The Boy Who wanted to Contest with the Fishes
(55)
“Rafael, I have a
problem in my school. One of my teachers is very partial. She always finds
reasons to fire me. I really hate to go to school and especially the day when I
have mathematics, and that is everyday,”
“Yes, Rafael, its
true, Mark always gets firing from her. I too hate her. Why can’t she hold her
tongue. She should think na, that she is a teacher and be impartial?” Rafael
nodded.
“Yes Mark, its
indeed a grievous issue. I’ll say a story. So that you understand the science
behind scolding.”
“Once in a small
village, there lived a boy who loved fun. He would do anything to have fun. So
before that I’d like to ask, for you guys, what does fun mean?”
“To ride my two
wheeler, to my heart’s content, until they raise their eyebrows and nod their
heads, to be with my friends, skip classes and go for movies and just do what
the elders say no.” The boys smiled and the girls sighed and nodded.
“Good , now what
about girls?”
“Well, no class
skipping for sure, but going out with friends and having ice cream and talking
the latest fashion and shopping them too.”
“Hmm. So both are
opposites. Good. Now for this boy he wanted to be free like a fish. He liked swimming.
He would do anything to swim to his heart’s content and wanted to conduct a
contest with the fishes of the sea and outsmart them.”
“He is crazy.” All
nodded.
“Yes, you might
think that, but when you decide you want
something, what would be your attitude Mark?”
“Well that’s another
cup of fish Rafael, firstly, we do not have this type of want, but if I want
something, all my focus turns to that, for example if it’s the latest i-phone,
then my waking and sleeping thoughts would only be on the i-phone until I get
it.” All nodded.
“Exactly, it was the
same for the boy too, but there was a problem, there was no sea, for that
matter not even a small rivulet in that village and the boy didn't know to swim.”
“Oh!!!!!!! What a
mess.” All nodded.
“Yes, Monica, it was
indeed a mess for him and he lost sleep and appetite and started skipping
classes. He started getting scoldings from all corners of his life.”
“Naturally.” All
nodded
“He really started
hating people for not understanding him.” All nodded understandingly.
“But luckily for
him, a very powerful sage arrived to their village and the parents of the boy
took him to the sage, to straighten him up.”
“Straighten? That
was mean of them to think as such. Rafael, the children are no metal rods to
straighten.” Rafael smiled and all nodded.
“Yes, I understand,
now hear the story. The parents requested to bless them all, the father bowed
and then the mother, but the boy stood as straight as a ram rod.”
“Yes, Rafael, its
natural, when we are forced to do what we do not like, I don’t think we would
bow to anybody’s wishes.” All nodded.
“Yes Ajay, now back
to the story, the sage closed his eyes and with his deep and wise wisdom, delved deep into the mind of the boy and
found, what was ailing him.”
“Wow!!!!! That’s
simply superb.” Rafael smiled and nodded.
“The sage opened the
eyes and looked directly at the boy, but the boy was never a person to let up
and the sage turned towards the parents and smilingly looked at them and said,
“Children, there is a curse, which has befell your family, that is why your
son, is acting weird. Its not his fault, for that you will have to have to go
to Rishikesh and take a dip in the Ganges and
let your boy swim in it from dawn to dusk for a month.”
“Just imagine the
shock of the boy?”
“Yes, the boy was
shocked still. He stood there dumb struck. But the parents were more
dumbstruck. A dip was fine, but in such a young age, how was their son going to
manage in water from dawn to dusk without knowing to swim.”
“Oh But.”
“Yes, unfortunately,
in a place where there is not a dingle rivulet, how would anyone learn to swim.
But the boy didn’t care. He bowed at the sages feet and sought his blessing.
But the confusion of the parents still persisted.”
“Regarding what,
Rafael?”
“They were not rich
and how were they going to go there or live there? They voiced it loudly.
Luckily the sage had an answer for that too.”
“Oh wow.” Rafael
nodded.
The sage replied,
“My ashram is in Rishikesh, you can be my guest for one month.”
“Oh how nice.”
“But the parents
felt humiliated, they said, “Sire don’t put us to shame, we are grateful that
you offered your ashram, we will do any work there, so that we earn for our
food.” The sage smiled and nodded his assent, “As you wish children. Get ready
to go tomorrow at 5 in the morning.” They nodded and left.”
“How long did they
take to reach their destination, Rafael?”
“There are some home
truths, which you should know, while I say this story, there are two ways to reach your destination, as a
spiritual being, it could be reached within the blink of an eye and as a human
being, the physical body and all its paraphrenalias, like the five senses, ego,
emotions, wishes, ambitions and aspirations all pull you down to reach
your destination, likewise this travel also took time, a month.”
“A month? Really
Rafael, wasn't it too dragging.”
“Yes, Monica, it was
dragging, the obsession of the kid created lots of obstacles for him, to not make it
happen.”
“But why?”
“Ajay, you are here
for a purpose, to be united with God and its your duty to know it, and fulfill it, but the mind, who is
the devil creates, a reason to block that goal, that purpose, by putting other
priorities before you like i-phones and i-pads for you guys and for the boy, to contest the fishes of the
sea and thus redirecting the goal.” All nodded. So when you want to keep an enemy waiting, what will you do?”
“Put some obstacles
in front of him to distract his attention as long as possible in keeping that enemy from reaching us.”
“Exactly, that is
what happened for the boy too, luckily, he knew, this travel would let him
swim. So he waited patiently and at last reached his destination. The sage
himself introduced the boy to one of his disciples to help him learn to swim.
The boy learned fast and he started swimming, like a fish and he spent the
whole day swimming and swimming. He didn’t want any food. He swam and swam,
afterwards, he became aware that he had forgot to contest with the fish, so he
went chasing the fishes.”
“Crazy, will there be any fish who would wait for him?”
“But he was not to
be deterred, he wanted to contest a fish. He requested the sage, “Sire would
you be able to help me?”
“Oh wow!!!”
“Yes, when he asked,
the sage asked him to learn to swim closed eyes and know the way by heart, then
it would be possible.”
“Did he accept the
challenge?”
“Yes, he did. He
learned to swim closed eyes, first he bumped on several rocks, but afterwards, he
knew, by the strength of the eye sight or the hearing or the texture of the
skin, he cannot achieve it, he became calm and closed his eyes and shut his
ears and felt deep into him, where no problem touched or obstacles rose, he swam
and opened the eyes to find himself in the Bay of Bengal where there were
several fishes to contest.
“Oh wow!!!”
“Yes it was awesome,
but by then the boy knew the stupidness of his craving, the shallowness of his
action . He closed his eyes and swam back to his origin, reached the ashram,
the sage knew, the boy had reached his destination. The sage called his parents
and said, the curse has been lifted, you can return to your village. But the
boy was not willing to return. He wanted to be with the sage, who had brought him to
his senses.”
“Its natural.”
“But the sage
replied, "Son, your life has just started, you should live the life you are
blessed with, overcome all the curses befalling you and know your true goal. Be
a good son, good student, good friend and above all be a good devotee to your
Self. The boy nodded and received the blessing of the sage and the family left
for their village.”
“Rafael, I don’t
understand, why the sage said, be a good devotee to Self?”
“Mathew, our body is
no more when we die, but our soul lives, which is the real you - the self. This
soul is a small drop from the ocean
of God
“You mean to say
Rafael, that if we are going through rough patch, hold strong to your self?”
“Exactly. One thing
you should know is that the people around has no personal grudge against you,
but your own mind has, that is what creates all these scenes for you. So that you
hate them, be angry and do what you should not do and directs you away from
God. So when someone hurts you, take a deep breath and tell your mind, “Calm
down, don’t play tricks on me.” Then forgive the person who hurt you. Never would you have any reason to hate that person again.”
“Rafael, its not as
easy as said, no one likes that teacher. She is the devil incarnate.”
“Just like the boy
did, first thing in the morning when you wake up, when your physical eyes open,
close the mind’s eye and swim against all obstacles, don't feel with your senses, just look at all the
problems coming to you as a third
person. Take all the knocks and hatreds like they are being directed to open
space because human body is made of atoms, right?” All nodded.
“Can you see an
atom?”
“No.”
“Then to whom is the teacher scolding?” All smiled.
“Exactly, to nothingness,
but don’t get diverted, your soul is there, your very being, when you close the minds eye, you are
letting your soul to open, and the soul don’t need any senses or words or
actions to fare this life or any life, because it would automatically gets
united with God soul and there flows love in abundance, unconditional love.
Love is what should direct your life, would direct your life when God is the
focal point. Yes Rebecca, its not easy but its high time you learned that you
are not here to live forever as a human being, the most important thing is to
release your spiritual being, from the clutches of anger, hatred, emotions,
senses and above all the physical body which has been created by your own mind
and do not fight against the teachers or parents or friends, as you are nothing, they are also the creation of your mind, so fight your own mind and conquer it. Let free all your problems into
thin air and have fun. Would you be able to do that guys?”
“We’ll surely try
Rafael, its much more easy to straighten a metal rod, isn't it Rafael? This is like fighting thin air.” All nodded, Rafael smiled.
“That’s good. Why
don’t we continue this tomorrow?” All nodded.
...to be contd....(56)....
Until then... Take care.....Bye
Meena
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