The Monk, The Disciple and The Scorpion

“Be who you were born to be”

There once was an old wise monk who was walking with his disciple. The monk decided to stop for a drink of water at a small stream that was passing under an old bridge. As he knelt by the stream and was quenching his thirst a small scorpion appeared from underneath a rock and stung the monk on his foot. The monk calmly reached down and grabbed the scorpion by its tail, smiled and placed him back on the ground near his small rock. The disciple looked surprisingly at the monk but knowing his place he remained silent.

The next day during another walk, the monk again stopped by the stream and bent down to take a drink, when the scorpion again emerged from under his rock and again stung the monk on the foot. For a second time the monk gently picked up the scorpion and placed him back under his rock. The disciple was again amazed and started to say something but the monk had by this time turned away and continued walking.

On the third consecutive day, they were again out walking and the monk stopped for another drink and again the scorpion stung him on his foot. The monk lovingly smiled at the scorpion and placed him back under his rock. The disciple could not contain himself any longer and said to his master: Master I have been walking with you for three consecutive days and in those three days we have stopped at the same stream where you drank and three times this scorpion has come and stung you! Why do you keep placing him back under his rock so that he can continue to sting you? The master replied, “Disciple this is the only stream for miles and I am old an can not physically manage to walk further away from the road in order to drink. The scorpion’s nature is to sting, is it not? The disciple replied, “Yes master.” Well it is my nature to forgive. If I were to kill this scorpion then his nature of stinging would have caused me to lose my nature to love and forgive. Should I have given up my nature in order to change the scorpion’s nature or continue to keep being true to my nature of loving and forgiving?

While it was the scorpion's nature to sting, the monk was able to recognize that he did not have to be like the scorpion; rather, the monk chose (ACTIVELY) to continue to love and forgive the scorpion as that was the nature the monk chose (ACTIVELY) for himself.

The author that shared this story refers to this as self-empowerment.

Recognize your nature and choose to be that despite all the forces around you that may ask you to be different.

May Saton

The Kingdom of Kali

Anguish is always there, lurking at night,
Wakes us like a scourge, the creeping sweat
As rage is remembered, self-inflicted blight.
What is it in us we have not mastered yet?

What Hell have we made of the subtle weaving
Of nerve with brain, that all centers tear?
We live in a dark complex of rage and grieving.
The machine grates, grates, whatever we are.

The kingdom of Kali is within us deep.
The built-in destroyer, the savage goddess,
Wakes in the dark and takes away our sleep.
She moves through the blood to poison gentleness.

She keeps us from being what we long to be;
Tenderness withers under her iron laws.
We may hold her like a lunatic, but it is she
Held down, who bloodies with her claws.

How then to set her free or come to terms
With the volcano itself, the fierce power
Erupting injuries, shrieking alarms?
Kali among her skulls must have her hour.

It is time for the invocation, to atone
For what we fear most and have not dared to face:
Kali, the destroyer, cannot be overthrown;
We must stay, open-eyed, in the terrible place.

Every creation is born out of the dark.
Every birth is bloody. Something gets torn.
Kali is there to do her sovereign work
Or else the living child will be stillborn.

She cannot be cast out (she is here for good)
Nor battled to the end. Who wins that war?
She cannot be forgotten, jailed, or killed.
Heaven must still be balanced against her.

Out of destruction she comes to wrest
The juice from the cactus its harsh spine,
And until she, the destroyer, has been blest,
There will be no child, no flower, and no wine.


It is time for the invocation:

Kali, be with us.
Violence, destruction, receive our homage.
Help us to bring darkness into the light,
To lift out the pain, the anger,
Where it can be seen for what it is—
The balance-wheel for our vulnerable, aching love.
Put the wild hunger where it belongs,
Within the act of creation,
Crude power that forges a balance
Between hate and love.

Help us to be the always hopeful
Gardeners of the spirit
Who know that without darkness
Nothing comes to birth
As without light
Nothing flowers.

Bear the roots in mind,
You, the dark one, Kali,
Awesome power.

Quotes

I'm a fan of good quotes...

My friend UM recommended this site to me: Quote Book

K.

Stuff No One Told Me

and that is ok.

My friend, HS, recently introduced me to this artist's blog: Stuff No One Told Me

and, I LOVE IT.

Enjoy!

Cutting Oneself off from Other People

I am learning that it is a practice to keep oneself open and vulnerable.

These are a few lessons that I am learning; some lessons are revelations about myself that I wish to alter, and others are lessons about myself that I am coming to accept.

I learn that I operate in life with a guard. While I say that I am trusting of people, and I accept that people are good, I do fear getting hurt.

I am learning, however, that I am capable of withstanding such "hurt". For this "hurt" manifests within myself - it is created from the stories I create to explain and understand it. I am beginning to appreciate that by "turning (the emotion) on its head," I gain a new perpesctive - one where I welcome and yet am indifferent to the hurt and not to be either attached or aversed to the feeling. Hurt (as with any (un)comfortable feeling) is an opportunity to learn about myself. I am coming to accept that I feel, and my feelings are a voice to me.

Thus, I wish to let down this guard. To open myself to being "hurt," and all the other feelings that are just that less colorful because of my guard in place.

Cutting Yourself off from Other People

What to Do About It:

1. Identify the cause of your disconnection. This is obviously more complex that a few sentences can summarize, but it’s a crucial first step. If you’re aware your loner mentality leaves you feeling like an outsider watching life happen to other people, the first step is to figure out why you’ve created this situation. What are you afraid of? What are you hiding from? Or what is it you’re hiding from other people? What makes you say no when someone tries to open up your world?

2. Weigh the pros and cons of separation. Oftentimes, people isolate themselves because it feels safe. When it’s just you, there’s less uncertainty, and less potential for discomfort. On the flip side, when you shut people out, you: miss out on relationships that could add a new layer of meaning to your life; limit your possibilities for new opportunities; and increase the chances of over-thinking and feeling bad.

3. Open up slowly. You don’t have to become everyone’s best friend. You just need to entertain the possibility of new connections, even if it’s just one. Un-strange a stranger. Let your guard down just a little and take the risk of being seen. It’s a scary thing because you can’t control someone else’s perceptions. But you don’t need to. I’ve learned it’s OK if some people don’t get me. Every time you open yourself up you reaffirm that you’re happy with who you are–whether everyone else is or not.

Whether you want other people to solve your problems, you want everyone to like you, you want to ensure no one’s better than you, or you want to protect yourself so no one can hurt you, the bottom line is this: real happiness is something we have to find within ourselves. And then hold onto as best we can when people seem unpredictable. Because they’ll always be. And so are we. The only thing that’s certain is that we’re in control of ourselves. Happiness is a choice.

Being Alone can sometimes get Lonely

I am feeling lonely.

I am feeling a little out of touch with the rest of the world.

And what do I do... I curl up into myself.

It is hard. Hard to keep myself open. Hard to keep my heart open. Hard when I realize how I am the same, yet so different.

Standing for myself, I realize, sometimes I stand alone.

And I have to acknowledge that the groundedness that comes with standing alone takes time. Take time to feel and become really solid.

To trust myself takes time. But, I will not give up. Not give up on myself.

Even if it means I will feel lonely.

Starting to Change, Yet Not Changing At All

Sometimes the only way to create something new and wonderful is to completely shed what’s been. Don’t be afraid to evolve. Don’t let yourself get attached to ideas of who you are that no longer serve you.

I am giving myself permission to just do what I think is the right thing. I check in with my body. I check for my defenses. I ask myself about my intentions. Sometimes, it is something I have never tried doing (action or speech) before either because I was afraid or I never thought of it as a possibility. Sometimes, it is something I usually do but with a new "twist," which occurs as I see myself doing it with a more clear lens. It is this moment that I act, all previous moments washed away and all future moments remain unaccounted. I know that I may be making mistakes, but if I don't, how will I ever learn? And, I want to learn. I want to learn to act from seeing clearly.

For example, I learn that the fact that people sometimes hurt other people won’t change. However, my attitudes that lead me to being hurt can change (e.g., "I deserve to be hurt" or "I am not a good person"). While people may act in ways to hurt me, I have come to recognize that my hurt is a product of how I choose to interpret those actions. With practice, I now am able to stop and see that the other person is usually hurting themselves, or have a need to bring about hurt for their own reasons (whether it is conscious to them or not). The only response, in light of this knowledge, is love. Love is the true salve for all ails.

It’s taking time to work through these things and I don’t expect to be finished by next Monday, but that’s what I love about change and self-improvement – there’s no pressure to be complete tomorrow. I can do it all at my own pace, in a way that suits me. I’m a work-in-progress. And that gives me a lot of hope.