An interview with Buddha

"Where will you be going today?" This seemes to be the standard question John has been asking me almost everyday. Yes, I still move around rather often eventhough I'm not working.
My intention is to stay at home today - to clear some of my old files before I report to work again next month.
In the midst of discarding old files into the recycle bin, I came across this message sent to me by an old friend who now resides in Perth, Australia. It's an interview with Buddha :

"Come in," he said. "So, you would like to interview me?"
"If you have the time." I said.

The Buddha smiled and said : "For me, there is no time; it doesn't exist. What questions do you have in mind?"
"What surprises you about mankind?" I asked.

The Buddha answered : "That they get bored at being children - are in a rush to grow up - then long to be children again.
That they lose their health to make money and then lose money to restore their health.
That by thinking anxiously about their future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future.
That they live as if they will never die and die as if they had never lived."

The Buddha's hands took mine and we were silent for awhile and then I asked.."As a Bodhisattva, what are some of life's lessons you want humans to learn?"

The Buddha replied with a smile : "To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved.
To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.
To learn that it takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and it takes years to heal them.
To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.
To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings.
To learn that money can buy everything except happiness.
To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it totally different.
To learn that a true friend is someone who knows everything about them but love them anyway.
To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others but that they need to forgive themselves."

I sat there for awhile enjoying the moment. I thanked the great Bodhisattva for his time (which was nonexistent) and for all the wisdom that he left here for me, for my family and my friends.

He replied : "Anytime. I'm available. All you have to do is to look for me inside yourself. For that's where I live."