The Fable

East Indian folklore speaks of a tug-of-war match between a man and a demon. Both were firmly grasping either end of a long rope which stretched across a huge pit. The man was determined to win. "I am a wrestling champion and the strongest man in this village. I must prove to everyone all around that I can win." Meanwhile the demon thought "I am a powerful demon, whilst he, is mere mortal. How dare he challenge me?!"

The entire village came and stood watch. And watch they did. For hours on end the rope held taut with neither the demon nor the human making progress. Hours passed, days passed and finally both opponents showed signs of weakening. By then the crowds had dispersed and no one would return to bear witness anymore.

At this time the man thought to himself "I am tired but I must hold out. What must I do to win?" A few seconds would pass in quiet contemplation before his conscience gently replied: "Let go." His first instinct was that he could not. "I need to win this..." he told himself and his conscience then asked: "Win? Win what? So far all you have done is lose. You have lost time to spend with your loved ones. Time to worship. Time to be...at peace." And with that sudden revelation he examined his situation with a sense of new-found clarity. He cast his stare on his opponent with a greater understanding of its nature - that this 'being' - ever so exotic and powerful was nothing more than a mere manifestation of his fears and insecurities contained within.

I only realized afterward that the pundit never told us how it all ended, and after pondering for a bit on that I concluded that he didn't need to. His intent was for each and every one of us to relate the theme to our own life stories; stories that more often than not could only end in the manner of our own choosing. Sometimes we forget to remember that.