Once
there lived a sad and lonely Horse, it was a long time ago, the owner died and
now no one visited the horse anymore. He so desperately wanted company, to join
the other horses he could hear in the distance, but his field was fenced and
there was no escape. He would spend his days wandering sadly around the field
eating the tastiest bits of grass, until one day when everything would change.
On that fateful
day, while sampling a particularly tasty patch of grass a Butterfly came
fluttering in and landed on a dandelion next to our Horse.
“Hello beautiful
Horse” said the Butterfly
Surprised and
delighted that the Butterfly could talk the Horse began telling the Butterfly
all his worries
“You see, said the
Horse “no one comes to visit anymore and I’m desperately lonely, trapped in
this field”
“Oh I see” said the
Butterfly “that’s terrible you feel this way”
Now it was just
lucky for our Horse, that fine morning, that this little Butterfly was
fluttering through the field. Some may even say a coincidence that the
Butterfly did land on just that exact dandelion next to our Horse. For our
Butterfly was a wise and gentle soul and understood instantly our Horses worry
and pain.
“It’s sad Horse but
you have lost your way”
“How do you mean
little Butterfly” asked the Horse
“You are
magnificent, strong and independent, but have forgotten who you are”
“I know I’m a Horse
little Butterfly, I haven’t forgotten”
But with that said
the Butterfly fluttered off to another flower on the other side of the field.
Our Horse started to follow and began thinking out loud,
“What did the
Butterfly mean I’ve forgotten who I am? I am a Horse, I don’t get it.”
Soon he was where
the little Butterfly had landed again and asked
“Little Butterfly
I’m confused, can you explain further”
“Of course” kindly
replied the Butterfly “you have been stuck for a long time within this field,
lonely and desperate for company, slowly over time this has become your normal,
then gradually you have taken this normal to be who you are!”
“That sounds deep
little Butterfly” said the Horse “How do you mean”
“We all place
prisons within our own minds, these prisons stop us from achieving our dreams,
your life alone in this field has now become your prison, you have forgotten you’re
a Horse.”
And with this the
little Butterfly fluttered off to another flower
“Oh I’m still
confused” thought the Horse as he wandered over to where the Butterfly had once
again settled “what prison in my mind?”
Soon our Horse was
once again where the Butterfly had landed and asked her to explain more
“I would like to
tell you a little story to help explain” said the little Butterfly
“Oh I like Stories”
replied the Horse
“Then I shall
begin.
The common house
flea has the ability to jump 200 times its own height, but if you place a glass
cup over the flea, something interesting happens. When the flea now jumps, he
keeps hitting his head on the bottom of the glass cup, now his glass roof.
After a few jumps the flea realises what’s happening and will adjust his
jumping height accordingly. The flea now jumps to just under this new glass
roof. When you remove the glass our poor flea is now conditioned into jumping
at this new height. He has learnt from experience that if he jumps higher it
hurts.
This is the prison
of our own minds, we all create them and yours Horse is this field, you have
forgotten you’re a Horse and what a horse does.”
But with this last
comment the Butterfly flew out of sight and our Horse was left alone in his
field once again.
For a moment our
Horse felt sad he was left alone again, but gradually as he was thinking about
what the little Butterfly had said he realised he was a Horse
“I am a Horse and
horses run and jump and play, I had forgotten who I was, I really had made my
own prison in my mind, this field with its fence around had become my prison,
but I’m a Horse and Horse’s run and jump and play”
And with this our
Horse ran as fast as his legs could take him straight at the fence, in one
great jump he cleared it and landed on the other side, he never even glanced
back, he just kept running and running to the sounds of the other horses in the
distance, our Horse was now free.
Author: Dhamma
Tapasa
Moral:
We have all created
prisons within our own minds, anywhere you don’t want to be is like a prison,
even in the lap of luxury one can feel poor and in a crowd, lonely. To see
these prisons we have created it helps if we practice meditation, observing the
mind, its interaction and games it plays as it encounters the world through our
senses, When we can see, truly see, the prisons we have created and there
unwholesome qualities we naturally let go, we move forward and escape our
prisons.
