And they looked at him with disgust. The leader of the village spoke, "How can one monk who is so revered do such a despicable act? How could you do such a sinful thing when you preach the exact opposite? A thirteen-year-old girl has just recently had a child and she admitted that the father of the child is you. It is your responsibility to take care of this child."

The monk looked at them, with his heart full of compassion, and said, "Is that so?" He held his hands out to receive the child, and carried the infant back into his hut.

Now the monk was a very poor man, but he gave the child great love. He did everything in his power to feed and clothe the child. He nurtured and cared for that young child with every ounce of being. The child blossomed.

After about a year, the monk looked out his hut and once more saw the villagers gathered outside. But this time they were on their knees bowing. The monk, with the little child in his arms, emerged smiling, "Good day, my friends!"

The leader looked up, "Please forgive us, master. We have greatly wronged you. The young girl has admitted that she lied to us, and that the true father was a younger fisherman from a nearby village. They have decided to marry, and have asked for their child back.

The monk, with his heart full of compassion, said, "Is that so?" He reached out and returned the child, bowed with deep love, and returned to his hut.

Stories such these are so magical to me because they provide a vivid glimpse of the conditions of moving "beyond the gold." The possibility of a quality of life alien to so much of the world today reminds me of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas any more."

We have forgotten how magical life is. Zorba the Greek once said, "What a strange machine man is. You fill him with bread, wine, fish and radishes, and out of him comes sighs, laughter and dreams." Now I am certain that most people would like to shift and live with a deeper, more powerful essence of their higher self. In fact, most of us know what we would need to do so, we simply don't do it. We are unwilling to change -- to move beyond the gold is to being willing to change.

Our ability to change, to move beyond the gold, is directly related to how clear our vision is, how powerfully and deeply in touch we are with our highest purpose. The more clearly you can see or imagine something, the stronger you believe in its possibility, the greater your power to take action toward that vision. Just one small step at a time can produce any outcome desired. It is that combination of clear vision and a willingness to take action that is so powerful.

Why not set our vision in a place that is beyond just the gold? An old Chinese philosopher once said it very powerfully, "Unless we change our direction, we are likely to wind up where we are headed."

When you have the clarity of vision, from a centered heartfelt space, the proper direction or path will emerge naturally and powerfully. St. Francis of Assisi once said, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach, unless our walking is our preaching."

Taking action on our vision requires a delicate balance of taking full responsibility for our lives, and, at the same time, letting go of that unnecessary stress that comes from any committed and passionate life. It is a unique combination of going for it and letting go, taking responsibility and trusting.

When we choose to follow our vision, we are choosing to experience a heightened awareness and a deeper connectedness to our world. We discover that actually we are "the gold" that brings joy and fulfillment to this world. We become the good news. May your life of work become a work of art.

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