Published on: 12/8/2015
Guru

The Master said I'd reached the final stage
and it was time I came to terms with death.
Attentive to his wisdom, I prepared
to fast for forty days, to undergo
whatever discipline might be required
to kindle my enlightenment. One night
in late July, he summoned me to sit
beside him near the pond that occupied
the northeast corner of his wilderness
retreat in Minnesota. "Blest am I
to sense your breath," I duly said, but he
replied, "Let no mosquito pierce my skin."
For half an hour I sat and slapped his back.

"And did you feel their tiny deaths?" he asked
at last. I shrugged and shook my head, afraid
that I had failed a crucial test. "That's good,"
he said. "Then keep on doing what you're doing--
your concentration makes it possible
for me to meditate." At once, I knew
he'd taught me everything he had to teach.