Bizah was once again entertaining his friends with a story, this time an allegorical one. “One day, Peace was out walking in the garden, taking in the exhilarating smells and sights of nature, when she happened upon Anger.

“Anger raced through the garden tearing at flowers and pulling up bushes. Anger pushed over the fountain and chopped away at the bench under the still oak tree.”

“‘Why are you doing that?’ asked Peace.

“‘Because I want to be alone. I want everyone to hate me, to run from me. I feel powerful and protected when I am alone with myself.’

“Yes, we find fishing so much fun, but what if we never ever caught a fish or came to find out that there were really no fish in the pond?  We wouldn’t enjoy it then, Akina.”

“Tonga, look at that bird. He has been sitting on the same branch in the same place all morning.  He must be very pleased and content where he is.”

“Maybe not,” responded Tonga.  “Perhaps he is injured and can’t fly.”

“Hmmm,” replied Bizah.  "Perhaps he is waiting for his mate to return and find him there.”

“Could be. But what if the bird is just afraid to fly and try out its wings over new terrains?”

“Or maybe it just likes to sit in that particular type of tree,” mused Bizah.

Bizah’s Master ended his teaching that day as he had done before on other days.  He said, “Remember that even though I am the Master, I cannot teach you the Truth.  That you must come to on your own through your own direct experiences.  I can only point you to the treasure; you must be the one to go and find it. I can only give you signposts, pointers to the Truth.  And even these signposts are of no use to you unless you continue to follow in the direction they point you.”

“Tonga, it’s that time of year again when everyone goes a little mad, running around trying to get their homes in order, decorate them, invite people over for festivities, frantically look for the perfect gifts for their family and friends.  I just want to opt out of all of this craziness this year.  Humbug to Mid-winter festival.”

“I know it can get a bit much, Bizah,” Tonga replied. But what would winter be without it?

Bizah fell into silence.

One afternoon, Bizah started thinking again about giving to others.

“Why is it so hard to give of our time to others?  We can’t run out of it.  There’s always a now moment to give our attention to, so always a now moment in which we can give our attention to others.  If this is so – and it is – why aren’t we more present with others in our life?”

As Bizah continued in this inquiry, he concluded that the reason we are so greedy of our own time is that we are rarely in the only real time there is: the present moment. 

Bizah couldn’t stop thinking about the magic and the power of giving and receiving.  

If what we give to others actually comes back to us, then why not give what we most want to receive?  And we can give so many things: not just money, or objects, or time, or the work of our body and mind, but qualities we hold most dear or feel most in need of, such as patience, understanding, and peace.

As expected, the next morning the Master brought up the questions he left his students with at the end of lessons the previous day: “How can receiving at the same time be giving?  And how can giving at the same time be receiving?”

Then the Master said, “I left you with two questions yesterday.  Does anyone want to present their response at this time?”

There was a long silent pause. 

The Master told a story.

One day, a father asked his son to go to the market and find out the going price for a whole pig, since he had fattened theirs up and would soon be able to offer it for sale.  He gave his son an egg from the almost empty pantry for when he got hungry. 

The boy set out, only to soon come across an old beggar sitting by the side of the road.  He gave him his egg.

Bizah could not stop thinking about how unfair he was to Akina by making assumptions about him.  He felt terrible.

“How could I have misjudged Akina as arrogant and aloof, when in truth he’s gentle and humble,” he thought.  “How could I have been so wrong?  What can I do to make it up to him?”

The next day after lessons, he asked Akina if he would like to go fishing with him.  Akina broke into a big smile and exclaimed, “Oh, I’d love to!”