Don’t be a spiritual Donkey

[Guest guest]

Once a sculptor in a village made a beautiful idol of a goddess and thought

of selling it at a good price in the city. So he loaded the idol on his

donkey and started towards the city. When he was going through the village,

the villagers bowed in front of the idol as it looked like a real goddess.

Whichever street he crossed, a crowd would bow in front of the idol.

 

But a strange thing happened. The donkey, which was carrying the idol,

thought that he was special and that was the reason why people were bowing

to him. He was thrilled with his newfound respect.

 

Soon the sculptor returned after selling the idol. While he was crossing the

village, the donkey stopped in the middle of the road, expecting a warm

welcome. But nobody paid attention to him. The donkey felt insulted and

started braying, so much so, that the villagers drove him away.

 

The same mistake, what the donkey did, is what most of us do. When we are on

the divine path of self-realization, with God's grace, a glow enters our

demeanor and we stand out in the crowd. People respect such persons and

often bow in respect. But we should realize that people are bowing not to us

but to that glimpse of God whom they realize resides within us. So the

credit of this respect goes, solely to God, not to us. If we start taking

the credit, we cross the thin line of demarcation and enter into an area of

false ego, which God dislikes most.

 

The basic difference between material and devotional lifestyle is that, in

material life the more we progress, the more ego we develop. In a devotional

lifestyle, the more we progress, the more ego we shed.

 

Purport:

 

The person in material consciousness is convinced by false ego that he is

the doer of everything. He does not know that the mechanism of the body is

produced by material nature, which works under the supervision of the

Supreme Lord. The materialistic person has no knowledge that ultimately he

is under the control of Krishna. The person in false ego takes all credit

for doing everything independently, and that is the symptom of his

nescience.

 

-Bhagavad-gita 3.27

 

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Om namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

Prasanth Jalasutram