man by the virtue
of the time he has left on this earth means every life can have meaning...every
soul can have purpose. I despise the
fact that some of my monks find that their truth is finite enough that they can
look down at the people that live in the valley when the reality is that what truth
most of them carry is just enough to lead them safely through this world but
not enough to make a real, lasting difference.
It is the difference between watering a tree as opposed to injecting it
with the nutrients it needs. Solomon
knew this and so does the traveler you have come to ask me about. Yes, there is power in this wisdom but it
comes at a cost. Given his nature, he
will always be far from perfection but he seeks it nonetheless. He knows he will never realize his goal of
complete wisdom as what his finite mind seeks is infinite but he has found that
the journey itself has taken him past the limits most have placed upon
themselves already. It is for this reason he has chosen to live in a world that will not judge him...a world that can
not place him enough...to judge him at all. He carries too much light to live comfortably
in the dark and too much dark to live comfortably in the light even though he
can exist in both. He knows nothing will
satisfy him because of the futility of most things so he grasps heaven on earth
where he can find it. He finds it in my monastery,
he finds it in the art of men, he finds it in the eyes of Eve and he finds it
in the growth of his children. He has
silently saved the lives of people from every spectrum in a sentence and most
times, he will remain unaware of it...just as he had requested. He wanted to please My heart and nothing
makes Me smile more than this." He
smiled, turned to face the tree again and in a softened thoughtful voice said
"The roots of this tree are pure.
As it springs out of the earth, its wholeness divides in two. True wisdom...my knowledge...is found at the root" The Master turned to face Li with a smile and began walking. Li felt an overwhelming sense of peace as his Master just walked away.
As for Li, he climbed back down to the safety of his monastery and he
remained content with the newfound admiration he had acquired for the traveler. Not much is known of Li after his encounter
but one thing remains certain…he was never the same again…
~Moses Apollo Apolinaris
