The glory of flight!

                                            

Once there was a King who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from Arabia . They were Peregrine Falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head Falconer to be trained.
                                             
Months passed. One day the head Falconer informed the king that though one of the Falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.   
                                        

The King summoned healers and sorcerers from all over the land to tend to the Falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the King saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch.

Having tried everything else, the King thought to himself, "May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem." So he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."

In the morning, the King was thrilled to see the Falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this miracle."

                                           

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the King.

The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?" With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."

Moral:

We are all made to fly -- to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of doing that,we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, the mundane. 

So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling. We should learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight  

(Extract From the Book "Why walk when you can fly" )


Sent by Kamal Prem Shivdasani

Zen story: Forgotten Identity

                                     

Friends, please reflect on this old Zen story ….

Once a pilgrim mounted his horse and crossed formidable mountains and swift rivers seeking a famous wise man, in order to ask him how to find true enlightenment. After months of searching, the pilgrim located the teacher in a cave.

   

                                           

The Master listened to the question and said nothing. The seeker waited….

Finally, after hours of silence, the Master looked at the steed on which the pilgrim had arrived, and asked the pilgrim why he was not looking for a horse instead of enlightenment.

                                         

The pilgrim was surprised and said that, obviously he already had a horse. The Master just smiled and retreated into his cave….! He had given the answer.

Moral of the Story …..

This story is quite significant and packed with meaning.

The Master clearly indicated that, “You are already a Buddha. Why are you searching for it?”

Friends, this is the great declaration of all the religions. We have simply forgotten our own identity. We don’t know who we are. Hence all this seeking. It is impossible to find outside, hence the frustration.

                                  

Instead of seeking, one should just start looking at the reality as it is. This is the real meaning of Zen saying, ”Be here & now” ….Look in to the reality. In fact, nothing is missing, everything is already here. One should avoid creating an ideal, otherwise the ideal will mislead ….

Have Great Day Friends!

Sangeeta Hegde

                                         

Silent Communication

About 500 years ago near Lahore, there was a famous campus of Sufi mystics. People used to come from far and wide to Lahore to be with the mystic gathering.                                

                                          

Once while travelling Guru Nanak reached there. He was just relaxing outside the Sufi campus when the Chief Sufi heard that Nanak was there. Both of them did not understand each other’s language, but the Sufi Mystic had to communicate in some way. So, he sent one of his disciples to Nanak with a beautiful cup completely filled to the brim with milk. The cup was so full that even one more drop of milk could not be contained in it.

                        

                                               

Nanak looked at the cup full of milk, smiled and started looking around. Then he found a small wild flower and carefully floated it in the cup full of milk. The wildflower was so light that, without disturbing the milk it started floating in it. Nanak gave the signal to the man to take the cup of milk back.

                                             

The man was puzzled. He returned to the Sufi Chief with the milk and asked his master, “Please explain this wordless secret to me. What is going on between the two of you?”

The Chief Mystic smiled and replied, “In fact, I had sent that cup full of milk to indicate to Nanak that, he should move on to some other place, as this place is already too full with Sufi Mystics, just like this cup of milk. But Nanak has managed to float a flower in it, indicating that, he will be here just like this weightless, fragrant, beautiful wild flower floating with us. He will not occupy any space nor will he disturb us…!”

                                     

The Sufi mystic reached Nanak and touched his feet. No words were exchanged. Nanak became their guest, singing his songs and the Sufis dancing and enjoying the divinity. And the day Nanak left, they all gathered to see him off. All the Sufis, including the Chief Mystic were crying. A great communion happened without a single word….!

Moral of the Story …..

Friends, the essential message can be conveyed without any language, without any words. It is not a communication about the experience of the truth, but a communion which transpires only in absence of words, only at the being to being level.

Enlightenment has no language, but it is capable of finding ways of conveying the rejoicing, the blissful state of the being, the truth, love, compassion and all the greatest human experiences ….the highest peaks of consciousness.

Have a Great Day Friends!

Sangeeta Hegde