A popular parable that is a wonderful story about the nature of desire (I will comment on this below).
“Once upon a time, there was a stonemason. Every day, he would go to the mountain to cut stones. While he worked, he sang to himself, for though he was a poor man, he did not want more than he had, and so he cared for nothing in the world.
Well/one day, they called him to work at a nobleman’s estate. When he saw the magnificence of the mansion, he felt a pang of desire for the first time in his life, and with a sigh, he said to himself, “If only I were rich! Then I would not have to earn my living in sweat and toil as I do now.”
Imagine his surprise when he heard a voice: “Your wish is granted. From now on, everything you wish for will be granted to you. .”
He did not know what to make of these words until he returned to his hut that evening and found in its place a mansion as magnificent as the one he was working on. So the stonemason gave up hewing stones and began to enjoy the life of the rich.
One day, when the afternoon was hot and humid, he glanced out his window and saw the King passing with a large retinue of nobles and slaves. He thought to himself, “How I wish I were King myself, sitting in the cool of the royal carriage! “
His wish was granted, and he settled into the comfortable royal carriage. But the carriage turned out to be warmer than he thought it would be. He looked out of the carriage window and began to marvel at the power of the sun, whose heat could penetrate even through the thick walls of the carriage.
“I’d like to be the sun,” he told himself. His wish came true again, and he found himself able to send waves of light and heat into the universe.
For a while, everything went well.
Then, on a rainy day, he failed to penetrate a thick cloud cover. So he transformed himself into a cloud and became famous for his ability to keep the sun out—until he turned into rain and discovered, to his annoyance, a mighty rock blocking his path, forcing him to go around it.
“What?” he cried. “An ordinary rock that’s more powerful than me? Well, then, I want to be a rock.”
So he stood on a mountainside. But no sooner had he managed to enjoy his fine figure than he heard strange cutting sounds coming from his feet. He looked down and discovered, to his horror, that a small human being was sitting there, busying himself with cutting pieces of stone from his feet.
“What?” he cried. “Such an insignificant being is stronger than an imposing rock like me? I want to be human!”
Once again, he found himself working as a stonemason, climbing mountains to cut stones. He earned his living through hard work and sweat, but his heart was filled with a song, for he was content with who he was and grateful for what he had.
Source: Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbours
I like this story because it shows a few very important things through the power of metaphor. One is about the nature of desire – that Hole of Emptiness that longs to be filled. I’m reminded of the famous tale of the Goldfish, who grants the fisherman’s wife’s three wishes, but in the end, they return to the same place they were in the beginning. But the story here is different – the stonemason was happy at the beginning and happy at the end. He sings again, happy with who he is.
This is where I see the essential point – his happiness at the end is different from his happiness at the beginning because he consciously chooses to be human. This moment touches me the most from the parable – his words, “I want to be human!” The author could have written something else, for example, “I want to be a stonemason“, which would have changed the meaning entirely. However, he wrote“human“, which is the important thing because it shows the real message of the parable – to reveal the value of incarnation in a human body, namely to become conscious creators of our lives. And that is much more important than being a wealthy Ruler, Sun, Cloud and Rock.
The ability to be the source and cause of what happens to us is much more important than greatness and power. So, for me, this parable is a true alchemical story. It begins with an unconscious creator, reminding me of the biblical story of man’s fall from Heaven. In the beginning, the desiring nature of the stonemason was deeply unconscious – consciousness was born when the possibility of comparison appeared. This, however, opens the Hole of discontent and emptiness. What follows is a series of experiences from which one realizes that nothing can fill this Hole except a change of direction – from receiving to giving and creating. This source of creation is the person who has acquired consciousness – the individual manifestation of the supreme Creator.
The story of the stonemason also reminds me of Eckhart Tolle’s famous thought that there are two ways to be unhappy – by getting what we want and by not getting what we want. The stonemason was unhappy in the first way. We are more often unhappy in the second. And here comes the other – it relates to envy. Because this parable is also a story about envy – I want something that someone else has. So, I see this story as a healing pill for dealing with this painful emotion. It gives us the understanding that even if we get what we want, we will continue to be dissatisfied and unhappy because the only thing that can fill the Hole of Emptiness is creativity and the condition for it – the presence of consciousness.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
If you would like to alchemize the Void of the Hole in the Fullness of Consciousness, here is an opportunity – a self-work with the 29 Days Program dedicated to this alchemy.
