Short story: A tree zenned it to him

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The old Zen master was sick, and dying, but he wanted to come up with at least one more new Zen koan for his students before he died. He thought about this a bit, but not coming up with anything, he walked outside slowly, with his stick supporting him. He sat down on the bench seat that was out there under the shade of a large tree, and then he had it. Why does a tree give us shade, when it has none for itself? He knew the answer himself, as he had just made it up; a tree, as well as all things, give shade because it is their nature to absorb light, and to shade others around them, so that the light could hit them in this cooler way too. A tree does not feel shade itself, but it can detect the amount of light falling on itself, so in this way, it knows if it is in full sun, half sun, or full shade. The shade of a tree reminds us of the love of God for us. We should learn to sense his nearness of light to us too, whilst we can also allow others to rest in our coolness of approach to life, as a tree never shows anger, but remains itself in all circumstances, trying its best to grow, and to be. The old Zen master wrote his koan down on his writing pad, but unfortunately he died with this explanation for it inside of himself, for he was found dead on this same bench ten minutes later, by one of his students who went out to look for him. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com "A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees." William Blake, (1757 to 1827) the great English poet, said this. A fool can still appreciate its shade though, as anyone can do this. A tree provides its shade to anyone.