Words of Wisdom

One of the greatest masters on this earth made below statements, I really liked it.
“The names of my twenty-four Gurus are earth, water, fire, sky, moon, sun, pigeon, python, ocean, moth, honey-gatherers (black bee), bees, elephant, deer, and fish, the dancing-girl Pingala, raven, child, maiden, serpent, arrow-maker, spider and beetle.

1. I learnt patience and doing well to others from the earth.
2. From water, I learnt the quality of purity.

3. I learnt from air to be without attachment though I move with many people in this world.

4. From fire I learnt to glow with the splendour of Self-knowledge and austerity.

5. I learnt from the sky that the Self is all-pervading and yet it has no contact with any object.

6. I learnt from the moon that the Self is always perfect and changeless and it is only the limiting adjuncts that cast shadows over it.

7. Just as a sun reflected in various pots of water appears as so many different reflections, so also Brahman appears different because of the bodies caused by the reflection through the mind. This is the lesson I have learnt from the sun.

8. I once saw a pair of pigeons with their young birds. A fowler spread a net and caught the young birds. The mother pigeon was very much attached to her children. She fell into the net and was caught. From this I have learnt that attachment is the root cause of earthly bondage.

9. The python does not move about for its food. It remains contented with whatever it gets, lying in one place. From this I learnt to be unmindful of food and to be contented with whatever I get to eat.

10. Just as the ocean remains unmoved, even though hundreds of rivers flow into it, so also the wise man should remain unmoved among all the various sorts of temptations, difficulties and troubles.

11. To control the sense of sight and to fix the mind on the Self, is the lesson I learnt from the moth.

12. I take a little food from one house and a little from another house and thus appease my hunger. I am not a burden on the householder. This I learnt from the black bee which gathers honey from various flowers.

13. Bees collect honey with great trouble, but a hunter comes along and takes the honey away easily. From this I learnt that it is useless to hoard things.

14. The male elephant, blinded by lust, falls into a pit covered with grass, even at the sight of a female elephant. Therefore, one should destroy lust.

15. The deer is enticed and trapped by the hunter through its love of music. Therefore, one should never listen to lewd songs.

16. Just as a fish that is covetous of food falls an easy victim to the bait, so also the man who is greedy for food loses his independence and easily gets ruined.

17. There was a dancing girl named Pingala. Being tired of looking for customers, one night she became hopeless. She had to be contented with what traffic she had that day and retired to a sound sleep. I learnt from this fallen woman the lesson that the abandonment of hope leads to contentment.

18. A raven picked up a piece of flesh. It was pursued and beaten by other birds. It dropped the piece of flesh and attained peace and rest. From this I learnt that a man in the world undergoes all sorts of troubles and miseries when he runs after sensual pleasures and that he becomes as happy as the bird when he abandons them.

19. The child who sucks milk is free from all cares, worries and anxieties, and is always cheerful. I learnt the virtue of cheerfulness from the child.

20. The maiden was husking paddy. Her bangles made much noise and there were visitors from her husband’s house. To silence the bangles, she removed them, one by one. Even when there were just two, they produced some noise. When she had only one, it did not make any noise, and she was happy. I learnt from the maiden that living among many would create discord, disturbance, dispute and quarrel. Even among two there might be unnecessary words or strife. The ascetic or the Sannyasin should remain alone in solitude.

21. A serpent does not build its own hole. It dwells in the holes dug out by others. Even so, an ascetic should not build a home for himself. He should live in a temple or a cave built by others.

22. I learnt from the arrow-maker the quality of intense concentration of mind.

23. The spider pours out of its mouth long threads and weaves them into cobwebs. Then it gets itself entangled in the net of its own making. Even so, man makes a net of his own ideas and gets entangled in it. The wise man should, therefore, abandon all worldly thoughts and think of Brahman only..

24. The beetle catches hold of a worm, puts it in its nest and gives it a sting. The poor worm, always fearing the return of the beetle and sting, and thinking constantly of the beetle, becomes a beetle itself. I learnt from the beetle and the worm to turn myself into the Self by contemplating constantly on It; thus I gave up all attachment to the body and attained liberation.”