A number of young men and young women in Lo Zu’s village gathered around him
one day and one of them said, “Many people, even from other villages, say that
you are a great sage, a man of vast wisdom who carries the truth; please show us
how to carry the truth with us.”
After a considerable length of silence, Lo Zu stood up and said, “If you want the truth, follow me and do exactly what I say, but it will be a very arduous journey with many difficulties.” Then Lo Zu took his meandering cane and began walking, and all of the youth eagerly followed him, with excitement and expectation in their eyes.
He walked through a very large meadow, often bending down to examine the beautiful wildflowers and
insects (while deeply enjoying them). The youth all followed. Then he walked into a thick forest
containing many creeks harboring extremely slippery rocks. All of the youth were somewhat afraid,
but they continued to follow him. After a couple of hours, they came out of the forest
and began climbing a small mountain, all following Lo Zu carefully and diligently. When they
finally reached a very lofty height, Lo Zu stopped walking and began carefully placing large
rocks in each of the youths’ hands. As he placed the large rocks in the hands of each of the
young followers, he said, “These are very special, sacred stones of truth; please carry these back to the
village very carefully, without dropping any; please do not drop the truth.”
Each of the youth carried a number of stones. They followed Lo Zu down off of the mountain. They struggled on their way through the dark forest; it was very
perilous and difficult with the weight of the stones making their journey all the more excruciating. As they walked through the large meadow, back toward the
village, many of them were aching with pain from the tiresome journey and from the heavy weight of the stones (over time).
When they finally reached the village, Lo Zu told them to place the stones in a large pile. It was the end of the day, getting dark, and everyone was extremely exhausted (except for Lo Zu who did not carry any stones). Lo Zu asked them, then, to stand in a circle around the stones. Then Lo Zu remarked to them all, “Here is the truth you worked so diligently for. These stones are absolutely worthless. They are not any different from any other stones that one can find. You believed in me, hoping for the truth to be handed to you. Out of your confusion, you decided that I always held the truth (to give to you). Many people, out of confusion, choose high-ranking “others” to lead them to the truth; out of their confusion, they choose! They go to temples and ask the temple-keepers to give them the truth. What the temple-keepers generally give, however, is as useless as these rocks. Nevertheless, people blindly and devotedly adhere to what they say, just as you have done with me today. It is evening, and you may be disappointed to find that you have wasted your whole day. Do not feel too wronged by this. Many people have wasted their entire lives in carrying the worthless stones, burden, weighty images, and so-called sacred statues of others, and it isn’t evening at the end of it for them; it is the time of their death. They wasted not a day but their entire life, and the sacred eluded them.
Therefore, do not cling to any groups or authoritarian leaders who claim to give concrete methods toward the truth; instead,
find living truth within, without using taxing systems or time.
The first step and the last step are one.”
Magnificent Eastern Tailed Blue (in a meadow, of course!)… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
Wow.. SuperBe
Many thanks, Leyla! Hoping your weekend is magical! 🙂
I love this. So true. Thank you.
So glad you see it, CC! Hoping your weekend is insightful! 🙂
Beautiful story and pic! Btw, is the wise Lo Zu your own invention? I could not find him on Google.
Thank you, LV! 🙂
Yes, Lo Zu is my own, though it definitely is a tribute to Lao Tzu, the famous ancient philosopher and author of the Tao Te Ching. A good translation, though far from perfect (like most), is Tao Te Ching (edited by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English).
A true parable!
Thanks much, Ken! It was a very enjoyable one to write! Hoping your weekend is superb! 🙂
i love those stories
Thanks, Paul! I do too! Hoping your weekend is golden! 🙂
It could well be in spite of the rain, interiorly speaking. And thank you.
Raining a lot here too (in Illinois… from a hurricane)!
Superb story and butterfly.
Much appreciated, Sandy! It was a fun one! Keep snappin’ and poetizing! 🙂
You too my friend!
WOW Tom! Is this story one of your compositions? What a good read and a powerful lesson! 🙂 I really enjoyed reading it. Sounds like “The Great Wizard” from The Wizard of Oz and the students were the Munchkins!
Follow the Yellow Brick Wall…I mean Road boys and girls!!! LOL
Yes, it’s one of my creations. It was a fun one to write! I could almost see it really happening! 🙂
Excellent proverb! I love it and I have to agree with you, I too can picture a scene like that actually happening. Quite honestly, it really is.
Great job Tom! 🙂
My burden feels lighter already. Quite a good tale, Tom.
Too many of us, Linda, carry far too much of the crap that others load us with! 🙂
Ah, a heavy truth, one many cannot get a grip on let alone carry. But very wise. Thank you.
Too many of us want the easy way, the blueprint way! … and, of course, there is no such thing! 🙂
I liked your tale and I liked this beautiful periwinkle blue butterfly too.
Thank you, Linda! Maybe, out there somewhere, there is a real Lo Zu and this tale really happened! 🙂
Indeed. This is needed for many young people today. Reblogged on poemsbyvearnagloster.blog
Thank you much for the ReBlog, Vearna! 🙂
Wonderful color and so beautiful! So lucky Tom! 🙂
Thank you, Marcela! 🙂
Excellent bit of wisdom you have passed along here, Lo Zu!