Source: Wallpaper-million
They fled the mountaintop not knowing which way to go.
Nothing was in view to the left or to the right.
No path to lead them.
So they went down, for they were already at the highest point.
And a path was provided.
The mountaintop had become so common a view they sought a different one.
One more beautiful.
One more accepting.
One more forgiving.
One more graceful.
One more loving.
One more revealing.
One with other views to explore for there was no other at the top.
Except the only one they could see.
And they grew bored.
They had seen it all.
They had felt it all.
They had heard it all.
Their voices sang songs of self-adulation because they were at the top, and they had won what was given them from the beginning.
They deserved it.
So they assumed.
They needed nothing else.
All that was left was the hope of finding enlightened land further down for a change of scenery.
There was nowhere else to go.
And so they went.
Time had passed.
Though not long.
The sun had barely set.
They had reached the bottom and saw what else there was.
They stood environed by views, one for every inch of every direction.
Each view provided an altered guise.
They knew not where each had led.
Perhaps to different places, they reasoned.
Perhaps to the same place, they felt.
They waited.
And waited.
Uncertain which way to go.
But they were sure there was a way.
Or so they hoped.
Finally after some discussion two walked off in one direction.
Then another followed behind.
Soon a few took off in the opposite direction.
And still yet another for a different one altogether.
It wasn’t long till they all took for different directions hoping they would be the one to find the best view.
The best view they thought was the most beautiful.
The best view they thought was the most accepting.
…the most forgiving.
…the most graceful.
…the most loving.
And yet still…
…the most revealing.
They had consumed themselves with such thoughts and left no room for further thinking.
They thought they had found a good.
They thought they had found a way to go.
They thought they had found some way.
But little did they know.
They had found nothing new.
And after treading endless paths on their journey for enlightened land, they stopped to rest and take a breath. And when they did their heads tilted back and their eyes looked up. They saw a view they had never seen. It was a view just above the mountaintop. One they never bothered to look for because they were too busy looking all around them, since they felt they were at the highest point.
And then, at that moment, with their eyes set on what was above, they had found the view they had been looking for all along. A view more beautiful, more accepting, more forgiving, more graceful, more loving, and yet still…more revealing.
They looked closer.
And closer.
And then it struck them.
It was not what they thought it was after all.
The view above the mountaintop was not more beautiful.
It was not more accepting.
It was not more forgiving.
It was not more graceful.
It was not more loving.
And yet still it was not more revealing.
For in that moment they realized…
…that above the mountaintop was beauty itself.
And acceptance itself.
And forgiveness itself.
And grace itself.
And love itself.
And yet still the view above the mountaintop was nothing other than revelation itself.
Oh perilous hope how deceiving.
It was the very source of what it was they had been seeking all along.
And they had it within their reach all along.
It was right in front of them all along.
It was what they had been denying all along.
It could have been theirs if only they had bothered to think and ask themselves…
…“if there is all of this on the mountain top”…
…“what more could there be?”
“Look up!” they surely would have cried.
For they would have realized nothing was below except that which held them up.
Author: Peter Escobedo
Nommo Contributor