The Man Who Fell Off a Bridge

There was once a man who was walking down a street, and he came to a bridge. As he walked onto the bridge, he was not paying much attention to what he was doing, and he fell off the bridge and broke his leg.

The doctors said that he was lucky to survive after having been in a car crash and then falling off a bridge. But even with all the injuries he had, apart from the broken leg, he was still alive. The reason he still survived is that when he looked around, he saw everyone else had head injuries and legs broken, even his mother! He was the only one with a broken leg; apart from that, he was perfectly healthy.

The realization came to him that the reason he was alive was not that he was healthy or wealthy or had good genes or even excellent parents. It was simply that he fellowshipped with the right people, and he had the wherewithal to survive even with all his injuries.

The wealth will always hide the man; it does not matter how magnificent his house is or how much land he owns. It is only the flow of people that can take away his life. The flow of people may change wealth into many other forms, such as land, money, jewelry, cars, and houses, but the wealth will remain the same. The flow of people is the only thing that can destroy man.

If you trust the people around you and let their hands take hold of you, it is very likely that your wealth will take a different shape. If you are the kind of person that trusts people around you and does not blame them for anything, then your life will become very fulfilling. The moment you blame everyone for everything, your luck will change. People need to be blamed and thanked for something.

If a visitor leaves a card, you may never know who it is; but if that same person visits you incessantly, you know it is that card. The moment that card surfaces in your life, you will know that person is visiting you to help you.

A friend will visit you incessantly if he is really interested in you. You may not be aware of it. Whenever he calls you, you will know it is him, and you will feel compelled to talk to him. There is no place you can hide from your friend. All that he requires is an opportunity to talk to you. He may even direct you to an:-

Aristotle

Ah, well, that card obviously is a dead ringer for the Torah, and his comment is a pretty direct one:

The task of every truly wise man is to be as little worried as possible while at the same time doing everything possible to make life as happy as possible.

Your friend may not care to observe your after-images, but your quiet concentration just might wake him up at night and make him appreciate your good company even more.

To sum up, we can take a lot from the wisdom literature, whether Torah or the albeit less wise – Confucius.

Yoga teaches us to let go and embrace the universe, let go of past hurts and disappointments, and forgive everyone and everything. With that innocent philosophy and good intentions, we can wake up to the idea that the universe focuses on pretty interesting after-images.