Thought for the Day

Friday 5 December

Precious gems are profoundly buried in the earth and can only be extracted at the expense of great labor.

— Anandamayi Ma

Eknath Easwaran's Commentary

A few days ago I was watching a woodpecker, a creature I hadn’t seen since I left India. This one had a red turban. While I watched, he came and alighted on a huge tree. He was quite a small creature, and the trunk of the tree was enormous. I wanted to go up to him and say, “What, make a hole in that huge trunk with your tiny beak? Impossible. Preposterous!”

But this little woodpecker was not intimidated by size. He did not throw up his legs in despair; he just alighted and went about looking for the right place to begin operations.

It is the same with transforming consciousness; you have to look for the right spot. In some people it is a particular compulsive craving; in some it is jealousy; in some, blind fury. Some may be fortunate enough to have all three. Each person has to look for that spot where urgent work is most needed.

The Thought for the Day is today's entry from Eknath Easwaran's Words to Live By.