Friends, a beautiful story from Taoism to reflect upon ....
Once the prince of Wu took a boat to monkey mountain. As soon as the monkeys saw him they all fled in panic and hid in the treetops. However, one monkey remained, completely unconcerned, swinging from branch to branch ....an extraordinary display.
The prince shot an arrow at the monkey, but the monkey dexterously caught the arrow in mid-flight. At this the prince ordered his attendants to make a concerted attack. In an instant the monkey was shot full of arrows and fell dead.
Then the prince turned to his companion Yen Pu'i and said, “Did you see what happened? This animal advertised his cleverness. He trusted in his own skill. He thought no one could touch him. Always remember that, do not rely on distinction and talent when you deal with men!”
The prince shot an arrow at the monkey, but the monkey dexterously caught the arrow in mid-flight. At this the prince ordered his attendants to make a concerted attack. In an instant the monkey was shot full of arrows and fell dead.
Then the prince turned to his companion Yen Pu'i and said, “Did you see what happened? This animal advertised his cleverness. He trusted in his own skill. He thought no one could touch him. Always remember that, do not rely on distinction and talent when you deal with men!”
When they returned home, Yen Pu'i became a disciple of a sage and got rid of everything that made him outstanding. He renounced every pleasure. He learned to hide every distinction. Soon no one in the kingdom knew what to make of him. Thus they held him in awe....
Food for the Thoughts ...
Friends, this story carries one of the most secret keys to our life. The story points that, whatsoever is beautiful in you, hide it, never act it out; whatsoever is truthful, valuable in you, hide it, because whenever a truth is hidden in the heart, it grows like a seed hidden in the earth. Don't throw it out. If you throw a seed on the street for everybody to see, it will die, and die to no purpose. It will simply die, there will be no rebirth. Treat all that is beautiful, good and true, just like a seed. Give it some soil, a hidden place in the heart, don't display it.
But most of us just do the opposite... whatsoever is wrong, ugly, we try to hide it, we don't want it to be known by others. Whatsoever is beautiful, even if it is not, we try to advertise it, magnify it, display it. Hence the misery in life ....because the ugly grows and the beautiful is lost. The untrue grows, it becomes a seed, and the truth is thrown away. The precious is thrown and the rubbish grows. We become like weeds. No flower blooms in our life because we are wrong, we have not hidden the seed of the flower within. This opposite is the path, and this is one of the most secret keys of life.
A Self-Realized man remains ordinary, absolutely ordinary. Nobody knows who he is, nobody knows what he carries within him, what treasure. He never advertises, he never tries to display. But Friends, why do most of us advertise? Because of the ego. We are never satisfied with ourselves, we are satisfied only when others appreciate us. Others' opinion is more valuable to us, not our true being.
Friends, Ego is a false phenomenon. It is only the accumulation of others' opinions, it is not the knowledge of the self.
Mrs. Sangeeta Hegde.
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