A month ago I watched a video of an eagle entering a phase of hard times. It is typical for eagles after a certain amount of time to enter this phase of difficulty when their claws become "old", their beaks long and folded and their wings covered in old feathers which make flying very hard and painful for the eagle. In this condition, the eagle only has two choices; 1. Die painfully or 2. Try hard and fly to the mountain hanging out on the rocks for 150 days. During this time the eagle beats its beak and claws against the rocks until they fall off and new claws and beak grow again. The eagle also removes its feathers so that it could fall lightly and find it easy to fly. If the eagle survives these 150 days, it can then live for another 30 years.
The very same situation could happen to us and we too will only have one of two choices to make. Either completely disintegrate, die, disappear or do the same hard work as the eagle. When our "wings" and "body hairs" became too thick and too much for us, we need to remove lots of them, yes of those bad karmas from ourselves one by one with full sincerity and determination. One by one, enduring the pain of removing all the bad karmas but also removing good karmas too like good friends, good business, we need to remove them all one by one.
Without hesitation, we remove all attachment. Remove all material attachment, one by one, so we can "fly" again and so that our "beaks and claws" can grow again whilst we painfully kick against the "hard rocks". Slowly and with determination, the process is painful but useful. The beating we get is not on soft beds or sofas but on the rocks. Slowly, slowly, with tears, we need to do this process with determination beating everything away. Always thinking "I want to live again, I want to renew my life, and I want to be a human being." We don"t want God to feel bad that He has mistakenly created us.
So do it or clear all karmas "on the rocks", slowly, it will often be accompanied by tears in our eyes and blood in our "beaks and claws". Never give up no matter what happens, just do it. Because we need a new life. We need to renew our life. We need to fly again. Say goodbye to your good "beak and claws", give up your "beak and claws, beautiful feathers, wings", etc. Leave them all behind with a smile because we want a new life, we want to renew our lives, we want to fly again and to enjoy the sky. We want to enjoy the real life. A life without jealousy or enmity or too much material attachment, a renewed life filled with smiles and love, divine love.
Below are reflections from our typers and editors:
Our life"s mission should be dedicated to giving up our worldly material attachments. The process is bloody, hard and painful but it is the only way to be rewarded with life after death. Just like the eagle having to choose between a quick death or a painful arduous journey of pain and perseverance, the older we get, we too should be choosing the hard task of releasing our karma by losing all attachment. This is the divine life that awaits us if we put in the hard work. Radhe Radhe (Vanessa)
We are all born with a lot of bad karmas. We need to ensure that they are taken away one by one. Removing bad karmas doesn"t mean that it will happen overnight but it involves tears, sweat, and hard work. Never give up on these moments. Those times will lead to us to a better life; to a life with meaning and happiness. Radhe Radhe. (Larissa)
Lesson from the eagle story. Many times I forget the good lesson from this story. I lose my motivation to "break my claws" and just want to remain comfortable. This story reminds me that the struggle and often pain of the spiritual path is needed. Maybe other "useless" pain should be avoided but not the pain of cleaning our karma. As students, we forget and feel sorry for ourselves instead of realizing our pain is a great blessing to clean our karma. Thank you for reminding us guru. Radhe Radhe. (Yasmin)
