teaching stories

A Sufi teaching story tells of a man who prayed continually for the awareness to succeed in life. Then one night he dreamed of going into the forest to attain understanding. The next morning he went into the woods and wandered for several hours looking for some sign that would provide answers.
When he finally stopped to rest, he saw a fox with no legs lying between two rocks in a cool place. Curious as to how a legless fox could survive, he waited until sunset when he observed a lion come and lay meat before the fox.
“Ah, I understand,” the man thought. “The secret to success in life is to trust that God will take care of all my needs. I don’t need to provide for myself. All I have to do is totally surrender to my all-sustaining God.”
Two weeks later, weakened and starving, the man had another dream. In it he heard a voice say, “Fool. Be like the lion, not like the fox.”

Think of your Higher Self as an artist and your lower self as the picture you will paint. Your Higher Self is your karmically created character, and your lower self is your physical body--your traits, habits, and emotions. In each incarnation karma presents you, the artist, with an opportunity to paint your life picture. Do not confuse yourself with your picture. You are already a fully self-actualized, enlightened soul, who has only to project this awareness into your work.
We forget that we are the artists and not the painting, when we allow the painting to become our reality when we could be calling upon our buried talent to change the areas of the picture that are not working. We can erase portions of the picture and start again, painting a new image in bright, joyous colors.
Meditate upon picking up a paintbrush and painting your picture exactly the way that you want it to be. Visualize this very vividly and then project it into manifestation.