The world will become peaceful, beautiful and abundant
IF WE ALWAYS KEEP OUR EYES OPEN

A number of ice-skaters stood on an iced-over river with their eyes closed. They had been told they would be taken on a long exciting journey. The leader asked them to get in line and hold onto each other’s shoulders. He positioned himself at the front and guided them across the ice. He was the only one who had his eyes open. He shouted LEFT and RIGHT so that their steps on the ice were perfectly synchronised, and in this way they got up quite some speed and moved forward rapidly.

The skaters were in good spirits, believing they were on their way to an unknown, remote and possibly exotic destination, and they trusted their leader to get them there safely. At regular intervals they shouted out I AM HAVING A GREAT TIME or ISN’T THIS FUN or WE ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING or SO GLAD WE ARE DOING THIS TOGETHER.

After many hours of travelling in this way, their leader suddenly stopped saying WELL, THIS MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTING, BUT WE HAVE TO STOP HERE. When the skaters opened their eyes, they discovered that they were at EXACTLY AT THEIR ORIGINAL POINT OF DEPARTURE.

They sat on the riverbanks in complete shock. What they remembered as never-ending stretches of ice was actually a small icy patch. They could not understand why there seemed to be ice one minute and water the next. Two large ships were breaking the ice at either side of the remaining patch of ice. They were followed by smaller boats with flags flying and music blaring. The boats all wanted the ice to be removed as quickly as possible so that they could continue up or down river to their destinations.

The memory of the skaters was actually intact, but their perception of the journey was erroneous. What had happened was this: the leader had led them cheerfully on down the frozen river. Ever so often there were holes in the ice, indicating that the cold weather was coming to an end, and that the ice was gradually melting. The leader decided to continue the journey, however, carefully manoeuvring the line of skaters behind him so that they avoided the holes. The skaters merely sensed a slight change in direction and thought they were turning a gentle corner.

As the holes became more and more frequent, the leader realised that he would have to turn his group back, still avoiding the ever-increasing numbers of holes. Again, his followers had no idea that they were in danger, or that they had completely changed direction. In the end, only one small stretch of river was still frozen and “safe”, and the leader circled round and round this patch endlessly until he saw the icebreakers appear at either side. At this point the leader said WE HAVE TO STOP HERE.

Unaware of these intermittent stages, the skaters were completely confused. With time, the feeling of helplessness receded, and although they were no further in understanding the phenomenon, they decided that in future they would act differently. They would keep their eyes open and FOLLOW THEMSELVES.