"Consider the lilies - how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these". - Luke 12 : 27.
King Solomon was considered to be very wise. A folktale about his wisdom runs like this :
'Two young women who lived in the same house and who both had an infant son came to Solomon for a judgment. One of the women claimed that the other, after accidentally smothering her own son while sleeping, had exchanged the two children to make it appear that the living child was hers. The other woman denied this and so both women claimed to be the mother of the living son and said that the dead boy belonged to the other.
After some deliberation, King Solomon called for a sword to be brought before him. He declared that there was only one fair solution: the live son must be split in two, each woman receiving half of the child. Upon hearing this terrible verdict, the boy's true mother cried out, "Oh Lord, give the baby to her, just don't kill him!" The liar, in her bitter jealousy, exclaimed, "It shall be neither mine nor yours—divide it!"
The king declared the first mother as the true mother, as a true, loving mother would rather surrender her baby to another than hurt him, and gave her the baby. King Solomon's judgment became known throughout all of Israel and was considered an example of profound wisdom.'
Elsewhere I had once read more to it : At night, God appeared before Solomon and was pleased with him. The Lord asked him to seek a boon. Solomon was humble, he said he already had everything given by God, yet when benevolently insisted upon, he sought this : 'Lord, give me an understanding heart' !
And yet Solomon's thoughts of wisdom were not arrayed as beautifully as the lilies !
We think and say proudly, 'I do this, I do that'. And everything comes to an end. The Nature weaves such beauty everywhere - day after day, year after year, ages after ages - often unappreciated by us, because unseen. The Lord creates beautiful leaves and blossoms, lovely creatures on the earth ; He paints clouds and rainbow in the sky. But He never says, 'I do this, and I do that' even when He really does. Whether in a royal garden or in a remote forest where no poet, no painter will ever go to find an inspiration, look at every leaf - what art, what perfection ! Perfection not for praise, but out of causeless joy.
Humility rushes in the moment we pause and realize that all our talents are His gifts.
What art can we make by our own skill, when even basic functions of life like digesting the food, flowing the breath and beating the heart are not our own human skills! If they were, we would never have an upset stomach, the breath would never cease and the heart would never ever fail !
The highest wisdom is to know that He, and not you and I, is the Doer.
The Gita says, 'Na eva kinchit karomi iti, yuktah manyet tatvavit' (V : 8,9). The one who really knows, knows that nothing is really done by us !
As stage actors here
Our job is to just do our best,
To bring our hearts to whatever may be the test,
And to Him, to leave the rest !
To do our best is all that we do have in our hands.
To give Him our love is all that we can really give Him.
The rest in the universe is already His.
Pride banishes this true vision, the arrogant sense of being the doer causes the sweat on the brow ; else we would always peacefully know, 'Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these'.
- Hans Dholakia (hansyoga)
www.hansyoga.com // Motivational Life Coaching Online & Training.