[blockquote source=”H. Jackson Brown Jr.”]In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength but by perseverance. [/blockquote]

My darlings, do you know the lesson of the Koi?

Many years ago, long before time was ever recorded, a large school comprised of thousands of Koi were making their way up the Yellow River. They were magnificent in both size and color, like precious jewels glimmering beneath water.

One by one, they lurched forward with all of their might; against the treacherous current, and until they reached the base of a menacing waterfall.

Immediately, half turned away—too frightened to temp the Goddess Fate. While the others, still resolute in purpose, flung their bodies farther and higher into the air. But, no matter how much they willed their journey—the ‘crashing wall’ tossed them back again.

It was their splashing which drew the attention of a trickster spirit—who laughed at the ‘failures’ of the struggling Koi fish. Inch by inch, he raised the height of those falls—hoping to dash the spirit of the seemingly indomitable Koi.

But, in spite of his trickery, the Koi were undeterred—as they continued their efforts for the next one hundred years.

Until one morning, when a single Koi broke free.

It’s said that the Gods were so overjoyed with his efforts, that they turned the exhausted Koi into a magnificent golden dragon. And, still this day, the Koi chases pearls of wisdom across the vast and eternal heavens.

I think there is much to be learned from this lesson of the Koi. As author Bruce Newman reminds us, we must “strive to purify our obscurations until they’re completely gone–in other words, until our buddha-nature unobstructedly shines through.”

And, much like the glimmering Koi.

It’s this willingness to persevere, that brings us closer to the heart of the Bodhisattva—to carry on and have trust in the process, even when all hope seems lost.

Sogyal Rinpoche shares a brilliant analogy in his book Glimpse of the Day,

“Imagine that you had gone all your life without ever washing, and then one day you decide to take a shower. You start scrubbing away, but then watch in horror as the dirt begins to ooze out of the pores of your skin and stream down your body. Something must be wrong: You were supposed to be getting cleaner and all you can see is grime. You panic and fling yourself out of the shower, convinced that you should never have begun. But you only end up even more dirty than before. You have no way of knowing that the wisest thing to do is to be patient and to finish the shower. It may look for a while as if you are getting even dirtier, but if you keep on washing, you will emerge fresh and clean. It’s all a process, the process of purification.

Whenever doubt arises, see it simply as an obstacle, recognize it as an understanding that is calling out to be clarified or unblocked, and know that it is not a fundamental problem but simply a stage in the process of purification and learning. Allow the process to continue and complete itself, and never lose your trust or resolve. This is the way followed by all the great practitioners of the past, who used to say: “There is no armor like perseverance.”’

Indeed, there is no armor like perseverance—and, as evidenced by the lesson of the Koi.

By the way, my darlings, they say…to pet a Koi is to touch directly the dragon’s wing.

Just a little bit of magic for your day.