Dr. Earl R. Smith II

By Dr. Earl R. Smith II

“Why do I sense that we are done for now?” said Wolverine. “You are about to go off and leave me aren’t you?”

“I must leave you to ponder these things. What we must talk about next will require that you have spent some time in their company. We will meet two sunsets from now at Pond’s edge.” With that Raven took flight and quickly disappeared into the soft grey-white morning mist that still enveloped the forest below.

At first Wolverine’s wanderings were in the company of some irritation. “This has the scent of a fool’s journey,” he grumbled under his breath. The truth was that, after two sessions with Raven, he was irritated at having more questions than answers. And these were not the kinds of riddles that he was good at. What did Trickster mean? Non-being – what kind of an idea was that? He had gone to Raven just to clear up a question that Thrush had put to him and now he had a whole passel of new questions and a lot fewer answers.

But Wolverine’s irritation did not provoke its usual reaction. Usually he would have just cast the thing aside and gone on to something more familiar. But this time he felt a strange resolve to study on it until he understood the thing. After a while he also felt an advancing inner calm – and a growing peace that was not normally part of his way of being – there’s that word again! Raven was trying to teach him something very important – Wolverine knew this to his very core – and he was determined (in an amazingly calm way) to honor that effort.

“He should not have to tell me that which I should learn on my own! Learning – not knowing – is what is important in all of this. I may not be Raven but I am Wolverine and that is something of substance.” At that thought his irritation seemed to dissolve away.

The New World

After leaving Raven he wandered around the woods. He stopped at Pond and rested on Flat Rock. Morning Sun felt good on his fur – gently warming both him and his mood. His mind drifted back to things that Raven had said – first to one and then to another – without much of a pattern – at least none that he could see. There were still parts that he could not get his mind around – but they seemed to come and go like the rest – without causing him any distress or concern.

He spent the day wandering and wondering. One turn of mind after another seemed to take him off on a journey into some part of his past – and, sometimes it seemed, some part of his future.

In the afternoon he wandered to High Rock and made the climb. When he reached the ledge – it was there just as he had dreamt it. Of course, his shadow was there but he looked at it and smiled. “I understand who and what you are in a way I never had before,” he thought to the shadow. Somewhat to his surprise the shadow seemed to answer back – “It is far better to be known for who I am than to be mistaken for who I am not.” Wolverine smiled to himself and continued the climb.

His relationship with the world seemed to have changed. It was as if he was seeing places for the very first time. The familiar now had a new aspect about it. The whole world seemed to glow with a vibrancy that he had never noticed before – although he was certain that it had been there all along.

The world seemed to be providing him with a bounty in the middle of what was usually a hard time for all living things. It was as if summer had broken out in the middle of winter.

The World Aglow

Occasionally he stopped to talk to someone. Even those he had known for all of his life – like Deer, Pond, Tree, Thrush, Bear, Beaver and Wolf – he seemed to be seeing them for the very first time. He found himself admiring their radiance – and basking in it. It seemed to him a new form of communication. Although they did not react to him differently, he saw them all in a new light.

Wolverine noticed something else. The world, and almost everything in it, seemed to be aglow. There was an aura about most everything - an aura that he had not noticed before. It was as if a shade had been removed from his eyes and he was seeing many things now for the very first time. Trees seemed particularly aglow with a deep, resonating light. Hawk – high in the sky – stood out like a glowing ember against blackness. Deer moved among the trees – an aura within auras. He found this vision very comforting and reveled in the seeing.

Used-to-be-Wolf

On his way back to his burrow he even crept in close to the human place to watch and listen. Only once were humans out in the open. For the most part, they kept inside their wooden hovel. But he could see them moving about through the clear parts. He could hear them and smell their fire – along with other less palatable scents. He could hear their babble. But he could see no aura – no radiance - around any of them. It struck him as important that, among all the things about him, only these beings seemed to lack such a thing. Raven was right – these were different sorts of beings.

Except there was one – one which did have a glow about it. The sight of this one fascinated Wolverine. Its aura was strong – radiant – almost golden. It seemed to relate to the other humans in a different way – something more akin to what he was used to among the others who lived in his forest. Wolverine was fascinated by this one among the others. For one thing, it seemed to like the outdoors more. It spent very little time inside the hovel. It also seemed to be able to see the aura of others around it – and relate to those auras.

And another thing – it had a companion – used-to-be-Wolf – that followed it around and seemed to look after it. Wolverine never did have much use for used-to-be-Wolf but this one seemed to be the overseer of the human. It was alert to any danger – in fact when Wolverine slipped up and wandered a bit upwind used-to-be-Wolf took up station between them and glanced (maybe glared) in his direction every once in a while. The sign was unmistakable - used-to-be-Wolf was protecting this human lest it loose its aura like the rest.

The Journey Inside

As the climb and all his wanderings brought him back to his burrow the light was fading. Contented, watched the light depart. He noticed that, although the light was leaving, the radiance of all things remained. “In that glow I could travel even the darkest of nights.”

He found the burrow much as he had left it. But there were differences here too. The trees and other plants around it now seemed to welcome him back. The oak that arched over the entrance seemed particularly happy to see him. The flat rock that he had so carefully placed just outside the opening – the one that warmed with the sun and warmed him on lazy afternoons – looked even more inviting than normal.

And so he settled down on the rock at the mouth of his burrow and under the spreading branches of the old oak. He noticed that he felt neither hungry nor restless. “This is the place to think this thing through”, was the thought that, above all others, settled in on him.

As the evening advanced Wolverine had thought on the lesson that Raven was teaching and on the riddle that was being and non-being. In the beginning his mind would wander to other things but he gently brought it back to his intention. After a while mind seemed to come into an accommodation with his body and the effort to focus became less. Less effort to focus meant more attention on Raven’s teachings.

In fact, Wolverine seemed to experience his mind’s attraction to distractions as an attack on his purpose – an effort to distract him from the path he had set upon. It was almost as if there was some force that did not want him to succeed in his quest. But the efforts dissolved into the advancing gloaming - into a softening sunlight that turned everything golden.

An Old and Unopened Gift from an Old Friend

As the sun was setting, his mind suggested that they take a break and a walk in the woods. At first he considered the idea. A walk was a tempting diversion – only for a short time – and he could stretch his legs. But, in short order, he came to see the temptation for just what it was – a temptation. Mind again was trying to divert him from his propose. “No – we’ll stay here,” he said to …. But the thought stopped right there. Who is saying what to whom? What is talking to what? How can I speak to my own mind?

“Now there is a riddle worth unraveling,” he thought to himself. Then he remembered something that Porcupine had once told him a long time ago. “In order to see the world as it is – in order to see yourself and others as they are – you must first stop your mind’s foolishness – still the ripples. Only then will all become clear. That journey begins with the loss of the idea of self.” For the first time he understood what Porcupine had tried to tell him - and felt blessed for the effort that his friend had made. “I am here until the sun rises.” At that he settled down and back to his journey.

First Night – Night Flight

As Sun went to his night home, Moon began her wanderings across the sky – carefully picker her way among the stars. Now, as he looked at her for what seemed the very first time, he became grateful for the moonbeams that he knew were only for him – ones that she sent and that no one else would ever see. They were a gift that now seemed beyond value. They were a gift given casually and without thought - without any idea of giving at all. The radiance was created for any who would care enough to receive. For the rest, they just bounced off.

“And most of it falls on blind eyes.” As soon as he had the thought he regretted it. My eyes were blind not so long ago and they still do not see very well. This realization flowed through him and quickly dissolved his initial reaction. He smiled at himself. The moon glow seemed to take on a more golden hue. “I should be careful not to think that Wolverine is anything more than anything else.”

“Nor, for that matter is Raven.” The thought came to him and he instantly knew its source.

“We are all creators of our own worlds,” he thought in return.

Throughout the night he stayed at the entrance of his burrow. He didn’t want to sleep and when the urge to sleep came he gently turned it away. Wolverine decided that this night was so special that he wouldn’t miss a minute of the world that was before him. He continued to meditate on what Raven had told him – some of it was like a puzzle – a riddle that he rolled over and over in his mind. He could not see that he was making any progress but, very strangely for him, it did not seem to matter.

The return of the gloaming told him that dawn was coming and Sun would soon return from his night house. Moon had long ago finished her wanderings and retreated to wherever she went when she wasn’t here. There was a long and pure time of quiet that flowed into him. He realized that he had spent the whole night in the open and never once felt cold!

Then he did something completely without thinking. He gently put the entire conundrum aside and relaxed into the coming dawn. “This matter is no matter.” Then something happened that completely changed him. He was looking at the horizon – far away over Meadow and the large water. Just gazing at the world without thinking about it or making it into something it was not. Suddenly there was a star! A bright pin-point of light climbed up from the horizon. And he understood!

The Morning of the First Day

Now he was ready to see Raven. He knew it to his very core as surely as he knew that there was no core to him at all. Now he understood the riddle and its answer. He understood that they were one in the same thing. Now he knew who and what Raven was – who and what he was – and who and what every other thing that was was. It was the morning of his first day.

Suddenly he heard Thrush launch into her morning chorus. He laughed with delight. Yes, that is as it should be and you are wonderful. With a heart as light as light itself he began his journey to Pond and Raven.

© Dr. Earl R. Smith II

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Dr. Smith is a proven senior executive, successful entrepreneur, published author and public speaker. He serves on boards of directors and advisory boards or as a strategic advisor to CEOs. Dr. Smith specializes in leadership development and advising management on leadership styles which make them more effective leaders. He also works as an executive and/or life coach in the areas of personal growth and spirituality.

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