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Ashiyana Yoga Teacher Training
Taming the Lake Monster
Taming the Lake Monster
(An extraxt from "Living from Within")
There is a very old fable about a land beyond time and space. In this forgotten land there was an enormous and beautiful lake. The lake was very deep and yet its bottom was totally visible from the surface since the water was perfectly clear. In fact the floor of the lake was composed of the most beautiful and luminescent crystals, so that when viewed from the surface the inner reaches of the lake appear as a kaleidoscope of colour with a myriad of indescribably beautiful reflections. Everything about the lake was serene and perfect. All the animals loved to come to her edge and drink from the clear, fresh water, which was said to have special healing powers due to the crystals deep within.
However, the lake was full of sadness, for no one had ever seen her true beauty or the magical crystals in all their glory. There was a wild monster who lived in the lake believing that he was the ruler of these waters. Whilst he was actually not at all dangerous for he had no teeth or claws, he endlessly moved around the surface waters so that the profound beauty of the lake was obscured from view. All day long the monster swam backwards and forwards accross the lake, so that no one and no thing could marvel at the treasures within.
At night, when there was darkness the monster slowly sank into sleep and gently came to rest on the floor of the lake where he became one with the serenity all around. Occasionally he stirred during the night and moved around a little, as if swimming in his sleep, so accustomed was he to his daily habit of disturbing the calm waters at the surface. Unfortunately though, no one could ever see or appreciate the divine beauty of the lake at night, even though the monster was sleeping.
One day a loud and resonant voice came from the sky and spoke directly to the lake, saying, "Why are you so sad, and why are you not taming this disturbing monster. He is in your waters and it is up to you to train him to be more still. Encourage him to swim more slowly, deep within your waters, so that he does not cause your surface to be so full of waves. Even I who know of your beauty am unable to see it with my eyes, so persistent is the monster in his disuptive ways. Even you cannot know of your own magnificence until you allow it to shine forth for all to see.
With these words the Lake felt a deep sense of longing. She decided that she would begin to tame the monster at once, and every day whenever she remembered, she called quietly to him and invited him to swim ever deeper and more slowly, so that her surface waters were less and less disturbed. She taught him that if he behaved more like he was when restfully asleep, then he too would be happier and more peaceful. After some time, the monster came to realize that he was not the ruler of the lake, and that he never had been. In fact he was very grateful for what he had learnt, since he had now discovered a calmness that was far more pleasant than his endless swimming from here to there.
And so it was that the lake remembered her own beauty and was no longer sad. The sky and all of the animals were finally able to see her magnificence, and they were especially happy since this reminded them of their own beauty, which they could now see reflected in her calm, still waters.
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