Once upon a time, a young boy was saying goodbye to his
master. He was about to take a trip around the world. As the
boy said goodbye, the master handed him a square mirror and
told him to record everything he saw and then show it to him
when he got back. The boy was confused and asked, “How can
I show you all that I see with this simple mirror?” At that
moment the mirror fell from his hands and shattered into seven
pieces. The master then said, “Now with these seven pieces, you
can recreate everything that you see.”
Mr. Tan's Tile
A long time ago in China, there lived a man called Tan. Tan's
greatest possession was a fine ceramic tile. One day, while
carrying his tile to show the emperor, Tan tripped and the tile
fell and broke into seven geometric shapes: five triangles, a
square, and a parallelogram. Tan spent the rest of his life trying
to put the tile back together again. In the process, he created
many different designs (people, animals and plants) until he
finally made the square.
The Disciple and the Master