“Yes, we find fishing so much fun, but what if we never ever caught a fish or came to find out that there were really no fish in the pond?  We wouldn’t enjoy it then, Akina.”

Bizah related a recent experience to Akina. “I was sitting on a rock by the river when an old man came hobbling along. For no reason at all, he stopped to talk to me. I could tell he was very lonely, since he couldn’t wait to pour out his life story. I just sat and listened.

“When he had finally finished talking, he bowed low, expressed his deep gratitude, and left giving me his blessing.

“Master, yesterday Akina and I got into a terrible argument about which of your teachings was the most important.  I thought it was to drop ego and Akina thought it was to trust that the force that runs the Universe is benign, is always wanting our greatest good.”

“I got so angry at Akina.  I yelled at him, I called him names, and I even wanted to punch him in the face because he couldn’t see things my way. Today I feel awful about that.  Master, why did I get into such a state?

“Akina, why do we enjoy fishing so much?”

“It’s relaxing.  All we have to do is put our rod in the water and wait for the fish to come to us.  And if a fish doesn’t bite, we still had fun anticipating it would.”

“Hmm, I wish we could do this with life in general,” said Bizah.

“Why can’t we?” Akina responded.

“Akina,” Bizah said, “I saw the most beautiful blue vase in a shop the other day. The shape of it was like nothing I have seen before – a combination of a swan and a tulip, I would say. The various shades of blue just melted into one another in a way that made the whole vase seem iridescent.

“If I bought it, it would bring me pleasure each time my eyes fell upon it.  But then again, it is so expensive and doesn’t at all go with the other things I have in my room.”

“Bizah,” inquired Akina, “why are you telling me about this?”

“Have you heard the myth of the man in the mask?” asked Bizah.

“No,” replied Akina. “What’s it about?”

“Well, it goes like this. One day very long ago in human history, when we knew who we really were – divine and perfect – one man in his playfulness decided to trick a friend by putting on a face mask that expressed fear. It worked. His friend, looking at him in the mask, felt vulnerable and quickly walked away.

Akina was throwing rocks into the lake, when for no reason a bully came up to him and pushed him to the ground.

Akina got up. The bully, wanting to get a reaction from Akina, pushed him to the ground again.

Once again Akina got up but said and did nothing.  The Bully pushed him down one more time and with more force this time.

Akina got up once again and just stood there, looking into the eyes of the bully.

After a moment, the bully turned his back on Akina and walked away, mouthing a sound that expressed his disgust.

“Akina, you know how much I love animals, especially dogs,” said Bizah. “Well, the other day I was walking in the woods and met a man with his aged dog. The dog was limping and struggling along the path very slowly.  And I could see from all the lumps on his body that he was not well and likely suffering significantly. I stopped and said, ‘Your dog looks like he is quite old, sir.’”

“’Yes,’ responded the man. ‘He is almost 15 years old. He is not well, and this is his last walk.’