In a small village near the Northern Plains, there lived a 15 year-old boy. He loved adventure. Every day he went to the nearby woods and stared at the Great Northern Mountains, so vast and blue. A certain sense of peace encompassed him as he continued to look at the mountains. He remembered the words of his grandpa, “The majestic rivers Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra originated in those mountains” He sat for hours soaking the beauty of nature. That’s when an idea stuck him.

The next day morning he packed a small bag and set out for a new adventure to the mountains. After walking for a while, he got tired and felt sleepy. On his way he saw a beautiful huge tree. One look at the tree and he felt a magnetic pull, as if the tree invited him. He went ahead and took rest under the tree. He fell asleep and when his eyes opened, he felt hungry.

He thought to himself, “If only I had carried some more food. Huh! How I wish I got some food to eat now.” Immediately, to his great surprise, plates full of delicious food came floating in the air and rested before him.

He was startled. At first he was reluctant to eat the food, but he was so hungry that he couldn’t resist. He ate to his heart’s content.

After finishing his meal he felt thirsty. The small jug he carried with him had no water left. He thought, “I so hope I got some water to quench my thirst.” Immediately water, fresh juices and some fruits were in front of him. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He drank some water and fresh juices and went to sleep again.

Few minutes later he thought, “It’s so hot here, I hope cool breeze blows, and then I can sleep comfortably.” That very moment cool breeze started blowing and he slept easily.

When we woke up, it was dark. He couldn’t see anything around him. He was scared. He started to feel that this place was dangerous. He wondered, “Are there ghosts around here?” and immediately ghosts were standing all around him.

He cried, “Now, I’m finished” and instantly all the ghosts jumped on his chest and started to strangle him & beat on him.

He then thought, “Now, they are going to kill me.” and they killed him.

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I heard a much simpler version of this story from my grandmother when I was 6 or 7 years old. I didn’t understand the meaning of the story then, however few days ago I was talking to a parent and she said, “My son never listens to me. He is so mischievous and throws tantrums for every single thing. It’s difficult to handle him.”

That’s when I recollected this story. The tree under which the boy slept was Kalpavriksha- a wish-fulfilling tree. Sitting under it, anything you desire , immediately got fulfilled. Our life too is like a Kalpavriksha, isn’t it? We keep telling ourselves, ‘I am lonely, my child doesn’t obey, my life is boring, I can’t do this or I can’t find love’ and what happens….whatever we thought, manifests and we encounter more situations like we think.

Be very cautious of what you ask in life, because our life, like the kalpavrisha fulfils all our wishes. So what are you wishing for this weekend? Have you heard this story? What do you think of this story? Do you think that our mind is just like kalpavriksha? Feel free to begin the discussion in the comments section.

Happy Weekend!

Love and Gratitude,

Gayu

PS: I have made few changes by adding some additional points in the original story.