The Bird in Distress
BY JANANI RAVIKUMAR
Once, there was a bird with broken wings who couldn’t fly. It lived in a forest that was hot and dry. There was no food or water, and the other animals had left to find a better place. The bird was very sad and hungry.
One day, a traveler came to the forest. He saw the bird and felt sorry for it. He gave the bird some food and water from his bag. Then, he met a wise old hermit who was sitting under a tree. The traveler asked the sage why the bird was suffering so much.
The wise sage smiled and said, “The bird’s suffering is because of its own past actions. It hasn’t accepted its situation, so it is unhappy all the time.”
The traveler asked, “How can the bird stop suffering?”
The wise man said, “The bird needs to accept its situation and say, ‘All that happens is for good, thank you my Lord.’ If it does this, its suffering will go away.”
The traveler thanked the sage and went back to the bird. He told the bird what the wise hermit had said. The bird listened carefully and promised to try it.
Months later, the traveler came back to the forest. He was surprised to see that the forest was now lush and green with trees and flowers, and there was a stream flowing nearby. He looked for his friend, the bird and saw it flying happily from tree to tree, eating berries.
The traveler was astonished at this transformation! He went to the bird and asked, “How did you change so much?”
The bird happily replied, ‘I did exactly as you had said. I accepted the situation completely, and kept repeating the words, ‘All that happens is for good, Thank you my Lord’ over and over again, especially when I felt distressed. I stopped complaining and became happy.’
This is what happens to us also. When we are faced with a tough situation, we do not accept it. Rather we resist it; we complain and blame ourselves or others which causes negative energy within and outside us. But let us say we accept the situation as it is as though we have chosen it ourselves. We also realize that difficult times comes to us to make us stronger and better people, not to weaken us. And so, we surrender to the present moment willingly and make it our friend instead of an enemy.
The moment we do this, the moment we stop resisting the present moment, something very powerful happens, inside and outside. We become more peaceful inside by embracing the present moment as it is without any reservations. And the moment we surrender, the external environment also starts responding to us in a positive way. We are able to make decisions or take actions to free ourselves of our suffering with much more clarity and calmness as we have given up the negativity. Even circumstances around us change in a beautiful manner. This is what happened to the bird as well.