Soul's Journey

Category: Stories

  • Mary and the One Thing Needed

    Mary and the One Thing Needed

    Mary and the One Thing Needed (Luke 10:38–42)

    Jesus entered a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister Mary sat at his feet, listening.

    Martha, busy preparing, said, “Lord, do you not care that I am left to serve alone?”

    Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious about many things. Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.”

    Commentary:

    This simple story reveals a great truth: presence is greater than performance. Mary listens. She is not passive — she is present. This is the mystical act: deep receptivity.

    Martha is not wrong. But she is distracted by doing, while Mary is devoted to being.

    Psychological Reflection:

    Many of us live like Martha — busy, helpful, anxious. We serve but forget to receive. Mary reminds us that sitting still, listening, is not lazy — it is sacred.

    Awakening often begins by slowing down.

    Closing Reflection:

    • Am I constantly doing at the cost of being?
    • Can I allow myself to stop and simply listen?

    Pause & Reflect:

    🎧 (10 seconds of silence)

  • The Still Small Voice

    The Still Small Voice

    The Still Small Voice (1 Kings 19:11–13)

    The prophet Elijah fled into the desert — exhausted, hunted, hollow.

    He climbed Mount Horeb, entered a cave, and cried, “God, where are You?”

    Then a great wind tore across the mountain — but God was not in the wind.

    An earthquake shook the ground — but God was not in the earthquake.

    Fire raged through the valley — but God was not in the fire.

    Then came a still small voice.

    Elijah covered his face.

    He had heard it — not outside, but within.

    Commentary:

    This story teaches that the Divine is not always in grand revelation. Often, awakening comes in stillness — a whisper in the soul. The mystic path is one of inward listening.

    God’s presence is subtle. When the noise dies, the voice arises.

    Psychological Reflection:

    Elijah’s journey mirrors spiritual burnout. When outer forces fail to bring clarity, we enter the cave — the inner world. The ‘still small voice’ is intuition, conscience, soul.

    Learning to hear it is the work of silence and surrender.

    Closing Reflection:

    • What loud forces have distracted me from my inner voice?
    • Can I create stillness to hear what already knows?

    Pause & Reflect:

    🎧 (10 seconds of silence)

  • The Empty Boat

    The Empty Boat

    The Empty Boat

    A monk once rowed a small wooden boat across a foggy river. Halfway through, he felt a sudden jolt — another boat had collided with his.

    Annoyed, he called out, “Watch where you’re going!” But when the fog cleared, he saw the boat was empty. It had broken loose and drifted silently.

    His anger dissolved.

    Years later, the monk recounted this experience to his students. “If that boat had held a man,” he said, “I would have shouted, maybe even fought. But it was empty. And so, I let it go.”

    He paused and added, “Now I try to see every boat that bumps me as empty.”

    Commentary:

    This parable, while rooted in Taoist origins, is deeply aligned with Buddhist insight. The “empty boat” is a metaphor for the nature of reality — no fixed self, no one to blame.

    When we’re hurt or offended, it’s often not about us. People act from their own pain, patterns, or unconsciousness. Seeing this emptiness — not as void but as interbeing — is freedom.

    Psychological Reflection:

    This story invites us to pause before reacting. The mind projects intention onto others: “They meant to hurt me.” But often, there is no malice — just conditioning.

    The moment we see the “other” as a drifting vessel shaped by causes and conditions, compassion arises. It doesn’t mean becoming passive — it means becoming free.

    Closing Reflection:

    • What “collisions” am I still reacting to?
    • What if the boat was empty?

    Pause & Reflect:

    🎧 (Pause for 10 seconds of silence for journaling or insight)

  • The Prodigal Son

    The Prodigal Son

    The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32)

    A certain man had two sons. One day, the younger approached him and said, “Father, give me my share of the inheritance.”

    The father, heart heavy, divided his estate.

    The younger son gathered his riches and set off to a distant land. There, he lived wildly — feasts, drink, reckless joy. But soon, the money was gone. Famine came. Friends vanished.

    He found work feeding pigs — unclean animals for a Jew — and longed to eat their scraps.

    One night, sitting in the mud, he looked inward. “Even my father’s servants have food,” he thought. “I will go back. Not as a son, but as a servant.”

    He returned, rehearsing his apology.

    But while he was still far off, the father saw him — and ran.

    He embraced the boy, wept, clothed him in robes, placed a ring on his finger.

    The son said, “I am not worthy.”

    The father replied, “You were lost and are found. You were dead and are alive.”

    Commentary:

    This parable is a profound symbol of awakening — not through perfection, but through return. The younger son represents our own drifting away from the inner truth. His ‘coming to himself’ is the moment of self-realization.

    Psychological Reflection:

    This story mirrors the journey of individuation. We leave the house of the soul to taste life, make mistakes, fall. The ‘mud’ is essential — it breaks illusion. But awakening begins when we remember who we are beneath shame.

    The father’s embrace symbolizes radical self-acceptance.

    Closing Reflection:

    • Where have I wandered from my inner truth?
    • What would it mean to return — not with guilt, but with trust?

    Pause & Reflect:

    🎧 (10 seconds of silence)