In ancient times there was a King who arranged a contest
between his Chinese and Roman artists. He appointed a large hall in which both
groups could paint. The Chinese artists asked for a curtain to be hung in the
middle of the hall so that their competitor could not see what they are working
on. The Chinese artists then worked steadily for six months, day and night. The
Roman artists, on the other hand, did nothing. As a result, everybody thought
that the Roman artists were going to lose the contest. Just a few days before
the King was scheduled to judge the two groups and award the winner, the Roman
artists set out to build a wall behind the curtain that separated them from the
Chinese artists and polished it so well that it became like a mirror. When the
time came to judge the final results, the King's ministers and courtiers went
first to the Chinese section to see what they had been working so hard for six
months. They were very impressed by their marvelous and beautiful painting!
Wanting to see the Roman section they pulled the curtain and found a wall that
was so polished that it fully reflected the paintings drawn by the Chinese
artists – it was as if the paintings were actually in the wall! The King was so
amused by their creativity that He awarded them the prize.
After relating this story the Master said that He hoped that
our hearts would similarly become as pure and as transparent so that the
pictures and images of the Kingdom of Abha would be reflected therein.
(Adapted from ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Edinburgh – Sohrab’s Diary
Letters’, by Ahmad Sohrab)
