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There once was a forest, and in that forest,
a bird flew and flew until it reached a palace.
In front of the palace was a mirror. When the
bird approached the mirror, it thought that another
bird was behind the mirror. In fact, that
second bird was the first bird's own reflection,
a shadow, its illusion. But the real bird
thought that the reflection was another bird.
So the bird started pecking against the mirror with
its beak. The bird got tired from doing this
continuously. It did not understand that there
was nothing in the mirror but its own
reflection.
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This story was told
by Beloved Baba and depicts different states of
consciousness. In fact these states or planes -- gross, subtle, mental -- are nothing but Illusion. Really speaking, the subtle and mental states are "fine" Illusion, while the gross state is not "fine" Illusion. And they
exist in order for us to know Illusion as Illusion,
and Reality as Reality.
The reflection, the
shadow, has no existence; it is just nothing.
Though it was an illusion, to think the reflection
exists is delusion. And as long as you go on
thinking that nothing but the world exists, you
will find yourself in Illusion.
This story shows
that we take Illusion as real, though it is not
there. Therefore, it is necessary that we
have the knowledge that Illusion is Illusion and
has no existence. Only God exists, and
whatever appears to exist besides God, is nothing
but Illusion.
Dictated Wednesday,
22nd January, 2003
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