Illuminate by living
The hiker, solar browned, wind-chapped, and trudging to re-supply at Toulumne Meadows, came upon a man seated near the trail. He had ¼-peck wood baskets placed around him with apples for sale. He carefully chose one at a time, scrutinized it, then used a clean cloth to hand polish it to a radiant brilliance. He then looked at his reflection in the apple skin, either nodding approval and adding it to a basket with a 'yes' sign on it or placing it in one of the 'no' baskets behind him. The hiker politely began speaking: "W hat are you doing?" The man replied: "I am polishing apples." "Why?" "With each polished apple I sell, I believe that I am demonstrating gratitude for all that my spiritual practices have brought to me, and I consider the polished apples as a gift to the spiritual teacher within each of us."
