Once upon a time there was a King who had all sorts of people entertain him, as a king would. Among them there was a dancer who worked very hard to please this King. She tried new sequences and choreographic feasts, bright customs, elaborated entries, pirouettes, and stunning exits. But the king never said anything to her, never made a gesture, never expressed feeling. Nothing.
This went on for years and years and the dancer was eventually a bit frustrated as anyone would be.
At that time a sage happened to come around the kingdom, and he had compassion in his heart to provide the answer to her riddle: "The King does not care at all, he does not care either way" he said to her. The dancer did not know this, but with the new information she was now able to stop dancing.
The beautiful story was told to us by Ramaswami (a 30+ year student of Krishnamacharya) in his Yoga Sutra course. It comes from the Samkhya philosophy of yoga. Yesterday I re-read it in his book
and thought it so beautiful I wanted to share it.
The King is our higher self, the eternal consciousness that is unaffected by anything and anyone. The dancer is the mind, dancing around and trying all sorts of things looking in all the wrong places and for the wrong results: approval, praise, money, glittering reviews. The king does not care. The self is contented. Either way it is fine, it is rooted in truth in higher consciousness, it lives in eternal peace, with full knowledge, centered and quiet.
Within the context of yoga once we, the dancers, realize that we are actually the king, that we are eternal consciousness, then we can stop all the fluctuations. It takes a lot of work, it takes following the Yoga Sutras, the Eight Limbs of Yoga.
However, when we finally identify with the king instead of the dancer, then we are free, then we are advanced yogis, that is what the Yoga Sutras say.
May we all identify with what is real, may we all experience eternal peace, pure consciousness and full discrimination.
This went on for years and years and the dancer was eventually a bit frustrated as anyone would be.
At that time a sage happened to come around the kingdom, and he had compassion in his heart to provide the answer to her riddle: "The King does not care at all, he does not care either way" he said to her. The dancer did not know this, but with the new information she was now able to stop dancing.
The beautiful story was told to us by Ramaswami (a 30+ year student of Krishnamacharya) in his Yoga Sutra course. It comes from the Samkhya philosophy of yoga. Yesterday I re-read it in his book
and thought it so beautiful I wanted to share it.
Who do you think the King is?
The King is our higher self, the eternal consciousness that is unaffected by anything and anyone. The dancer is the mind, dancing around and trying all sorts of things looking in all the wrong places and for the wrong results: approval, praise, money, glittering reviews. The king does not care. The self is contented. Either way it is fine, it is rooted in truth in higher consciousness, it lives in eternal peace, with full knowledge, centered and quiet.
Within the context of yoga once we, the dancers, realize that we are actually the king, that we are eternal consciousness, then we can stop all the fluctuations. It takes a lot of work, it takes following the Yoga Sutras, the Eight Limbs of Yoga.
However, when we finally identify with the king instead of the dancer, then we are free, then we are advanced yogis, that is what the Yoga Sutras say.
May we all identify with what is real, may we all experience eternal peace, pure consciousness and full discrimination.
Storytelling, The best way to teach & learn at any age. Perfect lesson, Thanks for passing it along.
ReplyDeleteClaudia,
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing. you never disappoint!
shanti,
michael
Thanks Michael and SF, glad you enjoyed the story too :)
ReplyDeleteClaudia
ReplyDeleteThanks for this short story .Byron Katie has summed this attitude more beautifully with her quote "Stop seeking love , approval and appreciation " and if you quietly introspect all of us are consciously or unconsciously doing the same (i.e seeking love , approval and appreciation ) and this is where J.Krishnamurti comes in and says do whatever you want but "investigate the inner motives" behind why u want to do anything ( including the motive of spiritual practices ) and if u investigate deeply ( it is not easy to do this investigation ) then we can see many dirt in our own inner mind itself .
Given below is J.Krishnamurti's quote on the same .
“You may know the superficial layers of your mind; but to know the unconscious motives,
drives, fears, the hidden residue of tradition, of racial inheritance—to be aware of all that
and to give it close attention is very hard work, it demands a great deal of energy. Most of
us are unwilling to give close attention to these things; we have not the patience to go into ourselves step by step, inch by inch, so that we begin to know all the subtleties, the
intricate movements of the mind. But it is only the mind which has understood itself in its
totality and is therefore incapable of self-deception—it is only such a mind that can free itself of its past and go beyond its own movements within the field of time. This is not very difficult, but it requires a great deal of hard work.”
- J. Krishnamurti
That was one of my favourite stories too, quite envious of Ramaswami's grandchildren, they must get the best stories. Must find it again in Three stages, forgot it was in there. Thanks for the retelling.
ReplyDeleteKrishna, thanks for the quote from Krishnamurthi, I find it comforting that it is not difficult, it just takes time and work...
ReplyDeleteGrimmly, yes, greaet story, and lucky grandchildren indeed, although he says they are not interested in yoga, then again they are young...