A man saw the reflection of the moon in a small pond.
He began to throw rocks in the pond, and he smiled at how the image of the moon rippled and distorted and even winked out.
A martial arts sensei from Monkeyland walked by and saw what the man was doing, and said, "Look up.
" Pebble in hand, the man looked upwards.
The glory of Earth's celestial neighbor washed over him, and his eyes opened.
Stunned at the truth of what he saw, he dropped the pebble and stared at the heavens.
Many of us traverse through life, throwing stones at what we see.
Maybe the pebble is nothing more than a harsh word or an untimely rebuke.
Maybe it is just a lack of kindness and consideration in a word that was blurted a bit too fast.
The result of our thoughtless speech may stir up emotions.
Suddenly we have caused ripples of unhappiness, and our friendship with our fellow man is distorted.
Perhaps friendship even winks out for a second.
How do you take back the stone? How do you unravel the ripples that confuse and confound our perception of our fellow man? How do you make the waters return to the stillness that allows for an accurate reflection of the situation, and of our fellow man? And, how do you know how to look up, as opposed to being fixated on the reverse image of the moon? Reverse image? You didn't know? You look at life and it is backwards, for it travels through perception to that which perceives.
Understanding that life is backwards is the clue.
Understanding that we are the perceivers, and all reality is merely a reflection of what we have created is the key.
This is the secret that the martial arts sensei from Monkeyland knew, and that he shared with the man throwing rocks.
When you throw rocks, they must hit something, so be careful where you throw them.
They might hit the moon, and then you would have nothing to see, and nowhere to look.