I said I was not going to blog today but what I meant was that there would be no additional Application. I want to preface todays blog by saying that I found this by accident... on the internet and it fit very nicely with what we have been talking about but I am not endorsing or recommending this blogger in any way shape or form. Our views of christianity at the very foundation differ greatly based on reading his other material. That being said I found this one writing to be the only usable one. I guess this comes from my belief and conviction that every person and everything in my life has within it valuable information. I just have to be still long enough to find it. Blessings and have a God filled weekend!
The Elephant and the Fly
By Remez Sasson
By Remez Sasson
A disciple and his teacher were walking through the forest. The disciple was disturbed by the fact that his mind was in constant unrest.
He asked his teacher: "Why most people's minds are restless, and only a few possess a calm mind? What can one do to still the mind?"
The teacher looked at the disciple, smiled and said:"I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came, flying and buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with his long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant waved it away once more".
This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly:"Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can't you stay for a while in one place?"
The fly answered: "I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses pull me constantly in all directions and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?"
The elephant stopped eating and said:"My five senses do not rule my attention. Whatever I do, I get immersed in it. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I rule and control my attention, and not the other way around."
Upon hearing these words, the disciple's eyes opened wide and a smile appeared on his face. He looked at his teacher and said:"I understand! If my five senses are in control of my mind and attention, then my mind is in constant unrest. If I am in charge of my five senses and attention, then my mind becomes calm".
"Yes, that's right", answered the teacher, " The mind is restless and goes wherever the attention is. Control your attention, and you control your mind".
He asked his teacher: "Why most people's minds are restless, and only a few possess a calm mind? What can one do to still the mind?"
The teacher looked at the disciple, smiled and said:"I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came, flying and buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with his long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant waved it away once more".
This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly:"Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can't you stay for a while in one place?"
The fly answered: "I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses pull me constantly in all directions and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?"
The elephant stopped eating and said:"My five senses do not rule my attention. Whatever I do, I get immersed in it. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I rule and control my attention, and not the other way around."
Upon hearing these words, the disciple's eyes opened wide and a smile appeared on his face. He looked at his teacher and said:"I understand! If my five senses are in control of my mind and attention, then my mind is in constant unrest. If I am in charge of my five senses and attention, then my mind becomes calm".
"Yes, that's right", answered the teacher, " The mind is restless and goes wherever the attention is. Control your attention, and you control your mind".
Sorry but I left out something very important. If you have been foloowing all the blogs you are aware that there was the introduction of a beautiful blooming lilie on Wednsday. It was discovered and greatly desired by one person. They decided to trade their plain looking plant of 20 days for this new vibrant gorgeous looking new lilie. As part of that process another individual asked if they could have the plain looking plant in place of their sparce plain looking plant. The deal was made and there was now the introduction of a community plant. The rules for the community plant were simple. Someone would have to sacrifice their benefits in order to provide for the community plant. Low and behold on Thursday there is discussion regarding all this and someone asks if they could adopt the community plant and join the group of plant tenders. Again the deal was made. Now there was just one potential problem. The newly adopted plant was needing to get through security at the airport at 4:30am on Friday. Here's the exact verbage I have recieved in via text messages regarding this journey.
ReplyDeletePlant Tender - Ha u almost got my mac! They would let Esmeralda the plant through but I had too many carry on items! I gave them your name to allow you to pick up the laptop but...
I asked "but what? and Esmeralda is a cute name."
Plant Tender - I had too many carry on items! I gave them your name to pick up laptop.. ended up squeezing it into my purse.
I asked if she had ever thought about leaving the plant behind to take her laptop?
Plant Tender - No it comes down to making choices, I can't let the laptop or my phone be more important than what I reallyneed and want and the plant signifies spiritual anchor.
Please welcome Esmeralda to the family!
This was a great story, It really spoke to me and i want to apply it to my daily life, I'm going to tell a lot of people this story,
ReplyDeleteWelcome Esmeralda.
WOW...how greatly I've needed to read this! Which is probably why it's slipped my mind all weekend! I had quite a restless, worry-filled night last night. But this makes a lot of logical and spiritual sense. This is something that I really need to get an understanding of in my life. My main issue is my attention is either drawn all over the place or it's hard for me to focus on just one item and bring it to completion. But to focus my attention on just one thing at a time and get that done with fervor seems like it would definitely be helpful. This would have probably helped last night, if I could have focused on just calming my mind and focusing on sleeping. Boy was it a battle!
ReplyDelete