Keystone Passage

One of my personal favorite Keystone passages comes from the Zen Buddhist tradition as a parable.

"Buddha told a parable in a sutra:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him.  Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge.  The Tiger sniffed at him from above.  Trembling the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him.  Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine.  The man saw a luscious strawberry near him.  Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other.  How sweet it tasted!"

Each time I read this story I am reminded why I enjoy pursuing my studies in literature.  Though I have many other distractions besides reading a good book, I do on occasion turn off the TV or my Ipod and enjoy a piece of literature for its own sake.  This parable is why I prefer reading on long airplane rides rather than plugging into the in-flight movie and its why I tend to get incredibly sun burnt lounging on my dock on a hot day in July.  Sometimes I must recall this story when my bank account seems in a bit of recession or the weather wont cooperate and dump foot upon foot of crystalline powder.  It helps me remember to occasionally loosen my death-grip on the world and reach out for a piece of ripe literature for it will surely taste sweet.  Because as Matthew Arnold writes, "The best poetry is what we want; the best poetry will be found to have a power of forming, sustaining, and delighting us, as nothing else can."