“My karma,” said the farmer, standing at
dawn viewing his ruined fields as far the eye could see.
A turkey vulture flying overhead swooped
down and asked, “How is it your karma? What happened?”
I wanted to jump on her without even
courting her. A goddess. Can you believe it! So of course he had me step back.”
“Who?” said the vulture circling about.
“My guru, the whole universe.”
“So, it’s over?”
“Look at these fields – devastated. Looks
bad, doesn’t it. He’s a tough guru, but he’s also always loving.”
“What do you mean?”
“He didn’t take her away completely. He’s
letting me love her from afar. I get to learn little more about love. So once
again, I’m blessed.”
The vulture perched on a boulder on the
side of the mountain. Far below was the city of Waynesboro. It looked like a pattern on a
quilt. “So what now?” asked the vulture.
“Who
knows? My life’s a puzzle.”
“Guess you’ll have to start meditating
again.”
“Okay, okay. How do I fit in all these
practices – with all the other stuff?”
“Put it into your ‘purpose,’” said the
vulture.
The farmer looked at the vulture. “Just
look at these fields.”
The vulture flapped his wings a few times.
The farmer heard a phone ringing somewhere and wondered -- “is it you, is it she? “Okay,” he said.
“I’ve been doing that purification Hatha Yoga. It gets me to focus and use my
mantra. So I guess I’ve begun meditating again.”
“It’s about the puzzle of your life,” said
the vulture. “Mind jumping about here and there, many-branched and endless are
the choices. Mind still and one-pointed, only one choice.”
“I got it,” said the farmer.
“Look at your fields again. What do you
see?”
The farmer was quiet for awhile. Then he
replied: “Fields of consciousness.”
“The field of Isaac” said the vulture, “as
in: ‘Isaac went out to meditate in the
field at eventide.’ – from the first scroll.”
The farmer cocked his head and stared at
the vulture. “How do you know all this old scripture stuff?”
“I been around a long time,” said the
turkey vulture. Then he spread his wings and flew up high above the mountain
until he was just a speck in the sky as the sun began to appear.
