Once upon a time…

 

Once upon a time…

Once upon a time

there was

a peaceful ocean.

One day,

upon that ocean,

a tender young leaf

came floating down.

After a while,

a tiny raindrop

fell softly

into the leaf.

And there,

inside the little leaf,

the raindrop

became a shimmering dew drop.

Morning arrived.

Warm light

gently filled

the ocean world.

The drop, too,

filled with light.

And with light

came awareness.

The little drop

looked within

and saw

its own reflection.

In that reflection

it saw the leaf,

the distant sun,

the sky, the earth,

trees and meadows,

everything.

As the leaf

drifted peacefully

day after day,

the drop noticed

other leaves too.

Some from mango trees,

some from jasmine vines,

some from wild forest trees.

And in every tender leaf

there shimmered

a drop of consciousness.

A drop in a leaf.

A leaf upon the ocean.

An ocean reflected

inside every drop.

Every day

the drop searched

for another leaf

like its own.

And then,

one day,

it found one.

A tender leaf.

A shining drop within it.

Inside that drop,

its own reflection.

Inside its own reflection,

that other drop again.

Two reflections,

endlessly holding

one another.

The two drops

longed deeply

to come closer.

They came close,

very close,

yet could not

cross beyond

the edges of their leaves.

After many seasons

of longing,

the two drops

finally tied

their little worlds

together,

by gently locking

the stems

of their leaves.

Now together,

they wandered

across the ocean.

One morning,

after a silver rain,

they awoke to see

a third little drop,

a tiny one,

resting beside them

They passed it on 

to a fresh new leaf

Days passed.

Nights passed.

Rains arrived,

winds wandered,

rainbows appeared.

The sky, the earth,

the trees, the fields,

all stood witness.

And still

the ocean flowed.

Then one day,

within that great current,

the second drop

was swept away.

the first drop searched

everywhere.

Perhaps, it thought,

its story

was only

a shimmering illusion,

like heat dancing

upon tropical waters.

“This leaf too

will someday fade.

No matter what,

I must see

the oceans depths"

And so,

the drop moved

toward the edge

of the leaf.

It peered into

the abyss,

the vastness

it had feared

all its life.

It saw

its own reflection

inside the ocean,

and the ocean’s reflection

inside itself.

Fear arose.

The drop stepped back.

But morning returned.

Warm awareness

returned again.

Its imagination,

its memories,

all the beautiful scenes

within it,

the sky, the earth,

trees and meadows,

were all reflections

inside itself.

Then,

for the very first time,

in the morning light,

it truly saw

the ocean:

vast, alive,

filled with wondrous consciousness.

The same wonder,

the same light,

light of all lights,

filled the world,

the ocean,

every single drop.

the droplet was the ocean.

The ocean was the driplet.

Not two things,

only one awareness.

The drop’s fear

 dissolved.

It came once more

to the edge of the leaf.

And then,

the little drop

rolled 

into the ocean.

Awareness

became whole

once again.

And though

no drop remained,

the story lingered

in the breathing ocean,

blissful as eternity.