I came across the following fable:
" There was a magician who was also a shepherd. He had thousands of sheep to look after and he was a very miserly man so he didn’t want many servants and he didn’t want many watchmen. He did not want to pay anybody and he did not want his sheep to be lost or taken by the wolves. But it was very difficult for him to take care of all the sheep alone. He was very rich and he had many sheep.
So he played a trick on the sheep. He hypnotised them — he was a magician. He hypnotised them and told every sheep, ‘You are not a sheep. Don’t be afraid.’ To some he said, ‘You are a lion.’ To some he said, ‘You are tigers.’ To some he even said, ‘You are men. Nobody is going to kill you. Don’t be afraid and don’t try to escape from here.’
The sheep started believing in his hypnosis. Every day he would butcher a few sheep but the others would think, ‘We are not sheep. He is butchering only sheep. We are lions, we are tigers, we are wolves, we are this and that…’ even that they were men. Some were even told that they were magicians — and they believed it. It was always some sheep which was to be butchered. They remained aloof, distant. They were not worried. And by and by they were all butchered."
Initially I thought I loved a man who was a magician and a shepherd. What a nice combination! As I read about his miserliness, I loved him less and as he cheated and butchered the sheep I started even to hate him. However this story is not about the magician, not about the shepherd. It is about the sheep. We allow our human friends to die of hunger, to be exploited and we feel they are living in a far away country, they are the poor who did not want to work, the lazy ones. We are lulled into these beliefs that they are far from us and it is not our responsibility to help. They are our brothers, our fellow sheep and we have all responsibility to help them in every way we can.
After reading the story, immediately after reading it, I felt disgusted.
But as I let the deep lesson contained in the story sink in,
I started to appreciate the wisdom inside so much that decided to share it on this blog.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please visit also: inspirational/motivational quotes from Hans
and Small Prayers For a Big World (by Hans)
and Poems by Aufie Zophy
" There was a magician who was also a shepherd. He had thousands of sheep to look after and he was a very miserly man so he didn’t want many servants and he didn’t want many watchmen. He did not want to pay anybody and he did not want his sheep to be lost or taken by the wolves. But it was very difficult for him to take care of all the sheep alone. He was very rich and he had many sheep.
So he played a trick on the sheep. He hypnotised them — he was a magician. He hypnotised them and told every sheep, ‘You are not a sheep. Don’t be afraid.’ To some he said, ‘You are a lion.’ To some he said, ‘You are tigers.’ To some he even said, ‘You are men. Nobody is going to kill you. Don’t be afraid and don’t try to escape from here.’
The sheep started believing in his hypnosis. Every day he would butcher a few sheep but the others would think, ‘We are not sheep. He is butchering only sheep. We are lions, we are tigers, we are wolves, we are this and that…’ even that they were men. Some were even told that they were magicians — and they believed it. It was always some sheep which was to be butchered. They remained aloof, distant. They were not worried. And by and by they were all butchered."
Initially I thought I loved a man who was a magician and a shepherd. What a nice combination! As I read about his miserliness, I loved him less and as he cheated and butchered the sheep I started even to hate him. However this story is not about the magician, not about the shepherd. It is about the sheep. We allow our human friends to die of hunger, to be exploited and we feel they are living in a far away country, they are the poor who did not want to work, the lazy ones. We are lulled into these beliefs that they are far from us and it is not our responsibility to help. They are our brothers, our fellow sheep and we have all responsibility to help them in every way we can.
After reading the story, immediately after reading it, I felt disgusted.
But as I let the deep lesson contained in the story sink in,
I started to appreciate the wisdom inside so much that decided to share it on this blog.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please visit also: inspirational/motivational quotes from Hans
and Small Prayers For a Big World (by Hans)
and Poems by Aufie Zophy
very well said.
ReplyDeletemany of a time,
the war-zones, the hunger malnourished and sick populations are considered "too far away".
the cruel events among humans, eg human trafficking, abusive behaviours are said to be "still okay".
the massive corruption are taken as "it will happen on the next one anyway".
sometimes we are just too helpless to even think about it.
Your story reminded me on another aspect of "you are what you're told you are"
there are so many different beliefs and religions in the world.
and almost all the religious scholars and leaders are so confident in their ideology and teaching. it seems that they have some unshakable beliefs.
they scrutinize every single aspect in life, from birth until death;
from the 1st moment we open our eyes in the morning until the sleeping posture at night,
from the food we eat until clothes we wear,
by referring to certain "citation", mix with their noble explanations.
some of them will come out with some precise numbers for certain ritual procedures for the believers to follow.
those who disagree with them are considered wrong,
are considered "will never be rewarded / will definitely receive punishment".
There're ppl who're testing DNA of cow in food.. in some places where beef is forbidden;
There're also ppl who're trying to test the DNA of pig in the food;
perhaps one day there will also be ppl who test the animal DNA in food among the vagan community.
Not only food, it involves the medications, vaccines... etc etc
if 5% of them are telling the ultimate true,
perhaps (??) another 95% of humans are actually living in some sort of delusion for the rest of their life.
What is the ultimate truth?
isn't it suppose to be love, peace, harmony and happiness?
or is it some sort of numbers? or some rituals that must be accomplished?
i don't know. perhaps i'm also one of the sheep which are experiencing the hard truth of : "you are what you're told you are"
:)
I fully agree with this comment. Scholars of all religions are very good at using rituals to control us. Rituals are only useful as long as they bring us a bit closer to our God. i have a post on rituals: http://reflectionsbyhans.blogspot.my/search?q=rituals
Delete