The second important element of a spider’s nature is that it never gives up in the face of adversity. During construction, if the wind destroys the web or brings the spider down, it immediately rises and starts building again.
There is a popular ancient tale that was a part of my junior school studies, and it highlights this unique aspect of a spider’s character. Once upon a time, there was a king named Arjuna whose kingdom was taken away by an invading army of the Moguls, headed by a ruthless leader. As he was defeated and had to run for his life, he took shelter in a cave.
While he lay there in hopelessness and despair, an amazing scene captured his attention. A spider was trying to weave a web across the cave ceiling, and fell down. Almost immediately it was up, and climbed back to continue with the work. A short while later a strong surge of wind came and destroyed part of the web, and the spider was down again. Slowly, it got up once again and began re-building. It was almost done, when another surge destroyed the web in the same manner.
The little spider was unaffected by all these hurdles and destruction, and every time got back to rebuilding with the same force and courage, as if nothing had happened.
Finally, after jumping around from one end to the other and falling several times, the web was successfully completed.
A strong surge of wind came once again, but the web had been reinforced to handle such shocks to avoid any further damage. Rather, this time the web moved like a swing with the force of the wind, and the spider was seated in the devas of the web on the throne it had made for itself, and was enjoying the thrilling ride.
Having witnessed this life inspiring act of courage and persistence, Arjuna said to himself, “If a little spider can face failure so bravely and re-build its web with the same energy and strength, how can I give up so easily and feel depressed about what happened? I too will not relent and use all my powers and intelligence to prepare and attack the invaders to regain my lost kingdom.” The spider’s determination in face of great adversity gave tremendous courage to the defeated king, as he got out of the cave to begin the task of regaining his throne. He got hold of his soldiers who were wandering in the woods aimlessly with a low morale, and told them the amazing story of the spider.
He thought of new ways of fighting against a large army and trained his men to have faith, courage, and develop a ‘never give-up’ attitude. On their first attempt, his army was again defeated by the Moguls, but that did not deter his spirit. Instead, he sat down to analyze what he was doing wrong and invented new methods to train his men in guerilla warfare. Eventually, after multiple incursions into the enemy strongholds, he finally regained his kingdom.
So what are the two major traits a spider has? A unique intelligence to build a complex web without any outside help, and a never give up attitude. Compare these to the reality of who you are the ultimate of all creations on planet Earth, superior to all other species in every form. The spider can only build the same web, and this is what it has been doing since time immemorial with great finesse and persistence.
In other words, the spider is an expert in the work it does, a real craftsman of the highest caliber, and its dedication to the task at hand is unparalleled and matched by an unflinching persistent and courageous nature.
When you begin to know your Self, one of the most important realizations that will dawn upon you is, that you are equipped with an inborn talent to become a master craftsman in a certain field. The only thing that you need to do is find out what that talent is, and then practice, practice, and practice till you become an expert. Mahatma Gandhi who realized this unique human potential, said: “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end up becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if 1 shall have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have had it at the beginning.”
In case you do not believe it is important to ‘Know your Self’ or you question what is there after all to know, then you will become what you believe in. If you believe that you are merely an ordinary human being, then everything you’ll do will be ordinary, and you will ultimately end up of being incapable of doing anything beyond ordinary. This kind of mind frame will lead you to live an ordinary existence with ordinary success, and you will often wonder, how others accomplish extraordinary things and achieve extraordinary success. Life will remain as an unresolved mystery for you.
The truth is, you have the potential to resolve the mystery of your existence on Earth right now. All you need to do is take a journey within to get acquainted with who you truly are. If you’ll begin with the belief ‘I can do it, then you will surely acquire the capacity, even if you may not have had it at the beginning. Nothing is difficult, it’s all a perception of your mind which can make things possible or impossible. Knowing your Self is not a difficult thing at all, but you have to believe in the importance of this vital and life-changing journey. As you are the Master of your Destiny, it is your choice that eventually matters- you can either live like Smiley, the beggar who sat on a container of gold and begged for alms all his life, or you can learn from a spider, as to how it does its work with such great precision and a never give up attitude.
Have you ever looked at a bumblebee which defies the basic law of nature by flying? According to scientists, the bumblebee’s body is too heavy and the wing span too small, and aerodynamically it’s impossible for it to fly. But the bumblebee does not know this fact and keeps flying and continuing with its life’s work. If you realized you had no limitations, then what would you do? As a matter of fact, the only limitations we have are those which are self-imposed, and the simple reason is that we do not know our true potentialities. We are born with supernatural powers and an infinite amount of untapped talent. We just need to believe in our potential and give a channel to the reservoir of energy and talent that we possess.
As we now move on to the next chapter in our journey of Going Back to Nature, the importance of beginning your personal journey into knowing your Self cannot be under-scored. In fact, as you will soon find out, there’s no greater journey, no greater joy, and no greater work than to un-leash your true and unlimited possibilities. The only obstacle that stands between you and the real you, is your Mind. It is the mind that holds you back from discovering who you are.
One of my previous books, “The Conscious, Unconscious and Super-Conscious Mind”, explains in detail how the mind functions, and the art of balancing its three segments to get acquainted with your true identity. You should consider this as a course book on life, as it can greatly help you in the journey of knowing your Self.
