One morning I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather cross my back terrace. Several times obstacles in its path confronted it and after a momentary pause it would make the necessary detour.
At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the feather on the other side then continued on its way. I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant, one of God's smallest creatures. It served to reinforce the miracle of creation.
Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome. But this ant, like the two-legged co-residents of this planet, also shares human failings.
After some time the ant finally reached its destination - a flowerbed at the end of the terrace and a small hole that was the entrance to its underground home. And it was here that the ant finally met its match. How could that large feather possibly fit down small hole?
Of course it couldn't. So the ant, after all this trouble and exercising great ingenuity, overcoming problems all along the way, just abandoned the feather and went home.
The ant had not thought the problem through before it began its epic journey and in the end the feather was nothing more than a burden. Isn't life like that!
We worry about our family, we worry about money or the lack of it, and we worry about work, about where we live, about all sorts of things. These are all burdens - the things we pick up along life's path and lug them around the obstacles and over the crevasses that life will bring, only to find that at the destination they are useless and we can't take them with us.
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Even though the story refers to the "physical" baggage we all tend to carry, I personally believe that the message applies to the emotional and mental baggage we all tend to carry for us as well as others. We have to learn to get rid of it, if not 100% as far as possible.
2 comments:
i have LOVED the message in this story..the end para is actually the complete gist of zillions of words dedicated by thousands of gurus and books to educate us how to go through life. well, one has been trying to inculcate this thought process of not getting 'burdened' by 'things' and 'lugging' them all across ones' life ...and to a certain extent , on a very personal basis, one has been succesful too...BUT..
one has realized something though.. the problem is that in life, for any one person who has understood the simplicity of this fantastic and practical wisdom, there are many who are in that person's immediate orbit or an integral part of his/her life, who have not, and thus the struggle continues between a light traveller and the ..well..'settlers', who will not only continue to build on and carry their own burdens but also not allow the others to rid of theirs..
i havent yet been able to get rid of the feathers i carry for others..
Rita,
Thanks a lot for your insightful response.
Even though the story refers to the "physical" baggage we all tend to carry, I personally believe that the message applies to the emotional and mental baggage we all tend to carry for us as well as others. We have to learn to get rid of it, if not 100% as far as possible.
One thing which has helped me in terms of physical baggage to certain extent - acquire it, enjoy it and transcend beyond it. The challenge is that new things keeps getting added to the list.
As I am writing this, I remember the story of Pandava brothers on their last day. The story was very appropriate in terms of all the baggages. I will try and find it and share it here.
I always enjoy and learn from your comments. Please keep them coming.
Manish.
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