Realize Your True Nature🔗

Once upon a time a pregnant lioness went hunting. While chasing a herd of sheep, she slipped and became seriously injured. However, she gave birth to a cub before she died. The lioness was far from her pride. The cub was alone and helpless when the lioness died.

He felt quite at home with the other sheep in the flock.

He gave up all thoughts of hunting and watched the cub from a distance.

He was quite happy eating grass and bleating along with the other sheep. The cub believed that he was a sheep.

One day a large majestic lion came hunting for a meal and saw the flock of sheep. The lion was shocked to find a lion cub amidst the sheep! He wanted to learn more about this cub that had become part of the flock of sheep. He gave up all thoughts of hunting and watched the cub from a distance.

The next day, the lion came back and waited until the cub was separated from the herd. He quickly grabbed the cub by its neck and carried him away nearby. The cub nearly died of fear and bleated baaa-baaaa! The lion waited until the cub calmed down.

Then he set him on the ground and told him, "Don't worry. I will not kill you. I just want to tell you one thing. You are not a sheep. You are a lion! You are a lion like me."

The cub didn't understand what the lion was saying. All his young life, the cub thought that he was a sheep and that lions were his enemies!

The cub bleated, "Please don't kill me. Let me go. Please...baaa-baaaa..."

The older lion was wise and patient. He let go of the cub this time. Shaking in fear, the cub dashed away to join the flock of sheep.

The older lion was clever and determined. He returned every day for many days and picked up the cub. Every day he told the cub, “You are a lion just like me. You are not a sheep.” The cub never understood what the lion meant. “No, no, no. I am not a lion. I am a sheep. Don't kill me,” he would say.

Some time went by and soon the cub realized that the lion meant no harm to him. He then relaxed a little. The cub began to feel some closeness with the lion and started thinking of him sometimes during the day. He would wonder, “Why should he catch me? He could have easily killed me but he didn't. Why does he keep catching me? He keeps telling me that I am a lion. Why?”

Something about the lion attracted the cub. The cub slowly began to look forward to their meeting. He didn't realize that his heart was actually touched by the lion!

Then, when the older lion came, the cub would not run away but just stand and wait for him to come closer. Some more days passed. One day, the cub gathered courage and brought grass for the lion. Patiently the older lion stayed with the cub, eating grass and acting like a sheep so that the cub would feel safe around him. By and by the cub started to trust the lion even more.

“Look at your face. Don't you look like me?”

One day the lion took the cub to a river for a picnic. The lion suddenly grabbed the cub's face and pushed it toward the water so he could see his reflection. "Look! What do you see?" he commanded. The lion cub saw both their faces reflected in the water for the first time. To his shock, he saw two lions staring back at him. "Look at our faces," said the older lion. "Am I a lion?" "Yes," replied the cub. "Look at your face. Don't you look like me?" "Yes," the cub replied. "You see! You are not a sheep," declared the lion. "You are a lion, the same as me."

Confused and terrified, the cub bleated in fear. Again he ran away from the lion, afraid for his life. Gently, the lion brought him back to the water. The cub stared at his reflection again. Then he looked around to check if it could be anyone else's face in the water. But no, it was his reflection. And yes, he looked very much like the older lion.

The lion told the cub, "You are a lion, not a sheep."

The lion then forced a piece of meat into the cub's mouth. The cub ate it and as the taste of blood ran down his throat, something stirred inside him. His true nature as a lion burst through and he let out a roar that arose from deep within.

At last he realized he was not a sheep but a lion.

The lion then forced a piece of meat into the cub's mouth

## DID YOU KNOW ?

The Master is the person who removes the idea that we are less than what we truly are. He never allows us to stay stuck or be comfortable in anything less than the enlightened state. He pushes us to awaken. He keeps saying, "Don't stop. Move ahead! You are enlightened. Just wake up to that fact!"

The Master creates such a beautiful space within us by His very presence. This space helps us awaken to our own enlightened state.