Simple Wisdom

It is said that once on a place called Vulture’s Peak, the Buddha surround by his followers sat quietly and all at once held up a golden Lotus flower. All of the monks looked at each other confused as they tried to discern the meaning of this gesture. Then, suddenly, the Buddha smiled. He smiled because someone in the audience smiled at him and at the flower. The meaning is quite simple, when someone holds up a flower and shows it to you; he wants you to see it. If you keep thinking, you miss the flower. The person who was not thinking, who was just himself, was able to encounter the flower in depth, and he smiled. If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.