. . . And so began a ten-year friendship with this little man and his constant grin, as we wandered the forest together in search of the elusive key.

"I know where to find plants and insects to eat," I said, trying to be helpful.

A John shook his head in disagreement, "Those who are preparing themselves to be worthy of the key must depend on others for support."

What? I thought. Depend on others for support? I could not believe what I just heard. This was crazy. Relying on others would be laziness (I had to reluctantly agree with Maradin's fiance). "I believe we should take care of ourselves," I strongly protested.

The little robed man then surprised me, "In this moment, right now; are you able to see your anger?" He laughed, and then continued, "If we rely on our own self-sufficiency instead of others, there is a good chance we will reinforce the power of our logic and reason, possibly increasing our conceit as well. On the other hand, begging diminishes our pride and opens the door to gratitude and love."

"No, you are wrong," I said. I realized that I had much to learn regarding the subtle nuances of this key seeking, but I had very strong opinions about begging, and continued to vigorously disagree, "When I was young, I was always taught to be self-sufficient; ‘Those who take care of themselves are taken care of.'"

But a John was firm, "Key seeking involves a different kind of self-sufficiency, one that is directed inwardly. Here, our labors are internal and every external thing that we have valued in the past eventually must be replaced by this inner purpose. If we are sincere about our key seeking, searching for purity within this human dilemma, we will be supported, and those that support us will look up to us as an inspiration of what can be accomplished regarding dissolving the greed hatred and delusion that we all live internally every day. We must lead the way out of humankind's constant violence against each other.

"All of our future efforts should be directed toward our quest, and our previous endeavors connected with the old ‘external work' should be abandoned. Instead of continuing down the same road where our lives were enmeshed with greed, inquisitiveness, hatred, anger, and confusion, we will strike out in a new direction and begin to untangle the mess by developing hearts that are spotless.

"Your strong opinions," he continued, "regarding begging, are good examples of the constant battles that will be waged between your heart and your mind; between intuition and reason. Intuition is attracted to the inner work, but reason wants only to escape from it. This subtle intuition is going to need an incredible amount of help to grow, because you have relied entirely on reason in the past, and old habits are extremely difficult to break. Although new, intuitive insights will arise, your mind will find it hard to change its old patterns and accept these new insights, for the mind is similar to a long, heavy caravan that cannot change direction quickly. Its momentum keeps it headed down the same old road of ingrained habit patterns for a long time, even though the wheel locks of new understanding are applied."

"Okay," I capitulated. "Sure, I'm hanging on to old habits and hesitant to change direction, but old habits are comfortable."

"Yes, they are," he agreed, "but our emphasis is now on spiritual matters - bringing ourselves closer to the Source of everything there ever was, is, or will be. With this in mind, begging for food diminishes this big idea of our ‘selves', which is personified by our minds and our reason. When we are offered food, our heart and intuition reaches out with love toward the generosity of the villagers, but when we ambitiously compete for what we want in the world, our mind and logic are in charge with greed and hatred as their soldiers. Can you see the difference?"

"No," I said. Frankly, I could not see the difference now by listening to his words, but this was about to change - unexpectedly.

"This arrangement between key seekers and villagers is mutually beneficial," a John continued, "for just as the key seeker benefits from the villagers by receiving food, the villagers derive untold benefits from the key seekers as well. Just being in close proximity of a key seeker insures that the villager will share the key seeker's expanded consciousness through a kind of psychic osmosis, favorably influencing his or her future existences. They also profit by observing key seekers' moral conduct; a good example for them in their daily lives, and by listening to occasional talks given by key seekers which are very helpful, both now and in the future when villagers might seek the key for themselves. They know that key seekers keep no secrets, and therefore villagers trust key seekers more than certain priests who venture out from their wealthy kingdoms from time to time with their concealed doctrines."

It was true that a John had a complete openness about him, no secretiveness, no manipulation, and everything he said instilled confidence.

"These generous farmers provide proof of a deep-seated kindness, a natural giving and compassion that are inherent in human beings. This is nothing less than a direct reflection of the Source, and key seekers have always looked upon these kind people with sincere affection and respect, seeing many things in the villagers that the key seeker himself has yet to possibly attain in his heart. Therefore, the key seekers benefit from villagers in many more ways other than merely obtaining food.

"A john, I'm afraid that words such as natural kindness, giving, and compassion are foreign to me. I have a lot of ground to cover." He only smiled, and was about to say something when Conqueror suddenly whinnied from deep in the forest. I heard horses coming, and grabbed a John by the arm, pushing him behind a bamboo grove just as three warriors emerged. One went after Conqueror and the other two dismounted, looking for tracks. Nobody from the kingdoms could ever mistake Conqueror. They must have spotted him, and they knew that I was close.

"Do not worry my friend," I whispered to a John, "these two will be dead before they hit the ground, and Conqueror will take care of the other one."

"No, no. Do not harm them." A John said. "We will surrender and avoid bloodshed."

"And let them kill me? You don't understand, there is a price on my head and they will be richly rewarded when they return with my dead body!"

"It's going to be alright," a John insisted. Then he pointed at my chest, his vacant eyes suddenly filled with fire, "Don't move!" he whispered loudly, and walked out to where the soldiers were standing. I suddenly had a better understanding of exactly where I stood in my relationship with this diminutive man.

"Where is he?" the warrior in charge curtly demanded.

"He is right there, in the bamboo grove," said a John innocently, and with his invariable grin. If he was afraid, he certainly didn't show it. (To be continued)

Author's Bio: 

E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-nine years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit www.AYearToEnlightenment.com