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parables are truths in the language of the blind; all mythologies are truths garbed in the language of the blind. So don't dissect them; you will not find anything there. They are just indications. And if you have trust, indications are wonderful.
In one temple in Japan there is no statue of Buddha. People go inside and they ask, "Where is the statue?" There is no statue, but on the pedestal there is just one finger pointing towards heaven -- and this is Buddha. The priest will say, "This is Buddha." I don't know whether the priest understands it or not -- this finger pointing to the moon. What is a buddha? Just a finger pointing to the moon!
The disciples ask what the kingdom of heaven is like: "Tell us, tell us in a parable, in a story that we children can understand. We don't know, we don't have any experience. Say something which can give us a glimpse."
JESUS SAID TO THEM: IT IS LIKE A MUSTARD SEED -- SMALLER THAN ALL SEEDS, BUT WHEN IT FALLS ON THE TILLED EARTH IT PRODUCES A LARGE TREE AND BECOMES SHELTER FOR ALL THE BIRDS OF HEAVEN.
Jesus has used this mustard seed very often, for many reasons. One: the mustard seed is the smallest seed. God is invisible, smaller than the smallest, so how can you indicate him? At the boundary of sight is the mustard seed, the smallest thing.... Beyond that you will not be able to understand because beyond is the invisible. The mustard seed is the boundary, the smallest thing in the world of the visible -- you can see it but it is very small. If you go beyond you enter the world of the subtle, that which is smaller than the smallest. This mustard seed exists on the boundary.
And this mustard seed is not only the smallest visible thing, it also has a very mysterious quality: when it grows it becomes the biggest of plants. So it is a paradox: the seed is the smallest and the plant is the biggest. God is the invisible and the universe is the most visible; the universe is the tree, the plant, and God is the seed; God is the unmanifest and the universe is the manifest.
If you break down a seed you will not find the tree there; you can dissect it but you will not find a tree hidden there.
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