True wisom comes from the mind

A man stood on the edge of a river.  Although it was narrow, the current was strong.  The angry water seemed an image of his mind, throbbing and tossing with the eight material activities.  He decided to let them flow out of his mind into the water.  His mind became calm and his heart content.

Suddenly, he heard a shout for help and in the white foam of the waves he saw a man from the village.  He hated this man because he had sex with his wife, stolen his livestock, and then beaten him at wrestling.  Then another cry for help came to his ears.  In the water, he saw a very holy saint whom he respected greatly.  He had helped him in times of trouble and eased his mind.

Both men were being dragged to the edge of a dangerous waterfall.  He knew they would be drowned.  With great effort, he hurled his hunting rope to the other side.  The noose tightened fast around a rock and he tied the other end to a tree.

Both men caught on to the rope and pulled themselves to safety.  But once on the riverbank they began to fight.  The holy man started screaming, 'I tried to stop you jumping in and you pulled me in with you.  Now look at me! I'm soaking wet'

The other man just laughed hysterically and punched the holy man in the nose.  'You do-gooders are all the same,' he said.  'I never asked you to help me.'

At this, our brave hero became upset and confused, and his body tensed up.  He suddenly realized these men were not real but personifications of the 8 material activities. 

With a yell, he pushed them back into the river.  They plunged over the waterfall down into the seething water.  He sat on the riverbank exhausted, the screaming still echoing in the rocky gorge below.  True wisdom in the mind creates its own freedom.  Or, does it?

Doubt sneaked into his mind like a thief.  He started panicking about pushing the two men back into the waterfall.  What if he was wrong?

-Traditional  Bon story from The Tibetan Art of Living by Christopher Hansard p. 87-88.

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How are you conditioned by 8 material activities?

Do you feel shame, loss, guilt, suffering?  Do you seek achievement, fame, approval and happiness? Energy generated inside is the core of all our perceived troubles.