An image to ponder: You have a spiritual mailbox and perhaps have been
unable to live your truth. Each time this occurs, the number on your
mailbox changes, causing the spiritual blessings addressed to you to be
undeliverable. God does not reroute blessings if you are the cause of
the interference. However, if you remain true to yourself, the heavens
can find you even if the outer world seems not to approve of who you are.
Always choose to be truthful in the highest sense — and you will find that
goodness and inner beauty will accompany you along the way.
As the monk advances in practice, feelings of hardship decrease and he is suffused with energy and sustained by joy. The marathon monk has become one with the mountain, flying along a path that is free of obstruction. The joy of practice has been discovered and all things are made new each day. Awakened to the Supreme, one marathon monk described his gratitude thus:
"Gratitude for the teachings of the enlightened ones, gratitude for the wonders of nature, gratitude for the charity of human beings, gratitude for the opportunity to practice ... "
~ from THE MARATHON MONKS OF MOUNT HIEI by John Stevens
