sage could run faster. By the time the thief reached the town, the sage caught up with him.
Then the man was too tired to do anything else. He placed the golden vessel at the sage's feet and said, 'Forgive me.' People gathered around them. The sage said, 'No, no, no, I had one more. You forgot to take the other one. I just came here to give you the other one.' The man didn't know what to do. People looked at this whole scene, it really humiliated the man because he stole from such a sage, who was running behind him to give the other vessel, which he had left behind.
The sage went back and started looking for his old vessel. He searched the whole cave everywhere, here, there. In the process of turning everything around, he pulled out a few baby mice which were there. When he turned everything around, these baby mice fell out, the mother mouse terrified, ran away, abandoning the children. So the sage ended up with five little mice; the mother was terrified and never came back.
So he started feeding these baby mice with the little grain that he had, and they were slowly putting on weight. One day, a cat walked in and mopped up four of them. The fifth one, the wily one, went and hid in a corner, and escaped. So this one mouse, he was feeding it and making it grow. Then one day the cat came again, he chased away the cat, but the mouse was so terrified. So the sage out of his compassion thought, 'How long can I protect this mouse? Every time the cat comes, I'll have to open my eyes, I have to come out of my meditation. This won't work.' Out of his siddhi, out of his capabilities, out of the sadhana that he has done, he decided to turn this mouse into a fierce cat. So the mouse became a cat.
Now the other cat stopped coming because there is a fierce cat. After some time, a wild dog came looking for the cat. Then the sage chased away the wild dog, but the wild dog hung around, waiting for an opportunity to get the cat. Then he thought, 'This does not work,' and again he used his powers and turned the cat into a dog. Now the dog was fine for some time, and it liked to roam around. One day he came running into the cave, with his tail in between his legs. When the sage saw that a panther was chasing the dog, he stopped the panther, chased it away.
Then he sat there and thought, 'This is getting too troublesome. Every time I close my eyes, either I have to protect a mouse, or a cat, or a dog, or something.' So he decided the best thing is to turn the dog into a lion. 'He'll be the king of the jungle, then I can let him loose in the forest, he will be safe, I will have no problems.' So he turned this dog into a big lion. Now the lion roamed about the forest. When he walked, every other animal ran away seeing him. But though this was the body of a lion, it still had the heart of a mouse. He was feeling very diffident, 'If they come to know that I am just a mouse, what will they do to me?' He was always going through this struggle.
You know, many people are going through this. In the society, in the world, they are like lions, but inside they are like mice. They are constantly struggling within themselves - always. Whenever a person is placed in a situation which is beyond his wit or want, that person will suffer so much insecurity and fear. Because of this fear in his mind, so many evil thoughts will arise. This happens every other day in the world. All the time it is happening. If you give somebody something which is beyond their want, if you give somebody something which is beyond their capabilities, if you give somebody something beyond what they deserve, suddenly they become so mean-minded, because somewhere inside they are small. They have to put on a big act. Now they will start thinking all kinds of nonsense.
So this lion was feeling very insecure. He is a lion as far as the world is concerned, everybody is afraid of him, but within himself, he is a mouse. Then he thought, 'The only other person who knows that I am a mouse is
Then the man was too tired to do anything else. He placed the golden vessel at the sage's feet and said, 'Forgive me.' People gathered around them. The sage said, 'No, no, no, I had one more. You forgot to take the other one. I just came here to give you the other one.' The man didn't know what to do. People looked at this whole scene, it really humiliated the man because he stole from such a sage, who was running behind him to give the other vessel, which he had left behind.
The sage went back and started looking for his old vessel. He searched the whole cave everywhere, here, there. In the process of turning everything around, he pulled out a few baby mice which were there. When he turned everything around, these baby mice fell out, the mother mouse terrified, ran away, abandoning the children. So the sage ended up with five little mice; the mother was terrified and never came back.
So he started feeding these baby mice with the little grain that he had, and they were slowly putting on weight. One day, a cat walked in and mopped up four of them. The fifth one, the wily one, went and hid in a corner, and escaped. So this one mouse, he was feeding it and making it grow. Then one day the cat came again, he chased away the cat, but the mouse was so terrified. So the sage out of his compassion thought, 'How long can I protect this mouse? Every time the cat comes, I'll have to open my eyes, I have to come out of my meditation. This won't work.' Out of his siddhi, out of his capabilities, out of the sadhana that he has done, he decided to turn this mouse into a fierce cat. So the mouse became a cat.
Now the other cat stopped coming because there is a fierce cat. After some time, a wild dog came looking for the cat. Then the sage chased away the wild dog, but the wild dog hung around, waiting for an opportunity to get the cat. Then he thought, 'This does not work,' and again he used his powers and turned the cat into a dog. Now the dog was fine for some time, and it liked to roam around. One day he came running into the cave, with his tail in between his legs. When the sage saw that a panther was chasing the dog, he stopped the panther, chased it away.
Then he sat there and thought, 'This is getting too troublesome. Every time I close my eyes, either I have to protect a mouse, or a cat, or a dog, or something.' So he decided the best thing is to turn the dog into a lion. 'He'll be the king of the jungle, then I can let him loose in the forest, he will be safe, I will have no problems.' So he turned this dog into a big lion. Now the lion roamed about the forest. When he walked, every other animal ran away seeing him. But though this was the body of a lion, it still had the heart of a mouse. He was feeling very diffident, 'If they come to know that I am just a mouse, what will they do to me?' He was always going through this struggle.
You know, many people are going through this. In the society, in the world, they are like lions, but inside they are like mice. They are constantly struggling within themselves - always. Whenever a person is placed in a situation which is beyond his wit or want, that person will suffer so much insecurity and fear. Because of this fear in his mind, so many evil thoughts will arise. This happens every other day in the world. All the time it is happening. If you give somebody something which is beyond their want, if you give somebody something which is beyond their capabilities, if you give somebody something beyond what they deserve, suddenly they become so mean-minded, because somewhere inside they are small. They have to put on a big act. Now they will start thinking all kinds of nonsense.
So this lion was feeling very insecure. He is a lion as far as the world is concerned, everybody is afraid of him, but within himself, he is a mouse. Then he thought, 'The only other person who knows that I am a mouse is
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