The Man in the Forest and the Deep Dark Well

[Guest guest]

The Man in the Forest and the Deep Dark Well

 

 

Once upon a time a man was in the forest when he heard

the roar of a tiger. Being afraid, he tried to run

away thinking that the tiger would eat him. He was

looking here and there a place to hide, but he could

not find any place of escape. Finally, he came across

a blind well, some grass and vines having grown over

the top, thus covering up the hole. Taking the help of

two of the vines, he lowered himself down into the

well, thinking, "I will be safe here. That tiger will

not be able to get me if I stay down in this well."

 

As he was going down, he was able to see to the bottom

of the well; that it was dry and filled with many

snakes. Seeing him, the snakes raised their hoods,

ready to bite him. What to do? He was hanging from two

vines, halfway down the well, with poisonous snakes at

the bottom waiting to bite him, and a hungry tiger at

the top waiting to eat him. Needless to say, he was

suffering and in great anxiety.

 

As if that was not enough, on the side of the well

there were two rats — one black, one white - nibbling

away at the very same vines onto which he was holding,

and it was only a matter of time for the vines to give

way. Either he had to climb out and be eaten by the

tiger, or he would have to go down and be bitten by

the snakes. He could not stay where he was for long,

because the rats would finish off the vines and he

would fall down. All of his "options" were nasty.

 

At one point, he noticed a honeycomb on one of the

vines. Due to the shaking of the vine, some honey was

dripping very close to his face. The man stuck out his

tongue and got a drop of that honey, he thinking, "How

sweet this honey is," and he tried to get some more,

thus feeling some sense of happiness.

 

This is the example of we, the conditioned souls in

this world: Dangerous is our situation, where the

white and black rats of day and night, eat away at our

existance; we are all going to die. Like the snakes

lying in wait for us, there is always some problem

which we have to face. The tiger of death is coming to

get us - as sure as death. Despite all of this, we are

so very happy when another day comes and goes, but the

coming and going of the days and nights bring us

closer to our demise and time be turned back; the

changing of day to night and back will bring simply

bring us closer to death. In this way, the duration of

our life is being gnawed away. All around there are

difficulties and harrassments; yet, in the midst of

this hell, one drop of honey comes. What is that one

drop? The happiness that comes from our perception of

sense gratification and the (temporary) relationship

that we THINK we have with our family and friends.

 

We have TRIED to enjoy in so many bodies, but we have

not been successful because the ultimate sense of

enjoyment can only be fulfilled on the spiritual

platform when we realize our true eternal nature as

spirit soul in conjunction with the Supreme Soul,

Krsna. Let us NOT stay in this well of hell, but

rather, go to where we belong; the kingdom of Godhead,

Goloka Vrindavan.