Caterpillar Story

He was moving slowly from one end of the leaf to the other, consuming the green goodness while he moved. Life seemed so good. He was happy at the food at his disposal, the tree had an unlimited supply of leaves. The sun filtering through the leaves was warming his back and the breeze was cradling him on the leaf to a gentle slumber. Life indeed is good he felt.

Few days of good life, and he grew significantly in size, and started feeling somewhat uneasy on the move and something was happening to his body. The leaves didn’t taste as good the crawl from one end to another appeared monotonous. He wanted to run faster, but he had to limit himself to slow crawl. Many leaves that he had enjoyed around him were looking ugly due to the large holes where he had eaten them.

While he was trying to walk faster, during those days he started developing this webby layer around him. As if a giant spider is trying to consume him in its woven prison. The layer consumed him very fast, and he was imprisoned. He wanted to break free, but he could not. He felt lost, suffocated, missing the glimpse of Sun light and the green of the leaves. He couldn’t even feel the breeze on his back anymore because he was encased in the thick shell that was all around him. I need to break free. He cried. I need some help; please someone; free me from this menacing prison. He screamed and he was sure that he was heard, but there was no help anywhere. He was trying to push himself out of the shell that has encased him.

Every waking hour he will push the shell and no avail, he will get tired and sleep and then wake up only to push again. He could feel his tiny feet getting stretched due to continuous pushing. His back was hurting and feeling funny with all the scratching and pushing against the walls. He was feeling certain that it is cruel joke that fate has played on him, and he is going to die of suffocation in this shell that surrounds him. He couldn’t count how long ago this confinement and torture had started for him. He did miss the days of freedom crawling over lush green leaves and nibbling on them to feed himself. He did miss the light and the air.

Then one day when he had given up all hope, the prison walls moved. His push and his prayers had cracked a small side of the wall. He started hitting hard with his stretched legs while pushing with his, now so soft back. The shell walls finally seemed to be giving way to his effort. He kept on pushing with all his might. Please help me he screamed to quicken the process. He knew there were a few outside that shell who could help him in his misery, but no one came to his rescue. He painfully learnt that he was all by himself to push through. He cried and he got angry but didn’t stop pushing, and then the shell cracked open fully, he wanted to crawl out. But he learnt that he was not a caterpillar anymore to crawl. He was a butterfly with agile legs and beautiful wings. He could fly now. Fly to any tree and any flower he wished. The sun felt warmer and the breeze more pleasant than ever.

The torture of the caterpillar in confinement was only to make him a beautiful butterfly, to totally transform him to his higher self.

No caterpillar in confinement and being suffocated should remember this story and know that the confinement is just for the sake of transformation. Because if someone remembers and stop pushing and trying to be free of that confinement then the transformation into butterfly will never happen.

Such is the nature. Such is the will of God.

And this is not just the story of a caterpillar.