Once upon a time, there lived an industry tycoon in a village. It was located in Eastern Europe and was surrounded by angelic plains, studded with fragrant fields of flowers and fruits. The industry man lived with his beautiful wife and two daughters in an exquisite house in the center of the village.

He owned one of the biggest weaving factories of the area, producing clothes for the young and the old. Every morning, at 8:00 am sharp, the industry man’s coachman would bring a horse-drawn carriage for his ride to the factory, located about 1.5 hours North of the village.

One day, while making the journey to the factory through the fields of flowers, an old man from Western Europe stopped the carriage to talk to the industry man. He said, “Sir, a man your stature should not travel in a horse-drawn carriage, you should instead travel in a fuel-driven car. It would make your journey more comfortable and increase your reputation.”

The following week, after a discussion with his personal assistant, he sent out to buy a car from the city, as per the Westerner’s suggestion. After a fortnight, a Ford car, never seen before by the villagers, arrived outside the industry man’s house.

The next morning, with his head held high, chest wide, and in a new velvet suit, the industry man proudly sat inside the car, as the villagers gathered around to witness his first journey in his newly acquired pride, the Ford car. “Hurrah!” shouted the coachman sitting on the hood of the car to begin the journey to the factory. Yes, you read it right!

The prior evening, the coachman was ordered to transfer the five horses from the carriage to the front of the car. Fortunately (or not), the Westerner was again passing by and saw the industry man travelling in his new car.

Unable to control his laughter, he again halted the industry man’s journey and said jokingly, “Sir, why are you using just five horsepower when you have the capacity of a hundred?” “What do you mean,” asked the industry man in a stern tone, feeling confused and disrespected.

Without further speech, the Westerner set the horses free, asked the coachman to take the passenger seat, positioned himself in the driver seat, and turned the ignition key to start the car. The Westerner then drove the car to the factory, covering the journey in just over 15 minutes, the industry man and coachman sat utterly surprised with their mouths wide open.

By this time, some of you might already be thinking that where am I going with this story, while some of you might have decoded the message. Most of us (including myself) are like the industry man, using just five horsepower of our conscious mind, while each one of us has the capability of clocking a 100 horsepower through the vastness of our subconscious mind.

The ignition key is meditation. Fortunately for all of us, the user’s manual on turning on the ignition key and smoothly driving the car of our lives is provided in A Million Thoughts by our dearest Gurudev, who is working day-in and day-out to ensure that we all travel the journey of life in the comforts of a meditation-driven mind and increase our compassion (not reputation, or ego).

Jay Shree Hari πŸ™πŸ»

PS: This is not an originally thought story, I came across it with Swamiji’s grace and connected to it instantly, making me want to share with the os.me family. I offer it to the divine feet of our Guru πŸ™πŸ»

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