Nice story, it reminded me of a couple of other storys;
There was once an enlightened master who's most beloved twin soul was
killed in a tragic way by a cow of one of his former students. The
master's grief and loss were so profound that he allowed his light to
dim and he determined to right this terrible wrong.
The Master and one of his diciples journeyed from his ashram to the
home of the former student who's only producing possession was the
offending cow. The former student having successfully graduated from
the ashram by no longer needing a master to tell him what to do in
order to live an enlightened and beautiful life. Had created for him
self a life of simplicity that allowed him to life in the world,
enjoing its pleasures and yet not be of the world or a burden to
anyone else.
After leaving his former student's humble home, the master and his
disciple passed by the offending cow and the master demanded that his
diciple push the offending Cow over a cliff and they both quickly
beat it back to the ashram.
The loss of his only cow tested the enlightened farmer to the limit
and the farmer resolved to build up for himself so many worldly
possessions that the loss of a cow would no longer adversely affect
him. Unfortunately this over work, ended his life of relaxed
contemplation and loving interactions with his family and friends.
The story from the cows perspective was unusual;
In the upper realms of heaven lived an ascended master who being a
curious sort, used to walk the line between divinity and the earthly
realms so that he could watch the progress of his former diciples,
two of which ran a small ashram with a few of their own diciples.
As everyone knows, when you get too close to relativity it sometimes
sucks you in and this is what happened to the ascended master who
found himself having unwillingly decended from heaven into the body
of a cow. Try as he might, he could not leave the confines of the cow
to re-ascend to the divine realms and he was left as he was, compeled
to live the life of a dis-contented cow, plowing fields and giving
milk.
One day, his favorite former disciple while on a journey, passed by
the cow and recognised his old master. Holy cow said the diciple,
what has happened to you? Its a long story said the ascended master,
just push me off of this cliff so that I can go home, as I can't make
myself jump.
The disciple pushed and unfortunately slipped and fell off of the
cliff killing himself. Soon there after the diciples beloved finished
the task and had the offending cow pushed off of the cliff also.
The ascended master then found himself not in heaven, but being born
to the wife of a poor farmer with no cow, no food and a cranky wife.
His older brother constantly pushed him arround when no one was
looking, until he was sold as a slave for a couple of cows.
The moral of the story is master yourself or a master you will not be.
Regards,
Immanuall
--- In divinerevelation@yahoogroups.com, "Dan Ecklund, MD"
wrote:
There once was a spiritual Master, who lived in his ashram with
several students. Other students had studied with him, but now lived in
the world,in a mundane life. One day, the Master decided that he would go
and visit one of his students, living a half day's journey away. He took
another disciple with him for companionship.
When the two travelers arrived at the student's home, they saw that
he lived in a modest, but comfortable dwelling with his family. The hut had
one room, bamboo walls, and a thatched roof. The Master asked the
student how his life was, and the student told him that his life was fine. "I
have my wife, a baby son, this comfortable house, and my cow. The cow gives
us milk,helps me plow the fields, and gives us dung for the fire. I am so
happy to have this life, this family, and this cow!"
After a period of refreshment and conversation, the two travelers
said good-bye, and went to leave. As they walked away from the home,
they saw the student's cow grazing on the side of the path, near a steep
cliff. The Master turned to his disciple and said, "Kill the cow."
The disciple was horrified. He protested vehemently, saying that
he had not killed anything since he had lived in the ashram, not even a fly!
Furthermore, this was a sacred and venerated animal, a cow, and one
that was of vital importance to the young family that they had just left.
The Master said, "Kill the cow." Well, the disciple was beside himself. All of his cultural training and his ethical beliefs were conflicting with his devotion to his master. And even if he DID consent to do such a thing, he had no weapon with which
to perform such a deed. The Master said, "Kill the cow. Push her over the
cliff."
Still, this request made no sense to the disciple. Had the Master
gone mad? What reason could there possibly be to do such a thing?
"He is too comfortable," said the Master. "Kill the cow."
After many moments of soul-searching and distress, the disciple
decided that he would obey the Master that he had sworn to follow. He went over
to the cow, and with much pushing and shoving, managed to push the cow
over the cliff. It gave a great BAAWW!,and then hit the ground, where it
broke its neck and did not move.
The Master turned to go, and the disciple followed, heartsick at
his deed and the karma that would surely follow. Five years later, the Master determined to go once again and visit the student. Once again, he asked his disciple to accompany him. With some trepidation, the disciple agreed. As they mounted the path to the student's house, they saw that the former rude hut had been replaced by a
splendid home, with many rooms, sturdy walls, and a tile roof. Around the
home, they could see three children playing, and in the fields, a large herd
of cattle.
Once again, the Master greeted his student, and asked him how his
life was. The student replied, "Do you know? It is the strangest thing. The
very day that you visited me five years ago, my cow fell off of the cliff
and died. It was a difficult blow for us! We had to struggle to plow, had to
search the forest for cooking fuel, and had no milk to make ghee and
cheese. I had to work very hard, but soon, I was able to buy another cow. I
continued to work hard, and bred my cows, and eventually assembled the herd of
twenty-five cattle that you see. I sell the milk, and have built
this large home for my family. And you see that I have three children now,
and they are strong and healthy. Do you know, it was difficult for us at
the time,but it almost seems like the death of that cow was a blessing."
After they visited, and the travelers departed the new home of the
student,the Master turned to the disciple and explained, "When we are too
comfortable, we do not grow. It is only by adversity that we achieve our
potential. The student was so happy with his life, he would never
have made the effort to improve his life. And now, his level of happiness is
also improved, because he has known sorrow."
> Blessings,
>
> Dan
>
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