Saturday, July 28, 2012

Sufi story: Fish in the Golden Bowl!!


Friends, this is an ancient Sufi parable …

A king gave a present to a Sufi mystic. It was a golden bowl with a beautiful fish in it. The Sufi looked at the bowl and then at the fish. He felt very sorry for the fish, because the fish was imprisoned in that golden bowl.

So, the Sufi mystic went to the lake and liberated the fish in that lake. He was tremendously happy that at least now the fish can have the whole lake, the great freedom, the space that really belongs to the fish. Although the bowl was made of gold it was a confinement. Then he looked at the bowl and thought, what will he do with that bowl? So he threw the bowl also into the lake.

The next morning the Sufi mystic visited the lake to have a look at the fish and he was surprised, the fish was again in the bowl although the bowl was in the lake. The fish had again chosen the bowl. The bowl was in the lake, but the fish was not in the lake. The fish had entered into the bowl again. The fish had lived in that bowl for so long. The bowl was its home. The mystic thought it was a prison, but not the fish.

The fish must have been afraid of the sudden freedom….!

Moral of the Story ….

Friends, most of us talk about freedom, but when freedom comes in life we are scared, as freedom is unmanageable, uncontrollable. One cannot dominate freedom, because as compared to freedom, slavery is quite tiny. Compared to our freedom we are a nonentity, but since everybody wants to be somebody, even though one has to live in a prison, one is ready….
Our ego is the greatest barrier and the ego loves to exist only in a golden bowl. Ego cannot exist in a lake, as it is bound to melt, merge and disappear there.
Friends, for attaining to the truth one has to be free …to be a nobody.

Enjoy the Day Friends, today & everyday!


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