There
is a story about a lioness, who was big with young, going about in search of
prey; and seeing a flock of sheep, she jumped upon them. She died in the
effort; and a little baby lion was born, motherless. It was taken care of by
the sheep and the sheep brought it up, and it grew up with them, ate grass, and
bleated like the sheep. And although in time it became a big, full - grown
lion, it thought it was a sheep. One day another lion came in search of prey
and was astonished to find that in the midst of this flock of sheep was a lion,
fleeing like the sheep at the approach of danger. He tried to get near the
sheep - lion, to tell it that it was not a sheep but a lion; but the poor
animal fled at his approach. However, he watched his opportunity and one day
found the sheep - lion sleeping. He approached it and said, "You are a
lion." "I am a sheep," cried the other lion and could not
believe the contrary but bleated. The lion dragged him towards a lake and said,
"Look here, here is my reflection and yours." Then came the
comparison. It looked at the lion and then at its own reflection, and in a
moment came the idea that it was a lion. The lion roared, the bleating was
gone.
You are lions, you are souls,
pure, infinite, and perfect. The might of the universe is within you. "Why
weepest thou, my friend? There is neither birth nor death for thee. Why weepest
thou? There is no disease nor misery for thee, but thou art like the infinite
sky; clouds of various colours come over it, play for a moment, then vanish.
But the sky is ever the same eternal blue.
SOURCE: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda;
Volume-2: The Real Nature of Man; P-86
