Cypress Tree

 A parable told by Thich Nhat Hanh:

There is a Zen story about a student who felt he hadn’t really received the deepest essence of his master’s teaching, and so he went to question him. His master replied, “On your way here, did you see the cypress in the courtyard?” Perhaps the student was not yet very mindful. The master was saying that if, on the way to see our teacher, we go past a cypress tree or a beautiful plum tree in blossom and we don’t really see it, then when we arrive in front of our teacher, we won’t see our teacher either. We shouldn’t miss any opportunity to really see our cypress tree. There are wonders of life we walk past every day, and yet we haven’t truly seen them. What is the cypress tree on the path you take to work every day? If you cannot even see the tree, how can you see your loved ones? How can you see God?

Every tree, every flower belongs to the Kingdom of God. If the dahlia in bloom does not belong to the Kingdom of God, where does it belong? If we want to have a relationship with God, if we want to understand God, all we need to do is behold the cypress tree on our path.

I read it HERE.