A young Indian man was sitting in his village one day, wondering what the world was all about. He had questions like, why am I here and what is expected out of me in this life? He decided he was old enough now, that he could sit with the tribal elders and ask these questions and get the answers he was seeking. So that evening he set around the fire with the older men, as they spoke of past hunting trips and adventures of their past. He spoke up and asked them the questions that he was wanting a answer too. The older men went silent, and then they spoke as if they had not heard his question. The young man then stood and said, "look, I have hunted for your food, fought wars for the tribe and done everything you have asked. Can you not give me the advice and answers I seek?" The older men set silent again, and then the chief spoke to the man, "travel two days to the east and you will find a wise man, he will be able to answer the questions you seek." Then they went back to speaking as if the young man was no longer among them. The Indian was excited. He figured this was the quest he was seeking inside, to connect to a wise spirit who wandered the country side and gave the answers to all of life. The next morning he rose early from bed and got on his horse road in the direction the chief had directed him. The way was difficult, as there was no set path to guide him. Finally though after two days of riding, he came to a field and sure enough, at the edge was a older Indian man sitting and looking to the horizon. The man got off his horse and tied it to a tree, and walked up to the man who was sitting so peacefully. He spoke up to the man who seemed to not even notice him, "Sir, I have travel many miles to see you. I am from a tribe to the west and I have questions the elders of our tribe can not answer. They have sent me to you." The older man looked up and said, "sounds like a journey you needed to make then, please then ask me the questions you seek answers too." The man set down and looked at him and said, "I have lived these many years and done so much, I have hunted with the best of them, I have fought wars with much bravery. Yet never in my days can I find the answers I seek. I want to know why am I here? What is truly expected of me in this life?" The older man smiled and spoke softly, "those are wonderful questions, sit with me here for a moment and we will find the answers." The man set there waiting, then he waited some more, then he realized the man was not going to speak and he was confused, "well I am waiting, when are you going to tell me the answers to what I just asked you?" The older man looked at him with a face of disappointment, "I am sorry you did not hear the answers, perhaps you will find the answers two more days ride to the east where you will find another man like myself. Perhaps he will be of more help to you." The man stood up, irritated and frustrated. He thought, "what a waste of time he figured, I road two days to this man and he said nothing to me. Now I am suppose to ride two days to another man who is just like him." Well he figured, he had come this far, why not two more days to see if the answers are any better and perhaps actually something he could value. Two days later, and the path was even harder then the one he had been on before. He came to a lake and on the shore was another man, older then the last. He was looking to the lake with a smile of contentment. The man figured, "this man will surely answer my questions, his years are more and he looks to be full of so much wisdom." He set with the man and asked his questions, and just like the other man, he was answered with silence. Again the man told him to seek his answers further to the east, only this time it would be a three day ride on a path that was even harder. The man stood up and was more upset then he had been at the last encounter with these men that were suppose to be so wise. Two years went by and the man finally arrived back at his home village. The people all greeted him and told him how much they missed him. He went into his home and sitting on the floor was the chief who had sent him originally on this journey to find the answers to what he was seeking. The chief spoke directly to the man, "did you find the answers that you were seeking?" The man set down and spoke, "I traveled to the man you sent me, and he did not answer. He then sent me further, and then with each encounter I was sent further and further in my journey." The chief followed this statement, "Yes, and what did you find?" The man smiled, "well at first I found that I was frustrated that each of these men only answered me with silence. I road many days upset about this and even turned back a couple of times, deciding to finish my journey, thinking that these answers would never be found. Then as I traveled deeper and further, I started to notice that I was often asking these questions to myself over and over. By the time I reached the final man, who was found at the top of a mountain many many miles from here. I did not even ask him the question, for I knew the answer within myself." The chief smiled, "Now you know where true wisdom lies and comes from, and no longer do you need to make such long journeys that take you far from your home." I wrote this thought, as a illustration about myself. When I left the Jehovah's Witness religion, and moved away from the answers they gave me. I was like this young Indian man and thinking that I needed others to answer things for me. I read every book to find answers, and attended many seminars looking for reasons. Yet in the end, these often left me feeling empty or unfulfilled. Yet I was driven to seek more knowledge in the hope that I would one day find the answer to the things I longed for. Years later though, I finally stopped looking to others for answers and started realizing I had the answers to what I really wanted and really felt within myself. I am n ot saying that reading books and attending seminars is wrong, as I still do those things, but do we do these to find answers or do we do these things to just enhance the views we already know that we have within ourselves. I think that is where I found myself, when I learned that I no longer needed to seek answers deep in someone else's thoughts, that they shared in words or verbally in a speech. My answers, were within me all the time and I think the same goes for everyone else I share this world with. Thus when people ask you the questions, "why am I here and what is expected out of me in this life?" It is best to answer with silence and let the people find the answers that are within them and not spend hours confusing their mind with thoughts that are not theirs, and could never be answers that fit them. My thought Dragon
Edited by - kenpodragon on 3 November 2002 17:35:49