Once there was a merchant who had five camels. He used to load all the goods on them and roam from town to town to sell the goods. Once he got late while returning home. It had become dark so he decided to take shelter at an innard near the roadside.
He started to tie the camels to a tree with the rope. The four camels got tied properly while for the fifth one, he fell short of the rope. He was now worried and did not know what to do. He went to the owner of the innard and asked him for his help.
Just then an old wise man entered the innard and saw this worried merchant. He asked him for the cause of his worry. The merchant explained the situation to the old man. The old man started laughing and said –
“Well, tie the fifth camel as you did for the other four!”
The merchant was confused and wondered what this old man was talking about. He asked the old man –
“But where is the rope to tie the fifth one??”
The old man replied –
“You don’t need a rope. Tie him with an imaginary rope. Just do the act of tieing.”
The merchant was a bit surprised at what the old man was saying but then he decided to give it a try. He put an imaginary hoop around the camel’s neck and tied the other end to the tree. To his surprise, the camel sat down immediately.
The next morning when the merchant woke up, he was very happy to see the camel still sitting there. He then untied all the other camels quickly to continue his journey back home. The four camels got up and started to move but the fifth camel just sat there. The merchant tried to drive him but the camel did not budge. He tried cajoling and caressing him for some time but the camel would not move. He got angry and started beating the camel with the stick.
Just then the old man came there and asked the merchant why he was hitting the innocent animal. The merchant said –
“This stupid animal is not budging from its place. I have been trying to raise him for a while now.”
The old man laughed and said – “You need to untie him first.”
To which the merchant replied – “I did not tie him for real, I just did the act of tying!”.
The old man smiled and said –
“Well, now you do the act of untying.”
The merchant did as the old man told and the camel stood up immediately.
Wisdom Bite
Like the camel in this story, we too are tied to our mind with an invisible rope. We are enslaved by our minds. It is the mind that creates fear and doubts about what we can and cannot do. It holds us back from taking the next step or try something new. We limit ourselves because of this and are unable to reach our true potential.
To reach our higher selves, we need to take control of our minds. We need to untie that invisible rope. We will not be truly free until then. It is hard and it will take conscious continuous effort but that will the path to true peace and happiness.
What is your mind holding you back from?
