The Butterfly Brain
The
various bright colors of a butterfly are a feast to our eyes. There is such
variety in the fauna that we will be dumbfounded seeing the wonderful winged
insects flying from one flower to another.
It is quite amazing when we realize
that right from its birth the butterfly religiously gathers nectar, plays its
role in continuing its species and then bids goodbye to this world.
How long do
you think a butterfly lives? The average adult lifespan of a butterfly is
around 2 weeks. Such a short time period, isn’t it?
Now
just change the scale from level of a butterfly to that of a human. A
butterfly’s entire lifespan is too puny in our scale. But having forgot that we
are still on the same scale but only on different levels, we humans think that
we are here for eternity.
Either we choose to conveniently ignore the fact or
we don’t realize the universal truth. Thus the famous cosmologist Carl Sagan quoted
“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever”.
This
significant realization finds mention in yaksha prashna when yudhishtira answers one of the questions posed by yaksha. He indicates
that it is the most surprising thing on earth.
When we find ourselves in a different level on the scale compared to a
butterfly, in addition to an increase in lifespan we are supposed to have an
evolved brain.
The butterfly’s brain may treat its short lifetime as perpetuity
but the mature brain of humans should lead us towards the right direction.
Focus On A Single Goal
Goal setting is not new
to us. We set goals in our life that we desire to reach and achieve the set
objective. Once we realize that our target is reached, satisfaction seeps in.
This
encourages us to go further high, we set loftier goals and attempt to capture
our wish. Sounds simple and straightforward, right? However oftentimes we
commit a mistake.
The
following story drives the point home. There was a student of martial arts who
was eager to learn all the tricks and become a master himself. He approached
his teacher and earnestly spoke of his interest.
"Sir,” he said, “I would like to achieve mastery in the martial arts. I
want to become great and popular. So I’ve decided to learn the different styles
that are prevalent in this field.
So in addition to learning from you, I would
also like to practice with two other teachers at the same time. What do you
think of this idea?"
The master calmly replied, "The hunter who
chases two rabbits catches neither one."
The student
understood the hidden meaning within his teacher’s words. He bowed before the
master and asked for his forgiveness.
In the yearning to achieve more, we tend
to blindly set more goals than can be achieved practically. We set too many
targets at the same time and end up not achieving even a single goal.
Let us always
remember to do one thing at a time and to do it perfectly right!
Save for a rainy day but don’t be a miser
A quite logical thing is to make hay while the sun shines for you never know when the sun sets. However it is also a rational thinking that our brain comes up with to
create a safer vault for the future which is unpredictable.
It does always
remind us to save a portion of our earnings. The financial gurus make it a
point to indicate a definite percentage as well.
It
makes sense but some of us overdo it to such an extent that we miss the point.
A conscious person who saves for a better & safer future transforms to a
miser who becomes stingy. Aesop brings out this learning magnificently in the
following story.
A miser had lot of wealth, obviously! Being afraid of robbers,
he decided to hide the accumulated stuff by burying it inside the ground in his
backyard.
Every day he religiously went to that place, dug a hole, saw the
wealth to his satisfaction and covered it back. If a needy person asked his
help to borrow some money, he would shout at the top of his voice and shoo away
the person.
As
always a clever thief noticed this ritual and one fine day made away with all
the good stuff. Crying with despair, he went to the village head and narrated
his plight. The head asked the miser “Did you ever take any of stored wealth
and use it?”
“No”, came the reply, “I always just looked at it and then filled
up the hole”. The wiser chief of village concluded “Then go again and look at
the hole for it does not make any difference if there is anything in it or
not.”
Pondering over it, we
realize that wealth unused is just as good as it didn’t exist. Yes, it is
important to save “something” for tomorrow but if that “something” is not of
use to anyone, then it is good riddance.
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