Inner Management: In the Presence of the Master

by Sadhguru

It once happened, on a certain day, a bull and a pheasant were grazing on the field. The bull was grazing on the grass, the pheasant was picking ticks off the bull; they are partners, you know? Then the pheasant looked at a huge tree which was at the edge of the field, and very nostalgically said, "Alas, there was a time when I could fly to the topmost branch of the tree, but today I do not have the strength even to fly to the first branch of the tree." The bull very nonchalantly said, "That's no problem! Eat a little bit of my dung everyday, you will see, within a fortnight's time you will reach the top of the tree." The pheasant said, "Oh, come off it! How is that possible?" The bull replied, "Really, please try and see. The whole humanity is on it, you could try, too." Very hesitantly, the pheasant started pecking at the dung, and lo on the very first day it reached the first branch of the tree. In a fortnight's time, it reached the topmost branch of the tree. It just went and sat on the topmost branch and just enjoyed the scenery. The old farmer saw a fat old pheasant on the top of the tree. He took out his shotgun and shot him off the tree. So the moral of the story is: even bullshit can get you to the top, but never lets you stay there. [Everybody laughs]