A Human Soul
‘When a human soul is born into the world,
it is given a bowl filled with light.
The light is the child’s unique potential
and the gift it brings to the community.
As the child grows up,
and this happens to everyone,
stones are placed in the bowl.
Some are put in by others
and some by the child itself.
As the stones fill the bowl,
it becomes heavier
and increasingly difficult
to carry and the light becomes duller.
Sometimes it is buried from sight
but it doesn’t ever go away completely.
Inevitably, there comes a time
when the work of emptying the stones from
the bowl must begin.
In the work our only enemy is fear.’
Oral teaching from the ancient Kahuna
tradition of Hawaii. Molokai: 1993 |
