Monday, August 15, 2011
Bean's Travel
From the day it was born, Bean, the little kangaroo had been staying in its mother’s warm and comfy pouch, traveling along with its mother. What a good way to travel, lying safely in the pouch, sleeping silently in it when it gets exhausted. Nevertheless, Bean was slowly growing up, intending to see the world by itself rather than following its mother around.
One day, Bean was sitting under a tree, thinking about where it should be going. Out of a sudden, a brown little object was flying towards it. Behind that thing, was Ruby, who seemed to have been chasing that brown object for quite a while.
“Hi Ruby.” said Bean. “Why are you chasing that thing?”
Ruby stopped, took its breath, and replied “That’s not just a thing, that’s a maple seed.” With a rapid grip, Ruby finally caught the seed to show it to Bean.
Bean questioned “How come a seed would float In thin air? Shouldn’t it be on the ground?”
Ruby “They’re supposed to be on the ground, but some of the seeds would have to get their little travel before they could land on the ground.” Just as what Bean had thought of doing, to travel!
Then, Ruby asked Bean to come over and have a look at its seed collection.
While Ruby was carrying a big dusty box out of its house, Bean asked “Does every seed has to float in the air to travel around?”
“No, no, no. Not all of them. But these seeds do.” answered Ruby. Then, Ruby took out a fair fluffy dandelion seed. “Blow this, come on!”
Bean look puzzled for a moment, and gave it a try. As it blows upon the dandelion seeds, they split everywhere, floating around elegantly. After that, Ruby took a coconut out of its box. Looking at the size of the coconut, Bean quickly said “This couldn’t have been a seed. It’s so large!”
Ruby then explained “No, you’re wrong. This is indeed a seed. It couldn’t fly like the others, but it could float on water.” Ruby brought Bean and the coconut to the riverside for an experiment. Attentively and cautiously, Bean placed the coconut into the river. Just as Ruby’s explained, it dances on the water for a few moments and swam away with the flow of the water.
Bean got excited about the seeds and asked “Ruby! Do you have any other special seeds in your box?”
“Hmm… there are. Some of the seeds do not float on air or water, but they depend on the other travelers!” explained by Ruby as it takes out a seed of Aralia Grass. Ruby then placed the seed on a tree, the both of them then waited silently. A few moments later, a squirrel climbed across the tree and the seed got attached onto its body. As the squirrel return to the woods, the Aralia seeds followed. Bean waved at the squirrel and said “Good bye little seed.”
Bean “Hmm… it’s fun to see the seeds traveling around. But why do they need to travel?”
Ruby began explaining “The seeds have to look for a suitable place to root themselves. Hence, they’ve all got their own ways of traveling. Some would travel by air, by water, and some might have to depend on some passer-by. They’ll stop only when they’ve found somewhere suitable for them.”
Listening to Ruby’s explanation, Bean was getting more and more interested in traveling. Bean was thinking of somewhere nice, somewhere he’d like to be. “Thanks for showing me your valuable collection Ruby!” As it finished thanking Ruby, Bean began jumping towards Winnie, the little bear’s house. While he arrived, Winnie was just about to finish a bowl of honey. “Hi Winnie! Have you ever seen how a dandelion seed travels?” asked Bean.
But all Winnie cared was how to get honey, why would it want to know how a seed travels? “Nevermind.” said Bean. “I’d just like to know if your balloon can bring us up in the air.”
Winnie replied joyfully “Great idea!”. Cautiously, Winnie blow its balloon one by one as Bean was waiting patiently. “I’m done! Come!” shouted Winnie. They began to tie the balloons on each other’s clothes, soon, they’re both floating up slowly.
“I’m flying!” shouted Bean gladly. “I’m feeling like a dandelion seed now!”
Winnie, on the other hand, yelled “I feel like I’m a giant bee!”
After a few moments, they’ve reached to a beehive on a tree. Winnie was staring at the beehive thinking about the honey in it. Hence, it plunged its hand into the beehive and grabbed a bee out of it by mistake. “It’s so fun to fly.”
Just when Winnie was enjoying the moment, the bee flew towards the balloon and “Boom”! The bee burst the balloon with its sharp and pointy tail. As the balloons burst one by one, Winnie and Bean fell back onto the ground. Disappointedly, Bean said “Thanks for your help Winnie, I guess flying is not suitable for me…”
As it left Winnie, Bean went looking for the little pig. “Hey Piggy. Do you know that some seeds could float on water?”
Piggy replied shyly “Err…. I’ve never heard of that…”
Bean “But I bet you remember that time when you travel across the river by an umbrella, don’t you?”
Piggy “Yes, yes, yes! I do remember!”
Bean “Then, could I borrow your umbrella?”
Without second thought, the helpful pig lent its umbrella to Bean. They’ve been thinking to make a boat out of an umbrella. Hence, they took the umbrella to the riverside, put the umbrella on the river, and sat on it. Bean jumped up and down and shouted happily “Yay, I’m floating on the water like a coconut now!”
However, who would have known, when Bean was jumping up and down on the umbrella, it overthrown the umbrella and they both fell into the river. Striving hardly, they’ve finally reached the riverbank. Bean told the pig “Thanks for your help Piggy, I guess floating doesn’t suit me either…”
While Bean was on its way returning to the woods, it passed by the Donkey, Carl. Bean questioned Carl out of a sudden “Hey Carl, have you ever wonder how the Aralia seeds got attached on your body?”
“What has it got to do with me?” replied unwillingly by Carl. After that, it returned to its meal. While the donkey was having its meal with its head down, Bean climbed onto its back without being noticed. By the time the donkey look up again, it couldn’t see the kangaroo anywhere. “Hmmm…. Should be gone…” As it finished its meal, the donkey was about to head home.
The kangaroo was trying its best to keep itself silent, but couldn’t help to think that “This is fun! I’m getting attached like a Aralia Seed!” At this moment, Carl stopped and wondered “Hmm… was there someone talking? It sounded like Bean… Or was it just me?” Without any sight of the kangaroo, the donkey continued its journey. Bean was getting tired, yet, trying its best to be attached on the donkey. However, the kangaroo fell onto the ground out of exhaustion.
Carl: “What are you doing here, Bean? I’ve just been thinking about you.”
The kangaroo yawned widely and said “Thank you Carl. You’ve given me a great help.”, then jumped back home.
Carl began to wonder “Help? What help?”
Soon enough, Bean returned to its mother. The mother kissed its forehead, and put it back to her pouch as they began their journey again.
There it was, sleeping silently in the mother’s pouch. It may not be like the dandelion, nor the coconut, not even the Aralia seed, but it’s a kangaroo, a kangaroo that lies in its mother’s pouch. It could see the world in a confined space, yet, sufficient enough for it to grow!
Postscript:
I think everyone would have been like the kangaroo, thinking that we’ve grown up and it’s about time to see the world. I’ve wondered what it would be like in the world out there without being with my mother. What would it feels like? I’ve always been told not to do lots of things. It feels like there is no freedom in the house. Hence, I’ve always wanted to grow up quickly, to be an adult, to do whatever I wanted.
But what is freedom actually? Freedom is not merely being able to do whatever you wished to. The TRUE FREEDOM IS RESPONSIBILITY. True freedom is about being responsible on what we’ve said, what we’ve done. If you think that parents are limiting your freedom, then you should think twice. First of all, we’ll grow up when we’ve become a child that could be trusted, a child that’s capable of doing things, a child that never give any trouble to our parents. Every child’s responsibility is to become a child that never make the parents worried.
Now, I’ve really grown up. I’ve been to places like Bean have done. I’ve found a place where it’s worth travelling for, as it is where I find the real me, where I discover my mission. It’s like a teacher who taught me lessons, taught me to become as strong as a giant old tree, and taught me to become the light of hope. This place is not where the dandelion seeds are, not where we could find coconuts, and not where the Aralia seeds are. But it is, the Soka Gakkai.
Soka Gakkai is a place where I grow and train myself, a place where I found who I really am. Ikeda Sensei once said: “My expectations towards all of you, is that you could live more confidently of who you truly are. I’ve had thoughts about ‘wishing to make my brain smarter, if only I could have more abilities…”, however, what’s important is, to construct a “victory as a person” in life. Thus, I hope that you do not compare yourself to the others, but to train yourself to be stronger, becoming a confident person.” We must improve day by day, striving step by step. Even if we’re marching forward with the speed of a snail, we’re still striving forward courageously.
In Soka Gakkai, I’ve found the mentor of my life, Ikeda Sensei. He’s always challenging for the sake of our happiness, striving to accomplish his mentor’s aim, chanting the valuable Daimoku to all the members in Malaysia. Our mentor have been striving continuously, now it’s our turn to stand up and catch the club of Kosen-rufu, continuing our mentor’s spirit, and to let the water of Kosen-rufu flow on continuously.
The Mother Kangaroo’s pouch is just like Soka Gakkai. The mother’s pouch will protect the little kangaroo, providing sufficient supplement for the child. Whereas Soka Gakkai had granted an opportunity for me to learn lots of things, this knowledge are just like a supplement to me. The pouch is a great space for the growth of a little kangaroo, similarly, Soka Gakkai had given a great environment for the growth of capable person. You could travel around like what Bean’s done, but always remember to return to the Soka Gakkai’s family and give your contribution.
Lastly, I’d like to share a sentence I like from this story, ‘Ruby explained “The seeds have to look for a suitable place to root themselves. Hence, they’ve all got their own ways of travelling. Some would travel by air, by water, and some might have to depend on some passer-by. They’ll stop only when they’ve found somewhere suitable for them.”'
You can find a great place to fit yourself in, and you can stop at where you wanted to. However, this stop doesn’t mean that you can stop and do nothing, it doesn’t mean that you can start enjoying life. We must think of wars of improving and to march forward from where we’ve stopped. We must make every effort turn out to be beautiful. What kind of attitude is this if you’ll ask. This is an attitude of appreciating our own life, which is unique for everyone. To give the best of us, constructing a suitable life for ourselves is the proper spirit. People like this will not complain, but will be vigorously challenging every single problem, keeping themselves in a good mood and healthy lifestyle.
Shared by,
Rainbow.
Labels: n. Story palace
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