The Crescent Moon yearns for fullness.

On the third day of the new moon, as it appeared to the earth, the moon looked very sad. He started to pray to the sun, requesting him to appear. Just as he was appearing to loose hope, the radiant sun said, “Hello my dear, I have been thinking about you. Is everything okay? You’re form of the crescent looks beautiful. How come you look sad?“

The moon said, “You are so lucky. You are full and complete and round all the time. I am not.” Starting to sniff he continued, “Sometimes I am a crescent. Sometimes a bigger crescent, sometimes a half circle. I’m only once in a fortnight a full moon.” Deeply sad, with a quivering murmur, the moon said to the sun, “I wish I was complete an full all the time. I have experiences that whenever I’m happy, I wish nothing was different. Everything is perfect. Everything is in harmony. Why does this happiness come and go? I have tried everything, but nothing changes. I spoke to the neighboring moon. He too has the same problem. So I felt worse by talking to him. I tried to think positive – remember fond memories of shining brightly during a full moon day. These help sometimes, but then I’m back to square one. Is there a solution to my problem? How come you don’t have a problem. As the sun, you get covered so often by clouds. Maybe you also feel depressed like me? I don’t think you can help me, can you?”

The sun smiled kindly and said, “My dear, I hear you completely. You are as much as I am. I am as much as you are.”

The moon thought that the sun had gone crazy, but decided to not voice his thoughts. Maybe the sun was tired shining all the time. He said, “With due respect, this sounds like some spiritual stuff. Still, because you make me shine, maybe you know something I don’t. Can you tell me more?”

The sun said, “My dear, we need to inquire more about what we perceive about the changing nature of happiness or fullness.”

Feeling validated and seeing the sun’s compassion to help him out, the moon started to relax and intently listen.

The sun continued, “Most of us have been taught to believe that happiness is out there. Either in relating with something, achieving something, or acquiring something. If you think happiness is out there, does it enter us through these things? Achievement such as shinning brightly, or spiritual disciplines, or relating to the other satellites?”

The moon said, “No” with some hesitation.

Then the sun asked, “Where does happiness come from.”

The mood said, “I don’t know. It’s a feeling, it must come from somewhere. Maybe it is a combination of my mind and the external situation. But why doesn’t my happiness last? I want to be full and happy in all situation and at all times.

The sun smiled and said, “What happens on a full moon day? You shine brilliantly. There is nothing that covers you. Your true nature is manifest. Did I bring out the happiness? You think I did, but actually, what you really are is invoked. All of you is able to shine because that is how you are. Did you struggle to attain your completeness? No.”

The moon said, “Yeah, I know that, but I don’t feel complete.”

The sun continued, “A certain situation that we think is conducive, where we do not experience any division between ourselves and the situation is generally understood as happiness. When we are happy, we don’t complain that we are happy. We don’t want to change it. It is the closest to our nature. Whether a new moon day, or a full moon day, you are full and complete all the time. Do you see that? Understand that some situation allow your happiness to manifest more than the others. It is not the power of the situations. Because we do not see our own reality, we project it on to other situations. The more we think that happiness is out there, the more we want to alter our situation. The more we alter our situations and try to manipulate all the factors, the more we see happiness as a ‘to-be-achieved’ project. It becomes a long endless trip with no result in sight. All of this is fine is happiness is really out there, but actually it is not – it is you. Every moment of happiness is a glimpse of your true nature. So no situation needs to be shunned. The nature of feeling is fleeting – it comes, it goes. A feeling does not have a body of its own, isn’t it? Because of so much emphasis on emotion, we think that how we feel is the way things are. The more we see this, and inquire with a guru’s help who has this vision, you will see what I see clearly. My guru, the golden one, taught me the and I am teaching this to you; none of the situations, not even me, can change the truth of who you are, your reality and completeness.”

The moon had a moment of insight, “I have been full all along but could not see it? I only focused on the times that some parts of me were shinning. I have yearned and prayed for fullness because I have focused on my waxing and waning forms. When I waxed, I thought I was more. When I waned, I thought I was less. My reflected light kept changing, but I was always full and complete.”

The sun beamed at the moon’s understanding and said, “You are as much as I am. You matter. Your life matters. What you do with your life matters.”

By Swamini Brahmaprajnananda from the The River of Wisdom

Sat Nam

Erik H.