A crayfish landed itself at the door of the temple last week. It caused a bit of alarm at first as some of us didn’t know what this strange looking, large creepy crawly was. A monster black scorpion? An alien, over-sized cockroach? It was 4am, half dark, and imaginations stirred by fear were running high!
Soon a devotee arrived who recognized it. “Ah, a crayfish,” he said with affection.
He got the snow shovel, gently invited the crayfish to get on board, and took him back to the creek.
There are three large steps to get down to the temple entrance so we wondered how the crayfish got here. But that became far less important to the crayfish than the problem of getting out. He would have never done that on his own. Until he received the extended hand of the devotee with a shovel, he was stuck. He simply didn’t have the ability to climb up the steps on his own.
It is said that the path of bhakti-yoga is the path of grace. We are stuck on the ferris wheel of life, of repeated birth and death, until the helping hand of divine grace extends into our life and we reach out and take hold of it. We can’t get out of this material mess on our own.
Grace never pushes itself upon us. It’s an invitation into a relationship. And from our side, it requires an acknowledgment that we need help. Nothing is a greater relief than entering into that relationship.
I also saw with the crayfish that fear is often based on lack of information. As soon as we knew that he was a harmless, common creature, our fear disappeared and we laughed at our own foolishness. Knowledge allowed us to feel compassionate and help a helpless creature. The biggest fear of all, the fear of death, becomes an insignificant event in the life of a person educated in spiritual perspectives. The body dies, but not us. Another great relief.
The great alien scorpion that turned out to be a crayfish brought much wisdom to our morning meditation. Gurus come in many shapes and sizes. Be ready to meet them and hear their stories. They always have something to give.
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