Most of us live our lives contracted in a little mental framework that constantly needs the approval of others to remain established. Courtesy of our ignorance toward ourselves, we don’t even know that we judge ourselves and our decisions based on what other people say or think about that. The egoic mind has no roots of itself, whatever it has is gained from the outside and therefore, every little thing from outside that goes against its notions can make it feel vulnerable.
Representing this is a short story that I read a few days ago; the story of a man and his dog.
A man was walking down the road with his dog. The dog was very attractive and looked quite expensive too. On the way stood a group of people who saw a money-making opportunity in the form of a dog, so they made a clever plan to manifest what they wanted.
One of them approached the dog owner and said, “I like your calf very much. I have a big cow farm and I wonder if you are interested in selling it.”
“Have you gone mad? It’s a dog, not a calf,” the dog owner replied.
The thug laughed at him and went away.
As the man continued on his path, the second one of the thugs approached him and said the same thing, to which the dog owner replied the same and got laughed at by the thug.
This ignited a spark of confusion in his mind and as he was looking at his dog, he saw another two men approaching him and as planned, they said the same thing. The dog owner didn’t reply but rather continued his walk as he himself started doubting the true nature of the leashed animal walking with him.
No sooner than later, he was told the same thing again by a different thug and as soon as he heard it, he said, “Yes, I want to sell this calf. In fact, I have been looking for a buyer since the morning.”
That’s the condition of the mind which is stuck at the egoic level, and we all know how much stress we invite in our lives by seeking validation from outside.
Speaking from personal experience, the egoic living can very well give us the illusion of fulfillment but upon bringing awareness toward our actions and motives we find that there’s an underlying current of unfulfillment which never gets filled no matter how socially approved we are.
I don’t know what lies beyond the mind, but it’s our responsibility toward ourselves, for the sake of ourselves, to not keeping ourselves burning from inside.
We must make an effort to take a leap forward.
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