parable | Author – Richard F Holmes

I came across this beautiful parable sometime ago and completely forgot about it until the other day when someone brought it to my attention. It is the famous old Cherokee parable of the “Two Wolves” and I find it so powerful and true that I thought I would share it here. It was such a timely reminder for me and I hope you enjoy reading it.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

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

Whether you were reading this for the first time, or whether like me, it served as a memory jogger, I hope you felt inspired.

Photo by Terry Jung on Unsplash

In ancient Japan it was quite common for people to walk with lanterns at night. They were made out of paper and bamboo, and held a candle. An old blind man had been to the temple, and as he was leaving to go home, a monk offered him a lantern. “I don’t need a lantern”, exclaimed the blind man. “Darkness or light, it’s all the same to me.” “But you need to carry a lantern so that others may see you”, said the monk, handing him the lantern. The blind man seemed to have walked no distance at all before someone bumped into him. “What are you doing”, he said, “can’t you see the lantern?” “My friend”, replied the stranger, “I’m very sorry for bumping into you, but your candle has gone out.”

This beautiful parable tells us that external lights are limited and temporary, and will ultimately burn out. Our inner light, on the other hand, will always “light” the way for us. The light in question being “the light of consciousness”, which is our true nature.

There is an added teaching here that tells us that we can find ourselves in situations that would appear to be disadvantageous (like the blind man), however, it is possible that when we are in those situations, our purpose is to light the way for others.