Story of The Two Wolves
I want to tell this story because it has an amazing lesson in it.
I think it really helps to explain how much the process of personal transformation, moving from a life of struggle to living life in peace and joy, depends on our level of awareness and the choices that it frees us to make.
The story of the two wolves has its roots in ancient tribal Indian culture and I will be giving a loose translation of it here.
An Indian elder was talking to his grandson one day by the campfire. He was teaching him about life.
The elder started by saying, ‘A fight is going on inside of me…’
His grandson looked at him rather puzzled as the old man continued…
‘It is a terrible fight … and it is between two wolves.’
‘One is full of anger, arrogance, envy, greed and regret. He’s full of so much pain, self-pity and sorrow!’
The little boy didn’t say anything, but he was thinking, ‘ooh that doesn’t sound nice, ooh nasty, nasty!’
The old Indian elder continued: ‘He is also full of pride, is often resentful and blames everyone for everything. “Oh I am better than anyone”, says the wolf. He is very fearful. You can’t trust this wolf so you’d better watch out for him and be on guard.’ The wide-eyed young boy was horrified.
The old wise man continued…’but the other wolf … is full of good. He is filled with joy and peace, overflowing with love and affection with a big, big heart full of kindness and humility. This wolf is such a beautiful wolf. He has the light of truth in his eyes.’ He confided in the boy, ‘You can trust this wolf. He is very nice and cuddly, and he will be very gentle with you.’
The boy exclaimed, ‘Two wolves! One nasty, evil and horrible and the other very nice, affectionate and loving… INSIDE of you?!’ The old man replied, ‘Yes and the same fight is going on inside of you and inside of every other person too! We have a nasty wolf and a kind wolf inside.’
The grandson thought about that for a minute and pondered out loud, ‘Hmmm, I wonder which wolf will win?’ Do you know what the grandfather said … and maybe you have heard this story before? He said, ‘The one that you feed!’
The One That You Feed
This in a nutshell, is what my work is about, teaching good spiritual nutrition. So that you can feed the good wolf inside of you.
The nasty Wolf is the wolf of ego, always looking at what’s wrong with the world and being ungrateful for anything that comes his way. He is always fearful, judgemental and full of doubts. He has expectations that things should happen this way or that. He demands payment for every ounce of effort he puts into life and wants to be in control. This kind of wolf is angry, feeling like the world owes him something.
He will say things like, ‘I wasn’t given any choice when I came into this world and now I’m here, life should give me everything I want. It owes me – life owes me something.’ If this wolf doesn’t get what it wants he gets into a temper.
He says things like: ‘Ooh it’s not fair. Life is so terrible. It’s not right. Why does it happen to me like this? Why can’t I have what I want? Why can’t it work out for me? It’s your fault! I’m going to bash myself into pieces and it will be your fault! I am going to go off in a rage. I’m going to kill myself, even, and you don’t care!’ The name of this wolf is EGO.
EGO is full of pride and arrogance, judging and blaming everyone else for its misfortune.
‘It’s because of you that I am not living the life that I want to live. You are supposed to give me the life, the money, the opportunities I want. You are supposed to give me love, joy, happiness and peace. Am I supposed to do that all by myself? No! You are supposed to give it to me. Come on!’
This wolf is focused on getting its needs met from the outside. He says, ‘ Go out there, look for it, get it and bring it back to me!’ otherwise he is frustrated, ungrateful and agitated. ‘GRRRRRRRRRRRR!’
Are you aware of how you might be feeding it?
Maybe you expect someone to be a certain way or you expect some kind of payback for what you have done, or in response to what you said. The payoff we are usually looking for might be acceptance, love, affection, but in truth we already are all of these. Maybe we love someone for what that person provides instead of what we can give. Ego is based on expectation which always brings disappointment. Have you been disappointed? I will say it for you YES! We all have!
The only way to let go of that kind of pain is to stop expecting these things from people. We need to connect with the love that we are and then allow it to flow out and touch others, from the inside out. It will come back from others naturally without having to claim it or ask for it or try to squeeze it out of somebody.
How do we feed the good wolf?
We feed it with appreciation and being grateful for its presence. All we need to do is connect with love, caress love, feel the softness of love, have a relationship with love, feel the affection that is here. We feed it by being open to love and being willing to receive it, having fun with love. Take delight in nature, whether in your imagination or in actual reality.
See the vast ocean, its magnificence, the expansive blue skies the foliage, the leaves and trees and the abundance. How beautiful they are … when the rain falls on the leaves making them clean and fresh. Enjoy the pure fragrance of roses in bloom. Breathe in the beauty of a waterfall, a bubbling stream, birds singing, flowers and butterflies … It is all here – it is already here. You just need to appreciate it, turn your attention to it. We need to notice that the white wolf is here, the good wolf is here.
Its nature is generosity, nurturing, wisdom, trustworthiness, peace, joy and much more. Remembrance feeds the good wolf. Remembering, ‘Ah yes peace is here, ah yes love is here, ah yes beauty, expansion and spaciousness are here.’ This connects you to love, nurturing and nourishment. It connects you to refreshment and relaxation and allows you to de-stress and re-energize. Insights and clarity start to flow through and inform your actions.
This wolf is a dear, wise, loving, peaceful and gentle friend.
The other wolf runs on fear, lack, distrust and constant agitation
Which one are you choosing to feed?
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