A seeker of truth came to interview the famous mystic asking, “The skeptics say that the mind rises from the natural. However, the religious say that a universal consciousness bore the material. Which, in your opinion, is true?”
“Does the dragonfly carry the wings, or do the wings carry the dragonfly?” questioned the mystic in reply.
“Both do the carrying,” answered the seeker.
“Just like that, you cannot separate the spiritual from the natural.”
“But how can both be right?”
“The cock crows and the wolf howls. The skeptic and religious each only speak in terms that they understand.”
“That does not answer my question.”
“A coin has two sides, does it not? But one can only ever see one side at a time. Do not waste your time searching for answers from any of us. I am not a cock or a wolf. Even if I did comprehend the mystery of Oneness, I am only a man. What sound could I make to render it to you?”
Postscript:
The conch can speak of the ocean, yes. But tell me, can the conch produce both the cool mist of the waves and warmth of the sun? Does one squish the conch between one's toes like the enumerable sand? Is the conch fearsome as the storm or mysterious as the deep?
It’s true, man can speak of God. But why stop short, only to listen to a seashell, when you've got the ocean right there? Make the leap. Get wet.