To not make it too serious and boring we’ll start with a story.
"There was once a rabbit in a household, I think her name was Kala (कला), she was beautiful, well trained and swift. She gave birth to three leverets but the owner took them away from Kala; And every time when the owner got closer to her to feed or give her a bath, she wanted to hurt him.
So the owners's wife kept a watch, and whenever her husband got close to Kala, the wife would say, 'All right, Kala, easy, you’re such a good pet,' and Kala knew she was just protecting her husband, so she didn't hurt him. But the owner wanted to find a better solution. For a long time he thought about how to convince Kala to change her mind and not hurt him.
"He thought of a brilliant idea. He realised that Kala was very comfortable sitting on her platform. So he gave her a new platform that was much smaller - so small that she could only put two feet on it at one time. There wasn't room for all four feet, so she had to concentrate on keeping her balance. All her thoughts were directed toward staying on the platform. She no longer had time to think about hurting the owner.
"I think that most trifle matters in life is exactly the same. Like Kala, we are occupied with things that don’t matter or won’t matter in the long run. She's (You) always standing in lines, always trying to buy something, always worrying about idiotic little problems, always trying to prove something to someone, always trying to win small battles. She has no time to worry about the big things - about freedom, or happiness, or making a lot of money (or whatever the big things are). The small and unimportant things do not give you a chance to think - there's no time to think. If you get a chance to do a little thinking, you have to realize that life isn't too good.
"But nobody has time to think about hurting the owner."
I was listening to Osho few months back and he said something similar that inspired me to write more about it, fight bigger battles, with bigger competitors, do not fight the small, do not fight the young.
You won’t get an applaud when you win from the young, but you’ll be laughed at if you lose. You’ll be called valorous if you win a big battle, but if you lose it people will understand.
With respect to achieving our biggest goals and penetrating our world of illusions, we are in much the same situation as Kala. The exigencies of the moment keep us from apprehending the true nature of the bigger problems that lie ahead of us. Our prison walls are perhaps more subtly distracting, consisting of a superabundance of those matters. So deeply are we immured in things that, as the phrase has it, we are owned by small stuff.
All of the great teachers tell us to detach ourselves from material ties so that we may concentrate on the core problem. We cannot hurt the owner, overthrow an oppressive regime, or see through the illusions of this life while we are putting most of our creative energies into the maddening cycle of trifle matters.
Next time you’re engaged in something small, ask yourself “Is this my fight? Is this battle worth fighting? Does it contribute to my bigger goal?”
That was it my friends, I will see you soon. If you like this or could relate to any bit of it or want to talk about it, reply to this email, DM me anywhere.
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Bye!
Woah..this is pretty insightful!! Loved it :)
Enjoyed reading this one!