Chapter Three The Seaweed Named "Forgiving" [page4]

tore apart a small leaf accompanied by its small stem. I just could not pull out a leaf if I had not kneaded and used all of my bodily strength to do so. The leaf finally was torn apart, and I brought'the piece' of the plant to the old man very preciously. "Yes, that's it," the old man said. The old man smiled very happily and then had torn'the Piece' with precious care as he placed a single torn piece of it into the burning fire.

'The Piece' began to burn very slowly. The black smoke began to become thinner as a green-colored smoke began to cover the whole place. The green smoke smelled somewhat nostalgically of remembrances. A comfortable fragrance floated upon in the air all around. A sweet gentle scent similar to the fragrance of being breastfed by one's mother filled the air. Embraced in the green smoke, I face the old man. Time passes and flows slowly. The old man begins to speak very quietly, as though he was checking out each word for its certainty. "You must not be mislead by the showy fanciful looks, the superficial prettiness and the decorative words of others. What is real and genuine can only be found out by looking through the eyes of one's own heart. Throw away all your biased preconceived ideas.Stop making judgments. Just look, and just simply look carefully, and it will be okay. And, the simple plain truth is that everything is just buried underneath. The most precious and truly important thing buried under the dirt is what you have buried yourself, so as long as you keep on looking beneath the dirt, you will come to find out where the precious is for you. Dig out the genuine and real thing for you covered under the dirt.

The name of this seaweed is called 'Forgiving'. Forgiving means love itself. To this beach comes various ungranted 'expectations' that are swept to shore. For example, what about this 'Tree of Too Much Expectation'? Look at its flames really carefully."The old man placed the nearby chip of wood into the fire. A scene came to surface over the flames.