Svadhyaya - Part 2

Svadhyaya, as with many sacred teachings, offers many levels of wisdom.  On one level,  it is the practice of Self-Study, of Self-Reflection.  On another level it teaches us that we must do our own study - we must make our own effort - to do our own work.  No one else can do it for us.  We can have teachers, parents, family, friends, gurus, scriptures all guiding and supporting us, but in the end, we must do the devoting, the contemplating, the learning, the practices, the choosing, and the living for our selves.  When we do, we become strong enough to soar above, around, and through any potential pit falls we may encounter.   


The teaching of svadhyaya reminds me of the story of a little boy who while playing outside saw a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.  The little boy saw the butterfly struggling to get out and wanted to help.  So, he opened the cocoon and released the butterfly.  But he soon found that the butterfly could not fly!  His mother later explained that it is the butterfly's self-effort to get out of the cocoon that makes its wings strong enough to fly.  And only the butterfly can do the work necessary to build its wings strong enough to fly.  


So,  too, only each of us can do what it takes to be strong enough to fly!


Will you?