Mercy
Today I would like to tell you a little story…
One day, Yeshu’a an Nasiri Ihidaya
(Aramaic for Jesus of Nazareth, Awakened One)
was traveling through the mountains with a small cohort of his disciples.
At one particularly steep approach, they encountered a merchant trying to drive a pack horse up the precarious, precipitous path.
Yeshu’a Ihidaya and the disciples stopped and watched for a while as the merchant whipped the horse, who was clearly weak, exhausted and disoriented —
staggering under the onerous burden on his back.
Repeatedly, the merchant mercilessly scourged the horse —
whose flanks were striped and openly weeping with blood —
growling,
"Keep moving you useless nag!
Move!"
But the horse, too weak to continue —
no longer able to control his legs under the strain of dehydration, exhaustion and the heavy burden on its back —
stumbled and fell to the ground —
foaming at the mouth and convulsing.
“Get up!”,
shrieked the merchant,
wild with rage
“Get up!”,
as he brought the whip down upon the horse’s flank and side.
He raised the tawse high up into the air one more time, in preparation to scourge the injured horse yet again,
when he felt that instrument of torment unceremoniously snapped from his hand.
“What the…!”
he shrieked,
wheeling about —
his arm cocked back, ready to strike the interloper whom had dared to meddle in his affairs.
But his arm froze in the air and he could not move.
Perplexed and more than a little afraid, his eyes fixated with the piercing, penetrating gaze of Yeshu’a Ihidaya.
For a moment, as their eyes locked, no words were spoken.
There was only silence.
Then, Yeshu’a spoke in a low voice —
quietly,
slowly,
yet with deep power and potency,
"Friend, why do you beat your brother so?
Do you not see that he is weak, exhausted and injured?
Do you not hear his cries for mercy?
Do you not feel his pain and anguish?
Indeed have you hardened your heart so completely that you feel nothing as you abuse, violate and inflict pain and anguish upon your brother, who is clearly weak, exhausted, injured —
carrying a burden far beyond his capacity for such precarious alpine conditions?
Have you forgotten your True Nature so completely —
allowed yourself to become so thoroughly corrupted —
that you feel nothing?
Indeed is this not a deep distortion of your True Nature,
to resort to such cold, merciless cruelty?
The merchant, full of false defiance, snapped,
"Who the hell are you to interfere with my affairs!
This is my animal.
I bought it with my own money and I will do with it as I damn well please."
Turning and gesturing to the disciples, he said,
“Just ask some of your friends here.
I recognize at least a few who know me, and can vouch for me.
They know that what I say is true.”
Hesitantly, one of Yeshu’a’s disciples stepped forward and said,
“It is true, master. I was there the day he bought the horse.”
Yeshu’a looking at his disciples, asked them,
“And what about you, my friends?
Do you not hear your injured brother’s cries of pain and anguish?
Do you not hear him crying out to the Life Giver for mercy —
from the very depths of his Heart?
Do you not feel his deep pain and suffering?"
Bewildered, the disciples shuffled about uncomfortably, glancing askance at one another, none wanting to be the first to speak.
Finally, after a brief, awkward silence, they all began, in turn, to slowly shake their heads…
"Umm…no master.
We do not hear anything.
Yeshu’a sighed,
"My beloved disciples…
you whom have traveled with me now for some time,
are your eyes still so dim,
your ears still so dull,
and your hearts still so fast asleep
that you do not see the wounds of your brother, who lies here before you now?
Do you not hear his cries for mercy?
Do you not feel his pain and anguish?
Do you not remember the Laws of Life, of which I have taught you? —
"Do not do to others what you yourself do not want done to you.
Do for others what you yourself want done for you.
Love
your brothers —
your sisters —
all
manifestations
of
Life —
whether element, mineral, microbe, mycelia, plant, animal, or human —
as
your
Self.
For your brother —
your sister —
is your Self —
simply
in
disguise.
This is the most fundamental
Law of Life —
the Royal Law
of
Pure
Love."
Then Yeshu’a Ihidaya, walked over to the horse, and released him from the bonds of his burden.
He kneeled down beside the horse,
stroked his head and mane with tenderness,
wiped his tears,
kissed his face,
and whispered in his ear.
The horse’s body visibly relaxed,
the trembling ceased,
and for a time
he simply rested,
as Yeshu’a softly sang to him.
And there, as the merchant and the disciples stood watching in utter amazement, right before their very eyes,
the body of the horse healed —
the bleeding stopped,
the wounds closed,
and the skin became as soft, smooth and supple as that of a young colt.
The Luminous Light of Life returned to his eyes, and Vital Life Force began to flow naturally and freely once again through his body.
With a smile, Yeshu’a stood to his feet and clapped his hands.
The horse leapt up,
shook its mane vigorously,
snorted,
and even seem to laugh a little —
dancing and prancing about.
Then turning back to the merchant, Yeshu’a said,
"Brother, go your way now, and never forget what you have seen and heard here today.
Awaken and remember the Laws of Life.
Awaken and remember the Law of Love.
Awaken and remember your own True Nature.
Do no harm.
For we
are
not
two.
/|\
— a literary adaptation of a story as recorded in the ‘The Gospel of the Nazarenes’ (also known as ‘The Gospel of the Twelve’)