First Wisdom Story
“The Happy Apple Tree And The Golden Apple”
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Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler)
on March 4, 2000
Wisdom Point: “True Peace In Our Life Lies In The Happiness Of Others,
And The True Value of Our Life Lies In Oneness With God”
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Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Al-salam 'alaykum. May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon all of us.
My love you (anbu), my dearest brothers and sisters - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen
(Louie Beutler).
“The Outline”
for “The First Wisdom Story”
Chapter 1: The Happy Apple Tree
Chapter 2: The Happy Apple Tree Overhears The King
Chapter 3: The Happy Apple Tree Meets The Travelers
Chapter 4: The Happy Apple Tree Becomes Sad
Chapter 5: The Sad Apple Tree Again Meets The Travelers
“The End”
of “The Outline”
for “The First Wisdom Story”
Introduction
Here is a beautiful short story about the journey of life that was taken by an apple tree, as it experiences the happiness of selflessness followed by the sadness of selfishness, and comes to understand how Wisdom can make you peaceful, and Truth can make you valuable.
Chapter 1: The Happy Apple Tree
Once upon at time there was a beautiful Apple Tree
Who was very happy and content
Because it had found its purpose in life,
Having grown big and strong
With a powerful tap root which directly drew water
From a large ocean of water under the ground,
And which held the Apple Tree up straight
Even through very bad winds and storms.
Each year this Apple Tree produced on its branches
A great quantity of beautiful apples
Which brought happiness to all of the beings
That lived on and under the tree,
As well as to the birds that nested in its branches
And the many creatures that came to the tree
To eat and enjoy the apples.
Such was the state of happiness and contentment
Experienced by this beautiful Apple Tree.
Chapter 2: The Happy Apple Tree Overhears The King
One day,
A King and his family came past the Apple Tree
And decided to sit under its branches
To get out of the hot sun
And enjoy both the shade of the Tree
And its delicious apples.
While sitting under the Apple Tree
The King's oldest son asked the King a question.
"Oh father, what is the most valuable thing
That we have in our Kingdom?"
And the King said to his oldest son,
"My son, that is a very good question,
For the answer to that question
Influences everything that we do in our Kingdom."
The King was silent for a while
As he thought about the question.
Then the King said to his son,
Taking a golden coin from out of his pocket,
"Well to begin with, there is gold."
And the King went on to explain to his son,
"See how shinny and beautiful it is.
See how it glistens in the sun with a warm beauty.
Only gold keeps that beauty without being shined.
And it is very valuable."
"For example,
You can buy many things with it
That are needed in our Kingdom,
And the people in our Kingdom will work for it,
And do the many tasks that keep the Kingdom alive."
"However", said the King,
"You have to be very careful when you have gold.
People will come from all over to steal it from you.
And they might every kill you to get it."
The King's son looked surprised and said,
"But father, if gold is so dangerous
Why do we keep such a thing in our Kingdom?"
In response, the King said,
"I will explain that to you later.
It is getting dark now, and we must get back to our castle.
Be a good son, and help call the family together
So we can leave".
And with that,
The King and his family left the safety of the tree
And rode off in the direction of the castle.
When they had left, the Happy Apple Tree,
Having overheard the conversation
Between the King and his oldest son,
Started to think about what was said.
And he said to himself,
"What a wonder this thing called gold must be.
To be so valuable is a wonder indeed."
And for the first time in its life
The Apple Tree started to look at itself,
Rather than the birds and animals
That came for its shade and apples.
It looked at its trunk, its branches, its leaves, its flowers, and its apples.
And having made a complete inventory of itself
It concluded, to its surprise, that it had no gold.
And for the first time in its life, it was a little sad.
But soon it forgot about the words of the King
And returned to its duty of providing shade and apples
To the birds and animals that came to the tree,
Again finding happiness and contentment
In the happiness and contentment
Of those who came to the tree.
Chapter 3: The Happy Apple Tree Meets The Travelers
Then one day,
Two travelers came past the Apple Tree
And decided to sit under its branches
To get out of the hot sun
And enjoy both the shade of the tree
And its delicious Apples.
And while sitting under the Apple Tree
These two travelers started to talk
About life in the world
And the great difficulty that people
Often experienced while living in the world,
But that these difficulties were necessary
If a person was to truly understand
His purpose in life.
Upon hearing this conversation
The Apple Tree started to think,
"What are they talking about?
I know the purpose of my life,
Which is to provide shade from the sun,
And to provide tasty apples to eat.
I am not experiencing any difficulties.
What are they talking about?"
Finally, not being able to contain himself,
Due to the curiosity that awakened within him
From the conversation that he was hearing,
The Apple Tree decided to talk to the two travelers,
Something he had never done before.
"Excuse me!", Said the Apple Tree.
And the two travelers stopped talking and looked around.
But not seeing anyone, they again started talking.
"Excuse me!", Said the Apple Tree a second time.
And again the two travelers stopped talking and looked around.
But again, not seeing anyone, thy again started to talk.
But the Apple Tree, seeing their confusion, said to them.
"Up here! I am talking to you.
Up here! I want to ask you a question."
Then the travelers looked up
And realized with a great deal of surprise
That it was the Apple Tree that was talking to them.
And one of the travels said to the Apple Tree,
"Yes! We hear you. What is your question?"
And the Apple Tree was very excited,
Because it had never talked before,
It had never engaged in conversation with anyone,
It had always just spent its time performing its duty,
Providing shade and providing apples for being to eat.
It had always been content in just doing its duty.
But now, it had become curious about the words
That the two travelers were speaking,
Especially after recently hearing the words of the King,
And it developed the need to know what they meant.
This was certainly a new experience for the Apple Tree.
It was like an itch that needed to be scratched.
So, the Apple Tree said to the two travelers,
"Why do you speak such words,
They don't make any sense to me.
I am an Apple Tree and I am content performing my duty,
But your words have awaken curiosity within me
That needs to be satisfied.
So, please tell me the meaning of your words."
The two travelers listened carefully to the Apple Tree
And after awhile the older of the two travelers started to speak.
"What you say is true Apple Tree,
Up to now you have found contentment in just performing your duty,
As it has been given to you by the Creator Of Us All,
But the words that were spoken
Have awakened within you the realization
That you do not understand your duty,
Or why your duty has brought contentment to your life."
And after listening to these profound words
The Apple tree started to worry for the first time in its life
And its contentment started to leave,
And it started to get sad again,
For the second time in its life.
And the Apple Tree said to the older traveler,
"What you say is true.
You are certainly a very wise traveler.
But what should I do?
How can I get back the contentment that I once had?
And why am I so sad?
Please help me!
And the older traveler said to the Apple Tree,
"Because of your curiosity and desire
You must now experience
What everyone living in the world experiences
Before your contentment will return."
And the two travelers left the Apple Tree
And proceeded on their journey,
Leaving the Apple Tree to reflect on what was said.
Chapter 4: The Happy Apple Tree Becomes Sad
The next day, when the sun came up
The Apple Tree started to reflect
On what was said the day before
By the older traveler who sat below its branches,
And about what the King had said about gold,
And as it reflected
It started to ask from deep within itself
The significance of this answer.
And as it reflected
It started to notice that a new type of apple
Started to grow on one of its branches,
It was a Golden Apple that shone with the light of the sun.
At first the Apple Tree was very happy
But gradually it started to worry
Because it remembered what the King had said,
"You have to be very careful when you have gold.
People will come from all over to steal it from you.
And they might every kill you to get it."
So the Apple Tree started to grow leaves
Around the Golden Apple
So no one could see it,
And it worked all day to hide the Golden Apple
From the people who came to the tree.
And all the while the birds and animals
Continued to come to the Apple Tree
To enjoy the shade of the Apple Tree
And eat the normal apples that grew on the Apple Tree,
But their happiness no longer brought peace to the Apple Tree
Because it spent it time worrying about the Golden Apple
That lay hidden deep within its leaves.
Chapter 5: The Sad Apple Tree Again Meets The Travelers
With each passing day
The Apple Tree grew sadder and sadder,
Struggling to conceal the Golden Apple
While pretending to find peace and contentment
From the happiness of the birds and animals
That found shade from the sun under the Apple Tree
And nourishment from the normal apples
That grew in abundance on the Apple Tree.
Then one day the same two travelers
Came to sit under the Apple Tree
And again started to talk among themselves
About life in the world
And the great difficulty that people
Often experienced while living in the world,
But that these difficulties were necessary
If a person was to truly understand
His purpose in life.
And after listening for awhile the Apple Tree
Tried to speak to the older traveler, and said,
"Excuse me! I would like to ask you a question",
But the two travelers ignored the Apple Tree
And continued their conversation.
Again the Apple Tree tried to talk to the old traveler,
Saying, "Please excuse me!,
I know you are having a conversation,
But I really need your help.
I have lost my peace and contentment
And I don't know how to get it back."
And the old traveler said to the Apple Tree,
"Is that so?
And why do you think that has happened?"
And the Apple Tree thought for a moment and said,
"It all started when I grew a Golden Apple
And was forced to spend all my time
Trying to hide it from the people in the world."
And the old traveler corrected the Apple Tree saying,
"No, it all started when you looked at yourself
Rather than the duty that you were placed here to perform,
It all started when you looked at what you had and what was missing,
Rather than what the lives around you had and were missing.
"That is why your peace and contentment has left you,
Because even though you had peace and contentment
From performing your duty in the world
You didn't understand it."
"And the Golden Apple was given to you by the Cause Of Us All,
So you could understand what you already had,
And having understood it, never lose it again."
"Your peace and contentment
Comes from the peace and contentment
Of those who find peace and contentment
From the things that the Cause Of Us All
Has provided for them through you."
And the younger traveler also told the Apple Tree,
"It is what the Cause Of Us All has given to you
For the peace and contentment of others -
The shade that you provide them
And the nourishment that you give them -
That is your wealth and makes you valuable,
That is the purpose of your life,
Not the Golden Apple that is beautiful to the eyes
But of no real value to anyone."
"And it is the understanding of this purpose of your life
Through your experience of the sadness
That comes with all Golden Apples,
That is the Truth of your life."
And the old traveler finished by saying to the Apple Tree,
"So accept what has been given to you by the Cause Of Us All,
Accept the normal apples and the shade that you provide
As the purpose of your life,
Accept the Golden Apple as the vehicle for understanding
The purpose of your life,
For through that understanding
Your peace and contentment will never again leave you."
And with this the two travelers left
Leaving the Apple Tree alone with this answer.
Chapter 6: Through Wisdom The Apple Tree Returns To Happiness
And as the Apple Tree reflected
On what the travelers had told him
He began to understand the purpose of his life
And began to forget the Golden Apple
That he had hidden under his leaves.
And as his peace and contentment returned
The leaves hiding the Golden Apple fell off
Revealing the Golden Apple to a passer by,
Who immediately picked the Golden Apple
And was filled with happiness and joy.
And the Apple Tree rejoiced in the return
Of its peace and contentment
And its new understanding of the purpose of its life,
Praising the Cause Of Us All
For what it had received,
And for what it was blessed by the Cause Of Us All
To provide.
Chapter 7: Through Truth The Apple Tree Becomes Valuable
And as this new understanding deepened within him
He completely forgot about himself and his purpose in life
And became absorbed into the duties and qualities
Of the Cause Of Us All.
He gradually became One with the Truth -
The Truth that we are all One -
And through that Truth He gradually became One.
He became One with all of the trees and lives in the forest.
He gradually became valuable Himself,
As the Golden Light of the Cause Of Us All, within us all.
The end.
Closing Prayer
Amen, Amen, Ya Rabil Alameen -
So be it, So be it, Oh Ruler of The Universes.
Amen, Amen, Ya Rahman Alameen -
So be it, So be it, Oh The Mercy of the Universes.
Amen, Amen, Ya Rahim Alameen -
So be it, So be it, Oh The Compassion of the Universes.
Al-hamdu lillah - all praise and praising belong to God alone.
Allahu Akbar - only God is great.
Al-salam 'alaykum wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kulluh -
May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon all of us.
My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler)
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