Did I ever mention...

That somewhere within lies a mad teacher, a bit impatient, a bit tired of explaining the obvious, a bit done repeating himself, a bit ready to reach for the proverbial stick -I think he's Japanese. Luckily, he is a loving master, whose patience towards me is a bottomless sea of the stuff, even if he wouldn't admit it if it were to save his wrinkly skin.

I mention this, because, during these last couple of months, while wandering through a world of darshans and satsangs, of avatars and gurus, I've noticed and been abducted/consumed by, an interesting phenomenon; nothing new really... Actually, the story is as old as woman/man's desire to understand her/himself, and why not find out whatever the meaning of this-thing-we-call-life could possibly be.

And to sum it up, so as not to insult your ability to put one and one together, my lunatic of a teacher stated, borrowing his words from another mad know-it-all, without taking his dreamy gaze from his favorite pond of quietude, where I suspect he does indulge in quite a deal of skinny-dipping when I am not looking, "Don't mistake the finger for the moon, hey."

Noticing my with-all-due-respect-what-the-huh-are-you-talking-about look, he kindly proceeded as follows, "Especially if the finger thinks he/she/it is the moon. Got it?!"

Then, and just to add confusion to confusion, he laughed, a roar of a laughter, until the earth and the sky began to shake -obviously I am exaggerating- concluding, "And never forget that when you believe that you're seeing fingers and moons, when you operate in duality, you can crave for the message if that's your style.

Or, you can high-jack the message and become a middleman between the light and the seeker. Although, and in my oh-so demented opinion, why waste your time being a profiteering finger trying-so-damn-hard-to-pass-for-that-big-old-moon, when you already are the whole starlit sky.

Be well, and if you're up for it, let us drop all middle men, and be the moon, the stars, and while we're at it, all that stuff we can't see

Gazing skyward on a clear night