Rocky     Pondering my intelligence, I considered myself a pile of rocks in a small world. I started with only one rock, a mere grain of sand. As my understanding increased, my stack grew. Every time I learned something new I added an appropriately sized rock. One day I compare it to others; I was plenty small and had much room to grow.   After much growth I compare again. “Wow,” I thought. “I look like one of the biggest pile there is. I even seem bigger than some of the legends I’ve heard of.” As I wondered how this was possible or even true, a shadow drifts past. I look back to see what could cause this thinking “darn, there is someone bigger than me.” Still aware of my achievement I begin to examine this boulder. Struggling for breath I notice, “It’s all one piece.”  Bending my head back to see its measure, I look for the top. I tilt so far that I fall flat on my back. This unbelievable boulder that I somehow didn’t see before disappeared behind a layer of clouds. Laying there in astonishment I come to terms with how insignificant this great accomplishment of mine is compared to this seemingly endless boulder. The mass of clouds break and I see more. The height of this boulder goes further than anyone could possibly observe. I can only assume it never ends. I may well be one of the biggest piles of rock but compared to this boulder, I felt greatly humbled. If there were eyes at the top of this single rock of pure united wisdom and understanding, they could look down at me and see nothing more than a speck.   Before this I wanted to keep growing in stature, to try and keep up with the growth of my competition, but now I’ve lost interest. I gaze at this endless rock and gain similarities as I learn. Some of the piles look at me as I change and think, “How foolish and small his understanding is becoming. It seems he keeps loosing some of his rocks, and his pile fill less space. Soon he may have only one. Our bounty of stones is far greater than any single rock since our piles take up more room.” They don’t affect me. I understand now that by completely integrating I can grow to be like the towering boulder. Funny thing is they would agree if they saw it but I was only able to because I looked for it. None of the rocks, pebbles or grains of sand could have explained this. To anyone who hasn’t experienced it, this makes no sense. “How can something so infinitely huge not be seen by everyone,” they would say. Well I can’t put that in plain words, but I can say I know it’s true. © 2004 Kai Napohaku