“Grandfather Monk, what color is that tree’s bark?” 

“It is the color that you see,” I told her…

What is your first thought with this?  What comes to mind?  Place yourself in the shoes of Grandfather Monk and think about your response to the child.  Now, place yourself into the shoes of the child.  What thoughts echo in your own head?

A dear Lightworker friend of mine shared this with me as it relates so well to everyday thought and process.  From when we are very young, we are constantly teaching our children things.  We teach them how to walk, how to talk, how to dress, how to eat, how to use their manners and how to play.  During the process we also likely are teaching them what to think. 

What to think.

Is that what we truly should be doing?  Or should we be teaching them to just think? 

What color is that tree’s bark?  If we are posed with that question, naturally we try and discern what color it is and the color is likely some shade of brown.  But, what if we did response like Grandfather Monk?  What if we told them exactly what he told his granddaughter?  Imagine the possibilities of what could be going through (hopefully) the child’s mind.

Could that child see tones of purple?  What about yellow or gray?  Perhaps even some orange?  Could we be limiting what our children understand by “teaching them how to think” rather than to simply “think”?

What have we taught others during the course of our lives?  Have we taught them about a belief set?  Have we taught them how to read, write or swim?  Or, have we taught them compassion, love and connectedness?  Have we tried to teach them to have an open mind in all senses?  To look at another human vessel and just “think”?  Do we wonder what experiences has this soul undergone to turn them into what they are as they stand before us?  How do we react to this person if they say something pleasant or cruel?  Would our response change?

“Mike, you are asking a lot of questions today.”

Yes.  Yes, I am.  I want you to think.  Deeply think.  Ask yourself these questions and separate what you have been “instructed to think” from what you actually just “think”.  Do you see a difference?

There is a car outside my office window currently.  I can see the driver side of the car.  If one of my staff were to ask me what color the car is, how would I respond?  I’ve been pondering this for the greater portion of the morning.  After much thought and “thinking” my response is that the car appears to be blue on the side facing me, but could be something different on the other.  I just don’t know. 

Does that test the limits of your mind?  Maybe you are rolling your eyes and thinking I am being obtuse?  I don’t even think my answer could be one that fits the context of this question as it is too definitive.  Maybe I should have said, “It is a tone that pleases my senses” or “It is a color that I am sure the owner derives a certain degree of joy from”? 

Simple questions like these I wish we would ask more.  I wish we would spend more time discussing and philosophizing over.  Awaken the deepest reaches of our minds, hearts and souls.  Connect to something that maybe we haven’t harnessed since our childlike minds were influenced with news, dogma and ideology of the modern world. 

I look back at my day so far today.  It began with the darkness of depression that sometimes creeps in without any warning, but instead of allowing myself to wallow in it, I decided to put on some music and think about it.  Where does my depression stem from?  What color could my world be without it? 

As I sat and pondered this, I reflected back to Grandfather Monk’s answer to the child.  I found myself immersed in thinking.  My coffee cup sat to the right of me and held steaming contents which I had not yet begun to consume.  As I reached for the cup, I paused for a moment to consider Grandfather Monk.

“What will this coffee taste like?” 

It stopped me dead in my tracks.  I can smell the aroma of the bold French Roast, but the thought occurred, could it taste differently today?  Will it taste differently today?  I sat and stared at this cup of coffee and allowed my mind to lose itself in a world of questions.  It felt good.  It felt comfortable.  It made the blackness begin to ebb and fade away into the recesses of my head. 

Maybe the hippies had it correct back in the 60’s?  Maybe they were onto something with communes, peace and free love?  Investment bankers would likely disagree, but what about the poets, the dreamers, the free spirits and free souls?  I think they may come to a different conclusion.  Is there a wrong answer?  Is there even an answer at all?  What does it matter in the grand scheme of life if someone you know thinks differently?  Do they need to be saved or indoctrinated into the way you think?  Some people would say with absolutism, “YES”.  Why?  What makes our views so correct?  Why should the yak herder in Mongolia think the same as the fashion designer in Paris?  What about the Sherpa in Kathmandu thinking the same as the fur trader in Quebec? 

Thinking. 

I hope you are doing a lot of this.  I hope this is expanding your mind and maybe even your consciousness a bit.  Maybe you might even want to read more about this subject?  If you do, I would refer you to “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings” by Thich Nhat Hanh. 

I hear some of you groaning as you are likely thinking, “Mike, I am not a Buddhist, nor do I want anything to do with that.”  To that, I would challenge you to read even just a few pages and allow your mind to ask questions.  I’m not here to convert.  I’m not here to tout Buddhism and the way of peace it brings me.  I fell in love with the simplicity of it.  The questions, the deep thoughts, the lack of punishment at the end of earthly life.  Simply, it teaches us to “think” in the manner we find most suited for us. 

Think.

Today I challenge every single person who has made it this far to be both Grandfather Monk and the Child.  Find something you normally would not question, and do just that.  Allow you mind to reach out into the cosmos and see what you find.  What do you see and feel?  How can these questions bring about a better quality of life or openness to a better life? 

Why do we stop asking questions?

An interesting question in itself and one for us all to ponder.  Many will say faith, trust or teachings they have learned.  But why?  Could we ask deeper and more challenging questions of all those?  Maybe it will shift a paradigm in our life or maybe it will strengthen what we already believe?  Can it hurt to ask?  No, I don’t believe so. 

“The color is what you see…”

What colors do you see in life?  What energy do you feel?  What will you do differently to adapt to a new mindset, especially in a challenging year like this?

Think.

Ponder.

Question.

Namaste, friends.

“Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time…”