The Monk and the Minotaur

The red robe hung from his left shoulder and flowed as his bare feet practiced peacefully touching the forest floor. His right hand counted malas, as the throaty sound of his voice carried the prayer of the four immeasurables;

“May all beings be happy,

May all beings be free from misery,

May no one ever be separated from their happiness,

May all beings have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment.”

As the monk took his next prayerful step the root of a tree caught his foot. His malas stumbled, his prayer stumbled, his feet stumbled, and the monk stumbled to the ground. The monk was caught off guard but returned to his peaceful practice and patted the tree root twice and amusedly said, “ah, tree, you have such strong roots! Such is an excellent quality of such an excellent tree!” and the monk laughed at his own musings. What the monk did not realize was the tree intentionally tripped the monk because the tree did in fact want to meet the monk. The monk gathered his malas again in his right hand and when he looked up from the forest floor, he saw the face of the Buddha in the great tree before him.

It came in through his inner ear, the kind of sound that has no speech but is heard deeply in your being. The buddha spoke to the monk,

“This Great Tree welcomes you to enter,

To test if you are ready to reside in your center,

Pass the seven infoldings along the way,

To the guardian in the middle,

Who will have for you but one riddle,

An axe waits for those who fail,

A treasure for those who prevail,

The entrance is this way.”

The face of the Buddha disappeared from sight, and in the heart of the tree a door appeared, outlined in shimmering gold Sanskrit of the Buddha’s rhyme. The monk got to the feet, and under the shimmering Sanskrit he placed his hand on the door, and entered into the heart of the tree.

The ground was of earth but candles created a path shining on walls creating the curved paths of the infoldings. A lantern gave more light which the monk took with his left hand, and with his right hand he began the practice of this peaceful walk, as he did with the same equanimity as he did in the forest.

At the end of the first curvature, he was met with a blockade of intertwined branches and leaves, and the Sanskrit words shimmering, “To proceed, leave something of great value.” So the monk left the first of his invocations, “for all beings to be happy,” for its value is immeasurable, and that which was intertwined before him untwined to grant him passage. With peaceful steps the monk chanted in his throaty voice the second through fourth of the invocations.

At the end of the second curvature he was met with a second blockade and the Sanskrit words, “To proceed, leave something of great value.” So the monk left the second invocation, ‘for all beings be free of misery,’ for its value is immeasurable and that which was intertwined, untwined and granted him passage. With peaceful steps the monk chanted in his throaty voice the third and fourth invocation.

At the end of the third and fourth curvature, it was the same, “To proceed, leave something of great value,” so the monk left prayers ‘for no one to ever be separated from their happiness, and for all beings to have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment,” and as he left the last of the invocations, he recognized his own attachment to prayers that accompanied him like a good friend, but he could think of nothing more valuable to leave, for their value was immeasurable, and each time that which was intertwined before him untwined to grant his access, and this time as he walked counting his malas, he experienced his mind with emptiness that felt like new found clarity.

When he came to the end of the fifth curvature, it was the same, “To proceed, leave something of great value,” and the monk stood there for some time. He had given that which was of most value, and he had no valuables left, until his mind connected to his hand moving the malas, and he ceremonially placed it in the intertwined branches and said, “it is just a thing, but it has helped me watch my steps and that has made me a good traveler, and being a good traveler has value that is immeasurable,” and so the branches folded the malas into itself as it untwined and left passage.

When he came to the end of the sixth curvature, it was the same, “To proceed, leave something of great value,” and the monk stood there for some time. He had given the four immeasurable and his malas, so what of value he questioned did he have to give, and then his mind connected to the robes he wore. The monk unclothed himself and said, “it is just a thing, but for me this thing has been a constant reminder of my daily devotion, and to be able to devote a part of yourself to anyone or anything beyond yourself has value that is immeasurable,” and so the branches folded the monk’s robes into itself as it untwined and granted passage for the monk.

When the naked monk came to the seventh curvature, it was the same requirement. The only possession he had left, the new lamp he attained, and he thanked it for the light that helped light the way, and when that which was intertwined untwined, it opened into a central chamber, where there, in the center of the center sitting on a thrown, with the body of a human and the head of a bull and an axe in hand sat the minotaur of the labyrinth.

The monk looked around, and the center chamber was filled with precious gems and jewels, of armor and weapons, and skulls and bones. The Minotaur stomped the handle of the axe on the floor and spoke to the monk, “These before you came with armor and weapons with fear and fight but I am unbeatable. They come with jewels and gems but I am unbuyable. You have already passed the riddle monk, for you come with no things attached, and having nothing attached, you have nothing to defend, so I have nothing to attack, and that is the great riddle that leads to the great treasure.” With that the Minotaur stood, and spoke again to the monk, “you may sit in the center of centers, and here you will see the prayers you left travel immeasurable distance and create immeasurable benefit for all beings, and the malas and robes you left behind you will know yourself as a being beyond the identity you created for yourself, you will simply see your true self. So the monk stepped forth and sat in the center and centers, closed his eyes yet saw anew for himself. The next time he opened his eyes the monk found himself outside the great tree, robed, with malas in hand, in the forest; and so the monk continued his peaceful steps counting his malas chanting his four immeasurable invocations, completely changed in his depth but unchanged in his actions, and continued exactly as he did before.