'Do you see who's coming?' asked the rabbit, wide-eyed. 'Open your eyes!'
'Unnecessary,' replied the owl, 'I see just as well when they are closed.''Well, who is it?' she asked.
'It's the unicorn,' he replied nonchalantly.'And who on Earth is he?'
'Not "on Earth",' the owl murmured, 'a religious beast.''Trustworthy?' asked the rabbit.
'Relatively,' the owl responded, 'fundamentally reliable. Runs true to form, wherever encountered.''And does he understand how things are?' she inquired dubiously.
'He does,' the owl answered, 'basically at least, but he is currently misunderstood.''Will he talk sense?' she inquired.
'Does anybody?' he replied. 'To you - probably not: according to what he thinks you may understand.''Better for you to do the talking, then,' the rabbit murmured modestly.
'Probably prefer to talk to you about God,' the owl hazarded.'Can't you talk about God?' asked the rabbit.
'Talk? Yes, of course,' the owl replied, 'but really I have nothing to say about what I am.''And why is that?' asked the rabbit.
'Because there could not be anything to say,' the owl replied with finality.'God be with you!' said the unicorn, bowing his horn to the rabbit, 'and with you!' pointing it up towards the owl.
'And with you,' replied the rabbit politely.
'I am with you,' acknowledged the owl.'Ah, yes,' said the unicorn, slightly taken aback, 'quite so, yes indeed. God is love,' he announced, 'and we are His children.'
'I am so glad,' said the rabbit, 'love is so comforting!'
'"Love" is a concept,' stated the owl, 'therefore "God" must be a concept also - if He is "love" - whereas whatever "God" could be is necessarily inconceivable.''That, of course, is so,' agreed the unicorn, with a courteous wave of his horn.
'Moreover "love" is only the counterpart of "hate",' said the owl, 'and is all my eye. Please use words correctly.''Of course, of course,' said the unicorn, with good humour. 'It is a convention to call it "love". What word would you prefer?'
'"Unicity",' said the owl, 'not accurate - no word could be, in relativity - but that at least does not confuse the issue.''Certainly,' said the unicorn, 'if you prefer: "God is Unicity".'
'I have no preferences,' replied the owl, 'but "unicity" makes sense at least.''Indeed some sacred Scripture did say, "The only proof of his existence is Union with Him",' the unicorn agreed.
'An Upanishad, if I am not mistaken?' the owl suggested.'No doubt, no doubt,' said the unicorn, 'or, as a Christian sage put it, "God is nearer to me than I am to myself".'
'I am indeed,' the owl agreed.'So let us pray,' suggested the unicorn; 'are you agreeable?'
'Yes, indeed,' said the rabbit, 'what could be more delightful? Could I ask for some fresh young clover, even though it is not in season?''Well,' said the unicorn dubiously, 'we could ask!'
'Prayer is not solicitation,' snapped the owl, 'prayer is communion!''Quite so, quite so,' agreed the unicorn; 'how right you are!'
'Pity!' sighed the rabbit, crestfallen, 'then let us pray for communion.'
'Communion is not a "thing" to be prayed for,' the owl explained; 'prayer, true prayer, IS communion.''Yes, indeed,' the unicorn agreed, 'that is so. After all, the Kingdom of Heaven is within, is it not? The Lord himself said so!'
'How true, and how comforting!' the rabbit observed.
'What He meant is true,' the owl remarked, 'but not as it has been translated.''Why so?' asked the rabbit.
'There is no "without" to have a "within",' the owl explained; '"within" is what the "kingdom of Heaven" is, not where it is; that is all He said and all that He meant. If He spoke, it was so that we should understand and not misunderstand.''I do not follow,' faltered the rabbit.
'The Lord was not referring to your precious inside, my dear bunny,' the owl explained; 'He was pointing out that the Kingdom of Heaven is "within-ness" as such!'
'Quite so, quite so,' agreed the unicorn politely, 'what an admirable exegetist you are, to be sure!''The Kingdom of Heaven sounds splendid,' interjected the rabbit, 'but what of the Kingdom of the Earth? Are we not, perhaps, more directly involved?'
'I seem to remember,' said the owl, 'people being warned not to think that I am come to send peace on the Earth, but a sword!''And how!' the rabbit observed, drooping her ears with melancholy.
'But He also said "Of myself I can do Nothing"!' the unicorn interjected.
'An improbably obvious statement,' suggested the owl. 'What can any phenomenon do of itself? A real bromide!''But it is we who have made such a mess of it all!' protested the unicorn.
'There are no "we",' the owl pointed out dryly, 'to do or not to do anything whatsoever!''That is so, of course,' the unicorn admitted, 'but the Lord also stated "Before Abraham was - I AM".'
'Evidently,' the owl declared, 'as a Christian sage stated, "The word 'I' denotes God's pure essence".''He also said "I am THAT-I-AM"!' added the owl, after a pause. 'Have greater words ever been spoken?'
'Indeed no,' said the unicorn warmly. 'I think we are all agreed, are we not, that religion is the greatest thing ever?'
'It makes us all so happy!' suggested the rabbit, sighing sadly. 'Should we not thank God, with a blessing?''"Blessed are the pure in heart - for they shall see God"!' quoted the unicorn, 'does not that apply to us?'
'Thank you,' concluded the owl, bowing formally, 'so you shall, so indeed you would be doing now if your "hearts" were "pure".'
'How can "hearts" be impure?' the rabbit inquired, scratching one ear.'"Heart" in basic languages,' the owl replied, 'usually means what today we call "mind".'
'And are our minds not pure?' she continued, lowering her eyes.'The word "purity" means undiluted, or wholeness, and nothing else whatever,' the owl explained patiently, 'but you are split, and so "impure".'
'So that is why I cannot see God?' mused the rabbit.'"Seeing God" is "being God with mind which is whole",' the owl insisted, 'so that "the Whole-in-Mind shall be God, and so shall be blessed", as so perfectly stated; also the word "whole" is the same word as "holy" - as our friend here would probably prefer to call it.'
'That is so,' confirmed the unicorn; 'holy it is indeed.''Then you mean...?' suggested the rabbit.
'Such is what God is,' the owl hooted, raising his great wings, 'and only God is WHOLE.'
