Thread, beetle and freedom

Once upon a time there was a minister of a great king. Because of his misfortune he fell into disgrace. As a punishment the king ordered him to be locked up in the top of a very high tower. The King's men immediately followed his order. The minister was very sad.

He had a faithful wife who came to the tower at mid night and called to her husband to know if she can do anything to help him. He delighted to see his wife and told her to come back again along with a long rope, some stout twine, pack thread, silken thread, a beetle and little honey. The wife wondered at his husband's request. But she obeyed her husband and brought him the desired things.

The minister asked her to attach the silken thread firmly to the beetle. He then asked to smear a drop of honey to its horns and set it free on the wall of the tower with its head pointing upwards. The wife obeyed all these instructions and the beetle started journey towards the top in the search of honey. When the beetle reached the top of the tower the minister grabbed it and got hold of the silken thread. He then told his wife to tie the other end of the silken thread to the pack thread. He gently pulled the pack thread up. He repeated the same thing with the stout twine. Finally he did the same with with the rope. Once he got hold of the rope the rest was very easy. The minister climbed down from the tower with the help of rope and happily made his way to home along with his wife.

This is how a Yogi acquires the liberation. Our breath is the silken thread. The nerve currents are like pack thread. Thoughts are like stout twine and Prana is like the rope. We conquer each one of them one by one. This journey is of course not simple. It may take several years or even life times for a Yogi to get the freedom but unless we start today how can we expect to reach the destination? So friends, never ever skip your practice. Let no other material desire come in between you and your practice. Only then you can expect some fruits.