Day 10 - Once Upon A Yogi Time

Today's Tarka Practice
Today, I wish to share one of my favorite stories. Before making any decisions in my life, I think about this story to see whether or not I really wish to generate the karma from the thought and action that would occur from the decision. It goes like this...

"Once upon a yogi time, a disciple went into a restaurant and sat down. He was thinking. 'My Guru says that the mind can cause great havoc. I don't understand.' His eye caught the glistening of a little drop of honey that had splashed on the wall. He then saw a bee come to taste the honey. Soon a lizard rushed at the bee with its long, quivering tongue. The manager's pet cat leaped for the lizard. A little dog hidden in the coat of a customer jumped up and wounded the cat...the owner of the little dog pounced upon the dog...the waiter spilled a large tray of hot soup...and the cook came screaming from the kitchen wondering what was going on! The disciple sat calmly and reflected. Is that too mystical"? Taken from Goswami Kriyananda's Beginner's Guide to Meditation

What is the moral of this story? Sometimes we should leave the honey alone, or sometimes we should not take any action.

In your journal today, think about a situation that got out of your control very quickly. Think about the very beginning of the situation - the thought that made you take action. How might your life be different if you had not acted on that thought?

Day 12 - The River of Life

Today’s Tarka Practice
I have one more story to share with you this week. This story is taken from Goswami Kriyananda's Beginner's Guide to Meditation.

"Once upon a yogi time there was a man who owned a little donkey. For many years, the donkey carried huge baskets of salt that weighed him down and made him tired. One day, by accident, the donkey slipped at the edge of the river and fell in. When he emerged, he realized that his burden was greatly lightened because most of the salt dissolved in the river. The man was angry but accepted the loss of the salt as an accident. The next day the donkey passed the same river and remembered how light his burden had been made the previous day. So he threw himself into the water and came back out, his load greatly lightened. This went on for a few days until the man realized what his donkey was doing. But he said nothing. Some days later, the man stacked huge piles of cotton on the donkey and together they started their trek. Coming to the river, the donkey thought himself very clever and again fell in. But this time the light cotton quickly soaked up the water, and when the little donkey emerged from the stream his legs buckled under him, and he understood the ways of the river of life."

While there are many different levels to this story and many things to reflect upon, today we will focus on only one of those themes.

For today's journal, think about your misconceptions about life. It is easy to think that once we take care of the problem, life will run smoothly. However, this is not the way of life. Life can be easy sometimes and challenging sometimes. We can solve one problem, have a break, only for another new set of problems to begin. Write down your expectations about life. What you expect to happen and what actually happens may be completely different things, so it is good to be aware of the nature of life, particularly, the nature of your life.
Shanti