The Sage's Mouse

There once was a sage who had a pet mouse. It used to play around while the sage did his daily routine of prayers, meditation etc. The sage was very fond of the mouse and would feed it with grains etc.

One day the sage noticed that the mouse was scared of the cat that would sometimes be found lurking around the premises. With the strength of his mystical prowess the sage turned the mouse into a cat. Days passed and the ‘cat’ was very confident and happy. Then one day a dog came along. Naturally the cat was wary of the dog. So the sage in his large-heartedness turned the ‘cat’ into a dog.

Now the ‘dog’ barked at strangers, roamed around freely and generally owned the hermitage. Some days hence, a lion came close to the hermitage and roared. Everyone was scared including the ‘dog’. The sage out of his benevolence turned the ‘dog’ into a ‘lion’.

So now, the mouse turned lion was proud and strong. He roamed the jungle as if it owned it.
As is common, as we grow mightier, our stance towards others changes. One day, the ‘lion’ eyed the sage as he sat in meditation. The sage understood the lion’s mala fide intentions. Before the lion could prey upon the sage, the sage turned it back into a mouse!

The story could give you reason to smile, but if you think beyond, it has a deep meaning. Who is the mouse? It is the ego. If it becomes larger and larger; if it is fed to such an extent that it becomes too big for its own boots, it gets out of hand. It then starts questioning its own roots. If the inner voice (the sage in this case), that is the conscience, does not give it a dressing down, it can be the cause for a person’s downfall.

When the human ego gets inflated it is akin to a fully blown balloon. All you need to do is deflate it with a sharp pin! PING!!!

Do a self-check regularly. For doing a self-check it is a good idea to look at the watch. When we look at the watch, we should reflect on the five letters of the word, WATCH and understand the life lessons it gives us:
‘W’ warns you to – Watch your Words
‘A’ advises you to – Watch your Actions
‘T’ tells you to – Watch your Thoughts
‘C’ cautions you to – Watch your Character
‘H’ heeds you to – Watch your Heart

So next time and every time, when look at your watch, do pause and think about the lesson that the watch is imparting!