Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Feeding the correct wolf

I would like to share a wisdom parable that I came across today which I thought quite beautiful and inspiring.

"One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

I thought that the metaphor of the two wolves battling against each other describe very well the gradual and deliberate process through which a person's character is developed. And I thought it describes well the duality that exists in the nature of human beings, who is a mix of both vice and virtue. Some people allow themselves to indulge in their dark natures, which slowly grow and blocks out the light in them. And there are the trials and pride of life, that can cause us to become callous, and slowly lose aspects of our humanity, like compassion for the people around us.

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