THE PARABLE OF WISDOM

This is the second parable I wrote recently.

This parable, as its name indicates, is about wisdom and its origin.

Many of the elements are quite typical for this sort of thing,
but I'm positive the example is still understandable.

I hope you enjoy and extract value out of it,
and would very much appreciate if you let me know whether you did in the comment section below.

Thank you for your time and attention,
Nil

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THE PARABLE OF WISDOM

Once, there was a village in a valley. The village was very much alive, and its citizens were known
for their endurance and energetic manner, both at work and at play.
The villagers lived according to the ways of the valley, and in doing so they thrived.

Far enough from the village, in a nearby mountain, there was a cave. In the cave, there sit a man.
The man was many hundreds of years old, and his manner was akin to silence.
He was the wisest man alive.

Nobody had seen him for a long time, though he was known by the townspeople.

Soon, the townspeople grew restless with new problems they were facing.
They then invented many ingenious pieces of machinery and technology.
They started fighting amongst themselves because of fear and greed,
to the point where they could eradicate one another.

The villagers now faced a problem they couldn't solve, at least not by themselves as they were.

They made a temporary truce and held a town council meeting, in which they decided to ask the
wise man in the mountain for help. A party was made and sent off on the journey towards the
mountain.

After several days, they arrived at the cave.
As they entered, they felt something they had never felt before.
Everything was silent and still beyond its appearance.
It was something they couldn't quite explain, much less identify within themselves.

The man was sitting on the ground, and the people approached him carefully.

Much to their surprise, the man was sitting in front of a very big mirror,
which had formed from the stone.

Then, the man opened his eyes and slowly turned to the villagers.

They greeted the man and proceeded to explain their situation.

The man responded shortly after: “I cannot help you.”

The villagers were outraged.

They insisted, detailing the problem further and howling at what was at stake,
imploring the man to help them.

The man said: “I cannot help you because you don't want help.”

The villagers were dumbfounded, utterly confused.

One of them, the youngest, then asked the man: “What is the source of your wisdom, old man?”

That caused the man's eyes to sparkle, and he grinned.

His response was: “Look into the mirror. What do you see?”

The boy said: “I see myself.”

The man looked at the boy intently, and the boy then realised what he meant.

The man went on: “The problems you are facing lie within, and so do their answers.
You have come to me for help, but you have not asked for it, and you have never asked for it within yourselves. Your focus is so entangled in your problems, that you have become them.
No answer can be given to those who do not ask for it.
That's why I say that I cannot help you. You come here only with the problem, and although you say
you want answers, you are not ready to change, you are not ready to let them in.
Even if I did give you a solution, soon your thoughts and your actions would refute it,
and would continue to produce problems.

If you look within yourselves, you will find the answer you seek, and furthermore discover there
was no problem in the first place, only illusion and ignorance, which causes you pain.

Do you understand?”

The boy nodded his head with a big smile, and lead the townspeople back home.

​THE END