What was the secret? The old man lay on the fresh summer grass gazing at the silver and white clouds rolling by carelessly through the open blue sky. Brilliant orange rays from the midday sun peeked through the treetops and illuminated the meadow below. The scent of wildflowers filled the man’s nostrils as he gently stroked a hand through his scruffy gray beard and continued to gaze at the oceanic sky. A flock of white doves soared in unison above him creating a perfect V. The splendor of their flight enchanted the man as his mind drifted into a spell of reverie and he gently closed his eyes.
A kaleidoscope of long lost memories danced before his inner vision. Images from his boyhood surfaced from the depths of his consciousness. As a boy he would clamber over the hillside and down to this very meadow. He would dash eagerly past this same spot where he now lay and on down to the silver stream that flowed freely through the heart of the forest. He would remove his clothes and bathe in the cool crystal clear water of the stream. The memory passed and another one arose.
He was a young boy again. It was a beautiful day, much like the present one where he now lay as an old man, and he and his father were walking through the woods together when the boy spotted a rabbit. He immediately started after the rabbit and as he was chasing it the boy tripped over the root of a tree trunk and fell and scraped his knee. His knee was bleeding and he began crying. The father came over to clean up the wound and gently caressed and nurtured his son. The memory passed and another arose.
The boy had now grown into a handsome young man. It was his wedding day. He was dressed in an all black suit. He gazed at his wife to be. She looked so stunning in her long white dress. She was the image of perfection. She was the most beautiful sight that had ever been seen. He admired her beauty and basked in the warmth of her rays. He had truly been the luckiest man alive. The memory passed and another one arose.
Memories continued to arise and pass. Memories of singing and dancing, of laughing and crying, of stillness and movement, continued to swirl incessantly in front of his eyes. All of these memories flooded his senses with a striking and vibrant clarity of feeling. Tears welled up in the old man’s eyes and trickled down his cheek. These tears were of both sadness and of joy. They were tears of life. They were tears of the human experience.
What was it that made these memories so special and timeless? What made the human experience so precious? What was it that made people laugh and cry? What made them happy? What did sages and saints spend lifetimes searching for? What did beggars and kings alike live and die for? What was it that made birds sing and crickets chirp? What was it that inspired the sun to rise and set? What did nature live and die for? What was the secret?
One more memory returned to him. As a young man he was walking down a crowded city street when he stared deeply into the eyes of a complete stranger. This image of the stranger whose eyes he had gazed into for only an instant, with whom he had not since crossed paths, returned to him with immediacy and importance. He realized now that there was a gleam and depth in that stranger’s eyes that he had never seen before or since in another human being.
As this particular memory passed the flow of thoughts and images had ceased altogether. The man rested in the space that exists in between thoughts, he rested in a state of emptiness and of pure being. He experienced the present moment. All notions and perceptions of time had vanished like a grizzly bear when winter comes. The past and the future had dissolved and entered into the deep chasm of now. Out of this chasm a question returned with resounding urgency. The knowledge of the answer to this one question was his only remaining desire. The question whose answer would give him peace, solace, and closure returned. What was the secret?
In that moment all of his questions and answers became one. In that moment of emptiness the secret bubbled forth and rose like a fairy tale giant awakening from a long slumber. The answer echoed throughout the man’s entire being. It came from within and it came from without. It reverberated over the hillside and across the plains. It climbed the tallest mountains and descended into the deepest valleys. It was here and now and it had been there and would be there, everywhere, all of the time.
Love. This was the secret. To love all of life unconditionally, to love unrestrictedly with a boundless heart, to love without desiring anything in return, this was the secret. The man realized that throughout his entire life it was in the times of love, when he had loved and when he had been loved, that he was the happiest. In fact, these were the only times when he had experienced happiness. The power of love was supreme and paramount. There was no obstacle that love could not overcome, no mountain that love could not climb, and no stone that love could not overturn. The man smiled as he inhaled the breath of love deeply and slowly. Upon exhalation his spirit left the body. He gracefully spread his wings and entered into the light breeze having known the secret of love.
