A Tale of Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. 

“One is Evil – It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. 

“The other is Good – It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?  

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

This pretty much sums up the path of mental evolution and the conflict between the good and the evil. These two wolves reside in our consciousness and it is for us to decide which wolf to nurture. In today’s world it is far too easy to fall on the path of evil because most outside forces are conducive. The path of good is rather difficult because it is uphill; there is little to support you. Here you have to rely upon your own strength and efforts. It helps significantly if you have some supportive people and environment around you – again you have to create it for your own good.

1. Stay Clear of Mental Pollution

If healthy food habits are important, the quality of mental food is also equally important. You may be taking food only a few time everyday, but the mind is constantly bombarded with various forces throughout the day. And every thing affects the mind – the company you keep, people you talk to, how you earn money (do you cheat?) and what you watch on TV. The last one, along with the Internet, can be the most serious source of mental pollution if you are not careful and selective.

For some weird reason, positive things don’t attract media attention; it is more interested in spreading negative news – and hence, negativity. Some crime is committed once but the media reports it a hundred times, filling your mind with suspicion and fear. There are people who are media addict. You can be sure that they have turned their mind into junk yard and thus, denied themselves any room for peace of mind. 

Remember: For every minute you are restless, you give ups sixty seconds of peace of mind.

Regular meditation and company of good people are two time tested ways of minimizing mental pollution. 

If you think carefully, you will realize that present is the only time where can live. Yet, you keep your mind so busy with things of the past or future that it has no time to live in the present! Living in the present does not mean that you throw away your past and completely ignore your future. It only means facing the realities of life “right now” continuously, feeling grateful for what you have.

Did you hear about a guy who was always busy working so that he can retire at 60 and live happily thereafter. He did achieve a lot spending sleepless lights and working like a maniac. He finally died of heart attack at 40. In 40 years he never realized what inner peace was. Do you think he actually LIVED a life? In my opinion, he was so busy achieving that he forgot to live! And of course, he died rich!! 

The ideal antidote to hurried and restless living is Mindfulness. It is a beautiful art of living daily life objectively with full “conscious presence of mind” moment by moment. It is an ideal art of “being” who you actually are.

You may also like to read: 

How to Learn Mindfulness Effectively

Mindfulness: Let there be LIFE in Your Life

3. Tame Your Silly Ego

“Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.” – Colin Powell

“Ego has a voracious appetite, the more you feed it the hungrier it gets.” – Nathaniel Bronner, Jr

By nature ego is like a wild animal. If you tame it and learn to keep it under control it will do no harm. The moment you begin to pamper it, it will tame you and soon takes control of your life – and you might not even realize it! It vitiates the quality of interpersonal relations. Whenever you put other people down or step on their toes, it is proof enough you are no more a dignified person but are a mere slave to your ego. There is nothing to be cocky about that. Ego is not a sign of strength it is a sure sign of weakness – think about it. 

Someone rightly said: Height of ego is directly related to smallness of the person.

4. Resolve Unfinished Personal Issues 

In my experience, the biggest source of stress and anxiety is unfinished personal issues. These are conflicts in personal relations which spill over to professional life. When personal relations are not harmonious people tend to look for satisfaction in work and achievements. This can lead to a highly unbalanced life – it is also like putting all eggs in one basket. If for some reason work does not offer enough satisfaction life becomes lopsided and further stressful. Balance between the life at workplace and home is really an important issue; happiness and peace can only follow afterwards.

All unresolved issues and conflicts feed negative mental chatter that fuels stress and anxiety, keeping you constantly at edge. 

5 Meditate Regularly 

Regular meditation is the simple and effective way to keep the mind positive and clear away the influence of negative forces. In fact, regular meditation also automatically disciplines the mind – it checks its tendency to do what it likes. A healthy mind is free from obsessions of likes and dislikes. It is flexible, free, and ever ready to do what is needed to be done. In short, a healthy mind is resilient and pragmatic. You may want to explore: 10 Quotes for a Meditative Mind!

Vipassana meditation has become quite popular in recent years. It is basically grounded on mindfulness as opposed to concentration. This makes it easy for any new comer and is free from all dogmas – religious, cultural, or philosophical. In North America, Chopra Center has emerged as a preferred location for people seriously aspiring for personal growth.

Although there is no substitute of meditation training as a form of self growth, in recent years a technical tool, called brainwave entrainment, has emerged as a meditation aid. Brainwave meditation audios are available to help people easily experience mental states that are only known to meditators. They are certainly useful for relaxation and relieving stress. Mental states associated with deeper meditative states can also be induced through the entrainment process. Although it can’t be strictly called meditation in the traditional sense, it potential to induce brainwave patterns of various mental states can not be overlooked. Many people find that the entrainment audios significantly ease their efforts to meditate.

More Resources

Brainwave Lie Detector: Spotting Criminals

Understanding the Art of Forgiveness