Buddhism: a stream parable (part 1)

People sometimes say that right and wrong are relative. They say there is no absolute Truth, no one Way, Tao, or Dharma above all others. What is the true meaning of this? What is the false meaning?

Once, a man wandering in the forests came upon a hermit. The forest was large and the man was lost and surprised to find another person in this vast expanse. The man knew that if he found a river it would take him out of the forest, so he asked the hermit the way to the river.

“Do you believe the way to the river is one, or many?” asked the hermit. – “There is but one way to the river,” replied the man.

“Then if I give you one way to the river, it will be the only way?” inquired the hermit. – “Yes, there is but one river, and but one way to reach it,” stated the man, recalling wisdom he had long been taught.

“Then go east for one day. This is one way to the river,” instructed the hermit. The man complied, hiking swiftly for one full day despite his exhaustion. After this full day, surely going even further than the hermit had instructed, he slept having still not reached the river. The next morning he began his trek back to the hermit, growing ever more delirious from exertion. Finally, well past nightfall he reached the mountain hermit, who was sitting deep in meditation. Frustrated, he told the hermit of his travels, accusing him of speaking falsely.

“One day east is one way to the river,” the hermit asserted again. “However, for you, this way will not do.” – “Is there no way to the river then?” inquired the man, “you have given me what you claim is true directions, yet I reached no river. Surely you are no guide.”

“The way of which I spoke is the way for some, such as one who is two days west of here. For that place and many more, my words were true, yet for you who insisted that there was only one way, they were not. There is one way, two ways, a thousand ways to the river.”

Pausing for a moment, the man pondered the hermits words. “What is the way for me?” he then asked.

Smiling, the hermit replied, “There are two ways for you. You may go south a half day through treacherous terrain or west for one full day. You must choose; but first rest here, eat, regain your strength.”

to be continued…