Dharma Teacher

newmango — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:07:45 +0000

I live on the gentle slope near the top of a big hill. When we bought our property some years ago, it came with five old sheep and seven gray and white barnyard geese in the fenced pasture next to the house. The sheep kept the grass from getting too long and gathered around the little barn every evening for a scoop or two of grain. The geese came around, too, honking and trying to sneak some of the grain. Over the years, I never saw the geese do much of anything except waddle around and honk and hiss at anyone who came too close. It all gave a pastoral feel to our country home.

One night I was awakened by the sound of the geese honking crazily and a dog barking. I ran outside with a flashlight and found Sheriff, our neighbor Bob’s border collie, happily chasing the geese around the pasture. I yelled and he jumped the fence and went back home. The next morning he returned and began chasing the geese again. I called Bob, who came over and got Sheriff, muttering about having to find out how the dog was getting out.

A couple of days later, in the afternoon, I again heard barking in the pasture and immediately called Bob, and went out to the pasture to wait for him. Sheriff was trying to herd the geese, keeping them in a group as he chased them from one corner of the pasture to the other. When he got too close to a goose, it opened its wings and started flapping for an extra burst of speed. At one point, Sheriff was right behind a group of three geese who began flapping wildly and actually became airborne for a few moments. Two of the geese landed and continued running next to the fence, but the third sailed right over the fence, landing on the road on the other side. It looked as surprised as I was. Bob arrived to scold the dog while I opened a gate to let the goose back in.

That was a learning moment for the geese. A few days later, I went out to feed the animals and I must have made too sudden a movement, because it startled one of the geese and it ran away from me, headed downhill, honking and flapping its wings. It flew over the fence and kept rising, disappearing over the trees in the distance. The other geese noticed, too. One of them began running and flapping after the first goose and soon it was in flight. Then I watched as the whole group followed the second goose, honking and flapping. They all took flight together and disappeared into the afternoon.

I had no idea these big lazy birds could fly, and it seemed to come as a surprise to them, too. All it took was a teacher to wake them up to what they had in them all along.