In The Beginning

The boy ran up onto his grandfather’s porch. His face was lit with excitement and his eyes were shining. “Hello, Grandfather. How are you this fine evening?”

The grandfather had been watching the boy as he approached, skipping down the street. “I am well, young one. What has you so enthused this evening?”

“Why, I’m here to learn more about who I am. Remember last time, I told you that now that I know I am the answer to the question, ‘Who am I?’, I want to know more about myself.”

“I do remember that” the grandfather smiled. “And, are you now expecting me to tell you all about yourself?”

“Well… yes” the boy replied sitting on the porch near his grandfather’s rocking chair.

“And, do you think that I know you better than you know yourself?” The grandfather was raising one eyebrow.

“Uh-oh,” the boy thought to himself. This usually meant the boy was in for another lesson, but not many answers. “Well,” the boy decided to alter his approach. “Last time we were talking, I remember that, with your help, I figured out that the two wolves came from me, but I never really understood where I came from.”

“Ah ha,” the grandfather was ready and waiting for this. “So you want to know where you came from, and you want me to tell you? Is that about right?”

“Well, yes. I guess so.” The boy wasn’t sure where to go from here.

“And, you are worried that I will tell you to figure it out for yourself. Am I right?”

“Ah, yes.” The boy was starting to hope he might be off the hook, and that his grandfather would tell him some stories that would help him understand. And, he was not disappointed.

“Ok. Let’s begin at the beginning.” His grandfather checked his pipe, took a couple of long pulls, letting the smoke out slowly so it floated in a small grey cloud around his head. Then, he paused, looking out at the evening sky before he began.

“I told you that the story of the two wolves has been handed down from the Cherokee elders for many generations. Well, in similar fashion, peoples from every time and place in the world have passed down stories about the creation and all the creatures in it to their next generation. The story, well stories really, that I’m going to tell you now are very old, older than the Cherokee people and their stories. These stories come from India and have been told and re-told in songs and poetry by Indian sages since people started to settle the southern Indian continent thousands of years ago. This is what they tell about the eternal being and the creation, and man’s place in the universe.”

“Did they know about the two wolves, Grandfather?”

“They did, but they talked about them a little differently. And I, from my own experience, talk about them in my own way. You must listen, consider the stories, and use them to guide your investigation into your self.”

“Ok.”

“Good.” The grandfather went on, “these sages saw the eternal being as having three different forms. They called them ‘Brahma,’ ‘Vishnu,’ and ‘Shiva.’

Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the sustainer of all that is created, and Shiva is the destroyer. Brahma transforms the infinite into form, which is what we call the creation, or the world. Vishnu protects the forms which have been created from dissolving back into their primordial essence, which has no form. Vishnu, himself, takes human form and enters the world to guide us through his creation. The world exists inside of time, and time wears away at the world until it comes to meet Shiva, who awakens full of joy, and dances in ecstasy until what has been created dissolves back into the infinite, formless essence from which it came. It is Vishnu, in one of these forms, that always exists. He has no beginning and no end. He lives outside and inside of creation, and everything is contained within him. He simply is.”

“Grandfather?” the boy could not help interrupting. “What does infinite mean?”

“It means that which is outside the bounds of space and time, and thus cannot be known by the Bad Wolf, which is bound by time.”

“What about the Good Wolf? Is he, too, bound by time?”

“No, young one. The Good Wolf belongs to that part of us that holds the essence of the infinite. That essence has no beginning, no end, and cannot be created, nor destroyed. It simply is. Sometimes, it takes form, and sometimes it simply exists within itself. It is what gives us life. It is the am in I am.”

“Wow.” The boy was full of wonder.

“Are you ready for a story now?” asked the grandfather after some minutes of silence.

“Yes, please.”

In the Beginning

“There once lived a sage named Markandeya. He, like you, was interested in finding out more about himself, and spent his time going from place to place, enjoying the beauty of the world and the people in it.

“Do you remember that I said Vishnu sustains everything created? Well, in this story, Vishnu was dreaming about the world Brahma had brought into form. The entire creation existed within Vishnu’s dream. There was nothing outside his dream. Outside the dream was all the uncreated essence without form.

“So, here is Markandeya wandering around the only world he knows, completely unaware that he is a character in Vishnu’s dream, when suddenly, Vishnu’s mouth falls open in his sleep, and Markandeya sails into the nothingness on Vishnu’s outgoing breath. Markandeya is terrified. He can see nothing, hear nothing, smell nothing, taste nothing, and feel nothing. He is completely alone. He cries out but cannot hear his own cry. There is nothing to carry his cries to his own ears. He is suspended in the void. There is no time where he is.

“Finally, Vishnu breaths in again, and Markandeya is sucked back into the world he knows. He is sitting in a field and everything is as normal as it ever was for him. Once his heart has slowed down and he has leaned over and smelled the grass, and felt the solid earth beneath him, he gets shakily to his feet and goes on his way. Time passes, for he is back inside creation where time exists. After a while Markandeya forgets what happened to him, and goes on with his life as it was.

“After quite a while, Markandeya has traveled to another part of the country. When he is sitting under a tree on a small hill beside the road, Vishnu once again lets his mouth fall open in his sleep, and Markandeya is carried into the void on Vishnu’s out going breath. As before, Markandeya is terrified. Alone. Unable to feel, or see, or hear, or taste, or smell. He is completely lost. There is no time. He is no where.

“As before, Vishnu once again inhales in is sleep, and Markandeya is sucked back into the dream of the world he knows. Markandeya cannot comprehend what is happening to him. Where does he go? How long is he there? Can he make it stop happening?

“But, again, after some time, Markandeya begins to forget what happened to him. Not altogether, but his fears dwindle as the time passes.”

“It happens again, doesn’t it?” The boy couldn’t help himself.

“It does,” replied his grandfather. “But, this time something new happens. When Markandeya rides Vishnu’s out going breath, he sees there is a cosmic child, floating in the void, asleep on the leaf of a banyan tree. The child awakens and addresses Markandeya, telling him that he, the child, is Vishnu in this form. The cosmic child then compliments Markandeya on his devotion to acquiring knowledge as he wandered around the world. And, then he reveals to Markandeya the secrets of how Vishnu forms the creation out of himself, cares for his creation and everything in it, and then absorbs that creation back into himself. In the beginning of each new age Vishnu, in this form of the sleeping child, awakens and takes the form of Brahma to create the world and all that exists therein, anew. The cosmic child continued, telling Markandeya that once the creation is complete, the cosmic child takes form as Vishnu, and enters the world himself as a human being to help us understand and protect it. Likewise, at the end of each age, Vishnu manifests in the form of Shiva to dissolve the creation back into the primordial sea from which it was created. Then Vishnu returns to sleep as the cosmic child.”

The grandfather rocked back in his chair and refilled, tamped, and relit his pipe. After he had smoked for a few minutes, he looked at the boy, who was sitting quietly by his chair thinking about the story he had just heard.

“Grandfather?” the boy started out slowly, “does this mean that we are living in someone else’s dream world?”

“Well,” the grandfather replied. “Yes and no.”

“What do you mean, Grandfather?”

“You know how Markandeya traveled between the dream world and primordial sea, where he met Vishnu? What does that tell you about Markandeya?”

The boy looked out at the sunset for a few minutes, pondering the question. Then he said, “If Markandeya existed in both Vishnu’s dream, and he could float around in the formless void and talk to Vishnu as the cosmic child, it must mean there is part of him that exists before and after each creation, and that he can live inside each creation as well.” He paused, then looked at his grandfather. “Does that make sense, Grandfather?”

“Yes, young one. It makes a great deal of sense. Markandeya was experiencing both the I and the am of himself. In this world he was inside of time and space and was experiencing the I, and in the formless essence he was outside of time and space where there is no I, and he was the am.

Do you remember that we started out talking about the two wolves? Well, when the world is created at the beginning of each new age, human beings are each created with both the Good Wolf and the Bad Wolf inside of them. The two wolves are the same size and strength. The creator builds his creation out of love. This is the heart of Vishnu, and he builds each being around this core of his love. The Good Wolf and his qualities live in this core. This is the heart within each of us. Each of us is also given consciousness.”

“Consciousness? What exactly is consciousness, Grandfather?”

“Consciousness is the ability to be aware of our own existence and perceive everything around us. It is also through consciousness that we can experience the love from which we are created. It is this consciousness that enables us to recognize both the Good Wolf and the Bad Wolf. Our consciousness allows us to know and understand the world and ourselves. We can choose which of the wolves we wish to allow to guide us though our lives.

“We are given our five senses with which to see, and hear, and smell, and taste, and touch the world. And, we are given our minds to organize our experiences into thoughts by which we can understand those experiences. The five senses we use to interact with the world exist so we can live in this creation, but belong to us only while we are in this world. They are temporary. The Bad Wolf prefers these senses and uses them to store our experiences in his own way. It’s like he is recording our life as it is happening and storing it for later. Then, later he considers what has expired and uses these memories to construct meaning and plan for the future. While he is busy thinking about the past and using the memories to imagine what he will do in the future, he is not really paying attention to the present. But, he is not concerned because he is recording it.

“These five senses through which we experience the world outside of us are a manifestation of five similar senses that belong to Vishnu’s world, both the dreaming and the sleeping part. The Good Wolf likes these senses because they put us in touch with the heart within us and give us a fuller understanding of our life. It is the heart that connects us to the infinite that exists outside of creation and time. It is the door through which Vishnu passes in and out of form on his breath. It is this door that Vishnu showed Markandeya. Vishnu also showed Markandeya how to use his breath to go back and forth with Vishnu as he makes and unmakes the world. It is the breath that is our connection to Vishnu. Everything exists in Vishnu. Even time lives inside of him. In Vishnu there is no past and no future, just now. This is how the Good Wolf understands the world and connects the answers with the questions. The breath is the thread that binds everything together.”

“How do we choose the Good Wolf? How do we get to know how to use his five senses to go inside and find the door?” the boy wanted to know.

“Remember that I told you the Good Wolf lives in the heart, and you get to understand him through love. The Bad Wolf always seeks explanations for everything using the outward senses. Because of this he can only find answers that are temporary. These do not satisfy him. He can find no answers in him so he borrows ones from others, or makes them up.”

“I thought you said each question gets created at the same time as the matching answer.” The boy thought he saw an inconsistency.

“That is true.” His grandfather said. “Both the answers and the questions are created as part of us. The Good Wolf has the answers that the Bad Wolf wants. But, the way the Bad Wolf chooses to experience life robs him of the ability to find them. The Bad Wolf cannot understand where the Good Wolf lives. The Good Wolf is like Markandeya, he can go anywhere he wants. He exists in both the world and the primordial sea out of which the world arises. And, when you make the Good Wolf your friend, he can take you with him wherever he goes.”

“Wow,” the boy was in awe.

“Yes.” The grandfather agreed.

***

Who Am I?

One evening the boy made his regular visit to see his grandfather. He sat quietly on the porch near his grandfather’s rocking chair, and for once, the boy was not eager to ask a question.

The grandfather rocked silently smoking his pipe for several minutes, waiting.

Finally, his grandson looked directly at him and thoughtfully asked, “Grandfather, you told me that we each have the Good Wolf and the Bad Wolf inside us. But, where did they come from? Were they always there, or did they come into us sometime when we were unaware?” He paused, but was not finished, for he had been thinking and discussing the two wolves with his companions ever since hearing about them. “I did not even know about them until you told me. I did not even realize I had voices going on in my head all the time. Then, once you told me about the two wolves, all of a sudden, my head was full of voices. Were they always there, or did you put them there?”

The grandfather stopped rocking and watched him closely while he talked. The boy finished, and then the grandfather rocked back and forth and smoked his pipe while he considered the question and how he wanted to answer it.

In due time, the grandfather answered, “These are very good questions which you pose. Now, you remember what I told you about questions.” This was not a question.

“Do you remember that I told you that the questions you have, come from inside of you, and the answers must come from inside of you as well? They are your questions. You own them. And, in order for you to own the answers to your questions, you cannot borrow someone else’s answer, for that answer belongs only to them.”

“Yes. But, if we don’t know where the answers are inside of us, how are we to find them?” the boy replied.

“Well, let me give you a hint,” the grandfather went on. “You listen.”

Then, he sat back in his rocker, smiled, and waited.

“But, what am I to listen for?” The boy was frustrated.

“You listen for the answer” the grandfather said.

“You see, we think that the question sends us in search of the answer. But, this is not the case. It is the answer that energizes us to seek it, and this gives rise to the question. There cannot be a question without an answer. They are created together, but the answer must come first."

Then he continued. Let me me give you an example, "It is like an itch. The itch seems to come first, and it gives rise to the urge to scratch. Then you answer the urge to scratch with your action, and the itch goes away. But, if no ‘scratch’ existed, the existence of an itch would be meaningless. And, nothing exists without a purpose. Similarly, we think thirst comes first, and then water is the answer that satisfies thirst. But, if water did not exist first, why would thirst come into being? There would be no need for thirst without the existence of water. Our bodies need water to survive, and it is this need that causes thirst to arise. It is the same for every need we have. When we are created, we are created with needs that must be fulfilled in order to live full and happy lives. And, whatever is necessary to satisfy those needs must already exist."

The grandfather paused for a few minutes while the boy thought about what his grandfather was saying.

“Do you now see that if the answer did not already exist, the question could be resolved with any answer at all?” the grandfather continued.  “This is why I tell you that you own the answer and you own the question. They are yours and yours alone. They are created together and cannot be separated. When you borrow an answer, it does not truly match your question, so it will not satisfy you.”

“But, what if there is no answer to your question?” the boy asked.

“If that were the case,” the grandfather replied. “What caused the question to arise?”

The boy was looking more confused.

“Maybe I should go back to the question of the two wolves, and talk to you about them for a while.”

“That would be great!” the boy said with enthusiasm, hoping that would make more sense to him.

Who Am I

“Let’s start at the beginning. Where do you think you came from?” the grandfather asked the boy.

“Uhh…” the boy was caught off guard. “I thought you were going to tell me about the two wolves. These, at least, I was beginning to understand a little bit.”

“Good. Tell me about where you think they came from.”

The boy thought about that for a while, then started to work it out. “Well, I guess they came from me.”

“Ok. But, where did you come from?”

“I don’t know” the boy answered.

“Let’s try this” the grandfather altered course a bit. “Let’s say you are the answer to a question. What do think the question is to which you are the answer?”

The boy sat up straighter and smiled. He knew the answer. “Who am I?”

And that made the grandfather laugh. “Good.”

“And, that means that the question is, ‘Who am I?’ and the answer is, ‘I am’!” The boy was excited. Then, after a pause, the boy went on “But, now, I guess, I want to know more about me.”

“And we’re off…” the grandfather chuckled, and slapped his knee.

***

Watch Your Step

“Grandfather!” the boy was out of breath as he ran up to his grandfather’s porch. “Would you tell me another story about the two wolves?”

“Sure,” replied the grandfather. “But why are you running?”

“Well…,” the boy said, pausing to catch his breath. “Ever since you told me the story about the two wolves, I have not been able to stop thinking. I never noticed it before. But, now it seems like all I do is think. I think and think and think. About everything. The voices in my head are always going.

“They are constantly going back and forth arguing in my head about the best thing for me to do. The Bad Wolf is always giving me advice and telling me things that get me into trouble. And, the Good Wolf is there, too. But, he is quieter, and I need to listen hard to hear him behind the chattering of the Bad Wolf. But, they sound a lot alike. How can I tell the difference?”

 “Now that’s the real question in this life, isn’t it?” replied the grandfather. “It is very hard to tell what to do sometimes. Both wolves have very good reasons for what you should choose to do. Have you noticed that the voices go back and forth, first saying, ‘Now you should do this,’ and then right away, ‘But if I do that, then this might happen’?”

“Yes! But they both sound like they belong to me! Sometimes something happens to me during the day and I can’t even go to sleep at night because they are arguing so loud about what I should do about it.”

“Let me ask you this,” the grandfather said. “What happened to you yesterday that kept you from sleeping last night?”.

“Oh.” The question stopped the boy. He had to think about it. “Well, our teacher asked us to write a paper about what we want to do when we grow up. And, I have so many ideas in my head, it’s driving me crazy!”

The boy was frustrated. “Sometimes, I want to just come and ask you what I should do. I trust you.”

“That’s good. And, I trust you, too. But, why do you trust me to tell you the right thing to do more than you trust yourself?”

The boy was expecting the grandfather to give him a way to know what to do. “Well, you are older and wiser than me.” Now, he sounded a little unsure of himself.

“I am older than you, that is true. But, I can’t give you my wisdom. To simply accept my advice does not help you. It is only my answer to your question, not yours. It is just another voice in your head.”

The boy realized that what his grandfather was saying was true. He was asking his grandfather to solve his problem for him. He leaned a little toward his grandfather and nodded.

 “Let me tell you something about the Bad Wolf and the Good Wolf. Have you ever heard the wolves howling at the moon?”

“Sure” the boy replied for they lived in highlands at the foot of mountains that were covered with woods and streams and rocks to climb.

“Well, if you ever go up to Lookout Rock when the moon is up, you might see the two wolves sitting there looking out over the valley at the moon. You may notice that one of the wolves is howling at the moon, while the other one is simply gazing quietly at it. The Bad Wolf is doing the baying because he sees the bright light of the moon, but it gives him no warmth. He thinks it’s light should warm him as the sun’s light does during the day, so he is calling out to the moon, begging it for some warmth.

“Now, the Good Wolf knows that the light of the moon is merely a reflection of the light from the sun, which cannot be seen at night. He does not expect the moon to give him any warmth so he is not disappointed. He is not asking for anything from the moon. He is grateful to the moon for the beauty of its reflection. He knows it is only visible to him because the sun is shining on it from the other side of the earth. He appreciates the moon’s beauty as a gift that reminds him that sun is still there even in the dark, and will return again in the morning to give him warmth.”

The grandfather fell silent for a few minutes, then began again. “You asked how you can tell which wolf is talking to you. The only way to tell is to notice that the Bad Wolf does all the talking. He is willing to take all sides in any argument. And, he will chatter away, about what you did or what was done to you, and what you will do or what will be done to you, for as long as you will listen. That is why the voices in your head sound the same. The Good Wolf simply waits quietly. He is not concerned with the past or the future. The past is gone and will not return no matter how much we think about it. And, the future is only a fantasy we cobble together out of our past memories and desires we have created for ourselves.  The only way to hear what Good Wolf is saying is to sit beside him and listen to his breathing. The breath we are taking in at this moment is the only one in which we are alive.  We cannot retrieve a breath once it has gone out from us. Nor, can we command a breath to come into us that has not yet been given. When you have listened to the breathing for a while, you will realize that this breathing is your own, and the voice of the Bad Wolf starts to fade away. Then you can begin to sense what the Good Wolf is telling you.”

Once again, the grandfather was quiet for a few minutes. Then he started again. “This is not to say that you are relieved of the responsibility of doing your homework. You must take action in this world. But, if you act from the feelings in your heart, you will take right action, for it is the heart that connects you to the present. And, it is in the heart that the Good Wolf resides. If you understand this, you will be able to recognize your feelings about the things you like to do in the present, and this will help you stop fantasizing about what you might like to do in the future. In this way you will be able to approach your homework with more clarity.”

Now, I will tell you another story.”

***

Watch Your Step

“Once there was a beggar man. He was very poor and during the day he would wait around the market place for one of the merchants to give him a little job to do in exchange for some food. At night, he would sleep in the straw under one of the merchant’s tables. It was usually dry and the cloth the merchants put over their tables in the evening hung down and gave him a little protection from the night chill.

“There was a land owner that came every day to the market to get a pot of yogurt from the dairy farmer. The beggar would help the farmer fill the customer’s bowls and jugs with yogurt, milk and cream. In return the farmer gave the beggar some food and allowed him to sleep in the straw under his stand at night.

“Well, one day, the landowner asked the beggar to help him carry his bowl of yogurt back to his house. He offered to pay him a few coins to do this. The beggar was only too glad for the job, and so they started off together. The landowner carrying some bags of vegetables and the beggar carrying the pot of yogurt on his head. When they reached the landowner’s house, he gave the beggar the coins, and both were pleased.

“The beggar returned to the market place, and with the coins was able to purchase a loaf of bread that the baker had not sold. Now he had something to go with the bowl of yogurt the farmer gave him for helping at his stand. It had been a very good day for the beggar and he was able to sleep a little easier that night with some extra food in his stomach.

“The next day, the landowner returned for more vegetables and yogurt, and once again asked the beggar for help carrying the pot of yogurt to his home. This arrangement continued and became a regular job for the beggar, who was soon able to save some coins each day after he had bought his food.

“It was not long before the beggar started to think about the money he was saving. He thought how he could save enough money to buy a goat. He could tie it up in a vacant field just outside the market place and let it eat it’s fill of grass and weeds. He saw how much the farmer was making at his stand selling his dairy products. He was sure the farmer would give him a good price on a nanny.

“The beggar used his time carrying the landowner’s pot of yogurt every day to plan his new life. The nanny would give good milk and the beggar could sell it to the farmer to add to his table in the market. That would work. And, soon he would be able to save enough from the proceeds from the goat’s milk to buy a billy goat to mate with the nanny. Then, they would have kids and he would need to rent some land from the farmer to keep his goats.

“After some time, the beggar would be able to buy a cow from the farmer, who had always showed him great kindness and who he knew he could count on for support as he started his new life. The cow would share the field with the goats and the beggar could rent part of the farmer’s stand to sell his products. In this way he would, in a few years, be able to purchase some land of his own from the farmer and eventually build a house. Then, he would be able to afford a wife. It would not be long before they had children, and together they could work their little farm. Maybe the farmer would sell him his farm when he got too old to work it for himself and the beggar would let him live there for free because the farmer had been so good to him along the way. The beggar would play with his children and help his beautiful wife, for he knew she would be beautiful, baking the bread in the kitchen. They would sell the extra bread along with their milk and yogurt and butter at their stand in the market place.

“In his revery, the beggar was by now playing in his big yard on his farm with his children. He could hear them laughing and see his wife sitting on the porch watching them cavort. Then suddenly, he tripped over a rock in the field.

“The beggar was very surprised to hear the crash that sounded like a large yogurt pot breaking when he fell.

“’What are you doing? You crazy beggar!’ the landowner cried. ‘Now look, what you’ve done. Not only is my yogurt spoiled, but you broke my best pot, too!’

“The beggar was dazed and confused by the fall. He shook his head and yelled back at the landowner. ‘What are you so upset about? You just lost a pot and some yogurt. My whole life is shattered. I’ve lost my wife and children, my farm, my cattle and goats and chickens…’.

I forgot to mention the chickens in his dream” the grandfather said with a wry smile.

***

The Two Wolves

One day a boy went to his grandfather and asked, “Grandfather, would you tell me about the two wolves? I have heard people talk about them, but I do not understand.”

The grandfather invited the boy to sit with him. “The story of the two wolves has been handed down by word of mouth from the Cherokee tribal elders for many generations. I will tell you stories about these two wolves so you can understand that they both exist inside of you.”

“Inside of me?” the boy said, surprised.

“Yes,” replied the grandfather. “They both reside in each human being. They are in constant battle with each other for control of the life of the being in which they reside. One is the Bad Wolf and the other is the Good Wolf.

The Bad Wolf is full of fear, sadness, pride, hate, envy, greed, and vengeance. And, out of those tendencies, this wolf is full of falsehood. The Good Wolf is full of faith, joy, love, peace, empathy, compassion, hope, and forgiveness. And, out of these qualities, this wolf is full of truth.

“Is the Bad Wolf inside of you, too, Grandfather?” asked the boy, for he had always known his grandfather to be thoughtful, generous, loving, and wise.

“Oh, yes! The Bad Wolf lives inside of me, too.” The grandfather smiled. “And, he never misses a chance to whisper in my ear all his ideas and suggestions for what I should do.”

“But, what about the Good Wolf?” the boy asked.

“Oh, he is there, too. Only, his voice is not always so loud. But, it is there if we take the time and care to listen. The Bad Wolf tends to be loud and very insistent. The Good Wolf is quieter, more patient and steady. He is constant and always there with encouragement to act from those qualities which he embodies.”

“Grandfather, if the Good Wolf and Bad Wolf are always fighting, whispering in my ears, which one will win this great battle you speak of?”

“The Cherokee say 'It depends on which one you feed'” his grandfather answered. It means you get to choose which one you listen to most."

I will tell you a story about the essence of the two wolves so that you may better understand the true nature of each. This is a story about Darkness and Light.”

"But what about the wolves?” the boy piped up.

His grandfather laughed. “Be patient little one,” he said. In this story, the Bad Wolf wears the cloak of darkness, and the Good Wolf wears the cloak of light.”

“Oh,” the boy replied, slightly embarrassed.

“Don’t worry,” the grandfather said gently. “You are right to express your surprise and curiosity. It is the way to understanding.” 

The boy slowly nodded his head, taking in what his grandfather was saying.

“Are you now ready to hear the story of Darkness and Light?” his grandfather asked. His eyes were shining.

“Yes.”

***

Darkness and Light

“There was a time when Darkness went to the judge and made a complaint against Light. ‘Your Honor,’ said Darkness. ‘I would like you stop Light from bothering me everywhere I go.’

‘Tell me more about how Light is bothering you, Darkness’ the judge replied.

‘Well,’ Darkness continued. ‘Whenever I find a place I like, I start to get comfortable. And, then along comes Light and chases me away. It happens every time.’

The judge listened attentively. Then said ’I can understand your frustration. But, before I can make a judgment against Light, I must hear his side of the story.’

So, the judge called Light to come before him. He told Light what Darkness had told him and asked Light ‘what do you have to say about this complaint?’

Light replied, ‘Your Honor, I am very sorry to hear that I am causing a problem for Darkness, but I have never met him.’

‘Well he is right here, you can meet him now.’

But, when they turned to Darkness, he was no longer there.

This is because Light has an essence. It exists on its own. Darkness, however, has no essence of its own. It is a name for the absence of Light” the grandfather finished the story.

“Do you understand?” he asked his grandson.

“Sort of” the boy replied. “But, does this mean that the Bad Wolf does not really exist?”

The grandfather smiled and rocked back in his chair. “That’s exactly what it means! The Bad Wolf has no power of its own. The only power it has is that which we give it when we listen to its lies. When we stop concentrating on the voice of the Good Wolf, the Bad Wolf starts to whisper to us.”

“Mmm” the boy nodded.

“I think that is enough for tonight, young one.” His grandfather stood up and stretched, and the boy followed, beginning to yawn.

“Come back tomorrow, and I will tell you another story to help you better understand how we feed each of these wolves.”

***