“If your love is only a will to possess, it's not love.”
Thích Nhất Hạnh
Image source|| The spider monkey
Let's examine the story of this forest community that had no good source of water and sometimes had to survive for days without water. They would often roam to far distances in search of water and sometimes had to return home without any.
This continued for a very long time until a time when they could not find water at all. They stood the chance of total annihilation. It is often said that desperate times calls for desperate measures, a member of the community came out with a plan to get water. This plan was based on the selfishness of the monkey which you would come to see as this short story progresses.
The man saw that the monkeys and other animals were not showing any signs of dehydration and this suggested that they had a source of water which the community did not know about. The man studied the monkeys in particular for days just to see whether one of them will lead him to the water source to no avail. He waited and waited yet saw nothing of such.
The fact was that the monkeys had a well planned way of going for the water which was crated to prevent the community from ever finding out. Even though the man could not directly trace any monkey to the water source he made an observation of how selfish the monkeys were. He realized that anytime any monkey held on to a fruit it never lets go even if it had to fall from the branches.
The man came home and discussed with the elders and it was revealed that if they are able to keep a monkey long enough from water it would lead them there once it was released. The man saw a plan when the question came up, how do we capture a monkey alive?
Image source|| A forest community
He remembered the selfish nature of the monkeys and a good plan was born. He suggested to the elders that from his observation the monkeys often held on to what they deem important even if it led to them falling off branches. This mean that if they dug a hole big enough for a monkey's hand to go in but not enough for it to come out with a clinched fist they could capture one. They could drop a fruit inside such that when any monkey reaches to grab the fruits it gets locked up.
The elders saw the brilliance of the plan and gave the man the permission to go ahead with the plan. The man dug a hole as exactly described and dropped a hard nut into it. The next day he returned with a group and there was the monkey. It had reach out for the nut but could not bring out its clinched fists. Some of the members thought that the monkey would escape if they approached and suggested they shoot it with a catapult to weaken it before they approached. The man declined because he had seen how selfish a monkey can be.
Image source || Monkey hand trap
As they approached the monkey started crying and struggling to escape but with the nut. It pulled and pulled till they got there and captured it. After keeping the monkey for 3 days without water they released it and went after it. It ran fast trying to escape them but not fast enough. Finally it led them to the water source that was big enough for the entire community to survive on for years....
Most times even though we might not be able to see it that way, most of us behave in the same way as the monkey. In trying to be selfish we end up destroying ourselves. In being selfish we get used by others.
It is helpful to realize that selflessness can be the best way to being selfish.
There is a tradition in Islam that the prophet use to undertake with his companions. They use to eat in groups and if any of them came came across meat or fish or anything more delicious than the main meal they would take it up and offer it to another. This became a system of feeding self through others.
I think the lesson he wanted to teach with this practice was that when we stand for each other we can never fall.
Image source || Women holding hands to signify strength in unity
A group is only as strong as its members. When we move with the spirit of selflessness we become selfish in ways that helps the whole community grow beyond measures.
Just some few days back @steem4depoor exhibited selflessness by giving $5 to a random boy he met on the street who could sing well and he shared the boy's voicehere, the community saw how selfless that act was and decided to reward him about 10X more as can be seen in the snapshot below;
That aside, he has had an SP delegation of $4000 from @stellabelle and others.
This is what makes being here worthwhile. Because you get to see real lessons exemplified. I could make a write up of all philosophies showing evidence of them happening right here on the platform.
Let't keep doing what steemit stands for and it can become the new hope of solving the disease that has struck humanity over ages.....