Based in Tijeras, New Mexico
The Story
The Roar of Awakening
Once upon a time, a pregnant tigress was close to giving birth. Hungry, she went out and came across a goat herd and, in spite of her physical state, was able to kill one. But, the stress of the hunt brought forth her labor and she died while giving birth to a male cub. The goats who escaped came back once the danger was gone. Approaching the dead tigress they found her cub lying in the grass beside her. Feeling compassion for the newborn, they decided to adopt the little creature and integrate him with the herd.
The little tiger grew up among the goats as one of them. He bleated the best he could, smelled like a goat, and only ate vegetation. All his behavior was one of a goat. However, deep inside, as we know, beat the heart of a tiger. Everything went well until one day an older tiger attacked the herd and killed one of the goats. All the other goats ran away when they saw the predator but our young tiger goat stood his ground.
Although veteran of numerous hunts, the old tiger had never been more shocked in all his life. He didn't know what to do with this young tiger who smelled like a goat, bleated like a goat, and acted like a goat. Being old, grumpy and not very altruistic, he grabbed the young tiger by the scruff of his neck and pulled him to a nearby pond, showing him his reflection in the water, but the young tiger didn't react. The reflection didn't have significance for him and he didn't recognize the similarity between himself and the old tiger.
Frustrated by the young tiger's lack of understanding, the old tiger brought him back to the field where he killed his prey. He ripped a piece of meat from the dead goat and stuffed it into the mouth of our young friend.
We can imagine the shock and confusion of the young tiger. First he choked and tried to spit out the raw meat. But the old tiger was determined to show the young tiger his true nature and forced him to swallow his new food. After that, he put another piece of meat in the young tiger's mouth, and this time, a change occurred.
Our young tiger allowed himself to taste the raw meat and the warm blood and soon ate it with pleasure. Once finished, he stretched, and for the first time in his life he emitted a powerful roar. The roar of the cat of the jungle. And both tigers disappeared together in the jungle.
Excerpt of "The Philosophy Of India", Heinrich Zimmer.
The Journey Begins
What is this roar of Awakening? It is the internal discovery that we are more than what we think we are. It’s about discovering that we have identified with some personality that wrongly or inadequately expresses our own nature. It's as if we were dreaming and are suddenly awaking from the dream, becoming aware of the new reality.
We are born into a world filled with confusion of our nature, and, to some degree, come to create a fear based false reality, undermining who we are. The power of our belief system is able to distort our relationship with our Self and, by extension, the world. It is possible to authentically embrace life, and become empowered by the Source of all things.
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