The Great Sculptress

Many years ago there was a wandering pilgrim who came to a remote village where, in the village square, he found a beautiful marble statue of a young woman standing on a pedestal. The statue had been carved many years earlier by a reclusive sculptress who now lived far away and whom none of the villagers had ever seen.

Over the years the villagers had grown so accustomed to the beautiful sculpture that they had come to take it for granted. They hardly ever looked at it as they passed through the square.

The wandering pilgrim fell in love with the beauty and magnificence of the sculpture and decided to settle in the village so he could enjoy it. He spent every minute he could in the village square, admiring the masterpiece.

Months and years went by, and he came to understand and love the sculptress's creation so well that he was able to explain to others how the sculptress had done her work and why her creation was such a masterpiece. Other villagers came to listen to him talk about the grace and beauty and purity and refinement of the masterpiece, and so their own love and appreciation for the sculptress's creation grew.

Over the years, as villagers traveled to other towns and cities, they talked about the beautiful sculpture in their village square, and of the person who so loved and appreciated the masterpiece, and who understood its beauty and magnificence so well that it enhanced their own appreciation of the creation, and of the unseen sculptress who had created it. And from far and wide, people made pilgrimages to the village to see the magnificent creation and listen to this person, this devotee, who loved and appreciated it so much.

And, ultimately, the story of the creation and the devotee who loved and appreciated it, reached the far-distant land where the reclusive sculptress lived... and she decided that she must go and meet this devotee who loved and appreciated her creation far more than anyone else ever had. And so she made the journey, and appeared before her devotee... and he was blessed and fulfilled.