Some scholars and poets once formed a group called the Council of the Mute.

There were thirty of them, and they did not admit new members. The first requirement for being a member was engaging in deep contemplation and speaking very little.

Famous scholar and poet Mulla Jami aspired to take part in the council. When he heard one day that a member of the council had died, he went to the manor of the scholars, seeking to be a candidate.

He did not speak a word to the doorman. He wrote his name on a piece of paper and had the doorman take it to the council, which was holding a meeting.

The members of the council were saddened when they saw the note. Mulla Jami deserved to be there, but they had already admitted someone else.

There was no place for another new member. The head of the council filled a glass with water and had it sent to Mulla Jami, who understood the message right away: another drop, and the glass would overflow.

Mulla Jami immediately picked a leaf from a rose branch nearby and gently placed it on the water. The glass did not overflow, and Mulla Jami had it sent back to the council.

Seeing the glass with the leaf, the council gladly decided to welcome Mulla Jami among them.

The head of the council added Mulla’s name on the list. Instead of making the number thirty-one, je added a zero to the right of thirty and wrote 300.

This meant the value of the council rose ten times. When Mulla Jami saw the revised list, he erased the zero on the right and placed it to the left of the number 30 to make it 030.

In all his modesty, Mulla Jami was showing himself with no value; just as the rose leaf did not overflow the glass his presence would not add up anything to the present value of the council.

It is not easy to be a rose leaf. Yet it requires being a rose leaf to get along well with others.

Not being a burden on others and ease others’ burdens…

Becoming as light and beautiful as a rose leaf. It heralds the peace inside all of us; the harmony with our family and others around us. It is the harbinger of the path of eternal bliss.

Those who appreciate the significance of the rose leaf contribute to their society as if they are ten times their worth; yet they behave like the zero on the left, as they avoid being a burden to anyone.

Can we be a rose leaf in our own lives?

Let us go after the rose and become one of its leaves and be a means of healing for all.