.The Elephant And The Fly

A disciple and his teacher was walking through the forest. He asked his teacher, “Why do only a few posses a calm mind?”

The teacher spoke, “An elephant was once picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with long ears. The fly came again, and the elephant waved it away once more. This was repeated many times. The elephant asked the fly: ‘why are u so restless and noisy? Why can’t you stay for a while in one place?’ The fly answered: ‘I am attracted to whatever I see, hear and smell. My five senses, and everything that happens around me, pull me constantly in all directions and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?’

The Elephant stopped eating and said: ‘My five senses do not rule my attention. I am in the control of my attention, I can direct it whatever I want. This helps me to get immersed  in whatever I do ,and therefore, my mind is focused and calm. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating.”

Upon hearing these words, the disciple’s eyes opened wide. He looked at his teacher and said,”I understand! My mind will be in constant unrest if my five senses, are distracting me.On the other hand If I am In the command of my five senses,I can disregard sense impressions, and my mind will be calm.”   “Yes “That’s right. Control your attention ,and you control your mind.”