Ego gives a Bear Hug

There was a river which swelled during monsoon and started swallowing all low lying villages. In one such village there was a man who took asylum on the tree top! In the swollen river below he saw a bulk of black and brown floating.He thought he could jump on it float and be saved. He jumped and hug the log and to his horror found that it was a bear being washed away. The bear willingly hugged him in return gratefully and took him to his watery grave.

ego could be the bear your vasanas mislead you to think of it as log and you hug it. In turn the ego gives you a bear hug and there you go to the next birth. If the man the jiva on the tree of knowledge had used his viveka-the discrimination and been on self-inquiry all would have been well.

Krishnamachari Santhanam