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Spiritual
Interludes
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This fable, which is adapted from the Internet (http://www.cactusumpires.com/pages/sub/parables.html), expresses an idea that Master has spoken of frequently in Her lectures: "All is created by the mind."
A group of frogs was traveling through the woods and two of them fell into a deep pit. Immediately, all the other frogs in the group gathered around the pit and watched as the imprisoned frogs tried to jump out. The frogs on top could see that the pit was very deep and it looked as if there was no way out, so they started yelling at the two frogs in the pit to give up. "The pit is too deep. You're as good as dead," the chorus of frogs said. When the trapped frogs kept trying, the crowd yelled louder, "Give up. You're as good as dead." After a while, one of the exhausted frogs took heed to what the others were saying, and fell down and died.
But amazingly, the second frog kept jumping as hard as she could despite the negative remarks of those that kept yelling at her to accept the inevitable and just die. Finally, with one valiant leap, she made it out of the pit!
This amazing result occurred because the second frog was deaf and unable to hear what the others had been saying. She thought they had been cheering her on the entire time they were yelling! What she had mistakenly perceived as encouragement inspired her to try harder and succeed against all odds. And that made all the difference!
The experience of the first frog in this story relates to Master's words about non-attachment to the world, including being detached from other people's comments and opinions: "We live in this world, but we should not be attached to it. We need to know that everything in this world is trouble and to keep our mind in the supreme teaching, just like the lotus flowers in a muddy lake without being contaminated." (Aphorisms, News No. 17)
With a positive mindset, and being deaf to others' opinions, the second frog made use of such negativity to overcome obstacles and reach her goals by using it as encouragement, instead of being influenced by others like the first frog, who failed to develop her potential to strive for survival. Thus, when we surmount others' criticism, ridicule or cynical comments, we can do anything we set our minds to, just as the second frog did. But, if we are not deaf like this frog, who could not be influenced by others due to a physical condition, we need the Supreme Wisdom to guide us to the proper way, so as not to be blindly guided by worldly opinion.
The Positive Meaning of Negative Situations
