The Potter and the Clay

Listen to this story on our Sai Prem Podcast

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1498462/episodes/13713763

Value: Peace, Right Conduct

Sub-Value: Patience, Forbearance

A couple went to England to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary and shopped at a beautiful antique store.

They both liked antiques and pottery especially tea-cups,and when they spotted an exceptional cup, their interest was piqued. “May we see that? We’ve never seen a cup quite so beautiful!”they requested the  lady at the shop.

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the tea-cup spoke,”You don’t understand. I have not always been a tea-cup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me , rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over, until I yelled out, Don’t do that. I don’t like it! Let me alone”. With a  gentle smile he said, “Not yet!” “Then, WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun round and round and round. “Stop it! I’m getting so dizzy! I’m going to be sick!” I screamed.

But the master only nodded and said quietly, “Not yet”.

He not only  spun me and poked me, but also prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself.  Subsequently, he put me in the oven where  I experienced extreme heat. I yelled , knocked and pounded at the door.

“Help! Get me out of here! I screamed. “Not yet”, said my master. When I thought I couldn’t bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.

Oh, that felt so good! “Ah, this is much better,” I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible.. “Oh, please, Stop it! Stop it!” I cried. He only shook his head and said. “Not yet…”

Then once again he put me back into the oven. Only it was not like the first time. This time it was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged… I pleaded… I screamed…I cried… I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up and just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering “What’s he going to do to me next?”

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said “Look at yourself.”

And I did… I said, “That’s not me, that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful!”

Quietly he spoke, “I want you to remember, then,” he said, “I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.

“I know it hurt ,it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life.

“And if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.”

 Learning

Trust the Master- God/ Guru/ Guide or your teacher to mould you. He knows what is best for you and how to bring out the best in you.

Anything great can be achieved in life only by working hard, going through lot of trials and tribulations. One should keep the goal in mind and continue doing the work without giving up.