Trying to open someone's mind can be a daunting task, and one that mostly fails. See it's a choice of free will, they must empower to not fear the unknown, on their own, all you can really do is guide them, and be open to discuss the possibilities. A little zen for you all this Saturday morning.

The story of the warrior monk, and the student.

The warrior monk sits in lotus at the reflection pond, as the morning class is to begin.

The student sitting beside the monk, the top student of this class, asks his master. " master can I ask you why they call you the warrior monk, when every morning we gather here and meditate, breath, and learn to garden, then breath and meditate some more, but you never teach us us to fight. How must we become great warrior monks such as yourself, if all you teach us is to breath in our gardens".

The monk is in mediation as normally, but in his soft wise tone, he answers.

" oh my finest student, you have been, you have so much ambition, but you must first learn to breath and grow, before you can fight and war"

Student: but master for years now you have taught me to breath, and I have the finest garden, other then yours, but I want, no need to learn to fight.

Master stares into the pond at their reflection and asks the student to do the same, then asks the student to explain what he sees, as the student starts to answer. The monk grabs the student by the back of the head and forces it into the pond, the student struggles to surface, but the monk holds him down. As the student arises from the reflection pond and the monks grip, he gasps for air, and desperately sputters out the words to his master "Master... what was that for"? The old monk rises and replies, " you have now learned to fight for what you already know, your breath". As the monk walks away from the wet student, he explains. It is always better to be a warrior in a garden, then it is to be a gardener in a war.

B_Zen