Seeing more lions in the path than are really there

Yoruba tribesmen have a saying that as one approaches an elder’s status, once ceases to indulge in battles. 

And not just because of their physical incapacity to run and hunt and fight and kill, but also because of their spiritual understanding that most battles are just a poison cocktail of ego, vanity and needless suffering. 

That’s the fallacy of the human mind. Deliberately cling to our own suffering, we try to make ourselves see more lions in the path than are really there. 

A friend of mine recently asked me what battles I was currently fighting in my life, and there was anything he could do to help. 

But the more I thought about his question, the harder it was to find an answer. To which he replied, well, maybe the battle you’re fighting right now is, there is no battle. Maybe there never was one. 

Talk about a royal mindfuck. 

Jizo’s story about the bodhisattva comes to mind. 

Turn and face the demons. That is all that is needed, to stand still and not run. There is no battle. The demons just melt away. It is a great triumph to be able to hear the internal voices and not believe them or identify with them. 

And so, even if we do crave the sense of drama that allows us to define ourselves in terms of our reactions to the battles we fight, eventually, there comes a time to cease our indulgence. 

To more maturely navigate the myths that block our way to freedom. And to finally accept that there is no battle, imaginative or otherwise, only total playful abandonment. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…   

How would your stress level change if the thing you once fought against was no longer deemed worthy of battle?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Namaste.