"The Indians around here tell a cautionary fable about a great saint who was always surrounded in his Ashram by local devotees. For hours a day, the saint and his followers would meditate on G-d. The only problem was that had a young cat, an annoying creature, who used to walk through the temple meowing and purring and bothering everyone during meditation. So the saint, in all his practical wisdom, commanded that the cat be tied to a pole outside for a few hours a day, only during meditation, so as to not disturb anyone. This became a habit-tying the cat to the pole and than meditating on G-d. But as years passed, the habit hardened into religious ritual. Nobody could meditate unless the cat was tied to a pole first. Then one day the cat died. The saint's followers were panic-stricken. It was a major religion crisis-how could they meditate now, without a cat to tie to a pole? How would they reach G-d? In their minds, the cat had become the means."
Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love.
Feliz Ano Novo.
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