To arrive at a different awareness we may need to find for ourselves the insanity of our deep beliefs. Life will present the trigger, the instant that we may need to appreciate to find the “gem.” That “gem” could be a simple rock, nevertheless; it comes from the depth of our being, as the trophy for looking where “no man has gone before.”

Richard was walking down the beach. There was a fisherman there. As he walked by, Richard saw a container with small silver colored fish. Richard looked closer at the container and a small cute fish swam towards the surface of it. It seemed as if the fish wanted to get out but it couldn’t.

Richard wanted to “liberate” the fish, but he felt short to talk to the fisherman, maybe because of fear, maybe because of shame. Richard decided to stay close by and observe.
Richard was shame, fear, fairness, sadness, anxiety… but he wasn’t violence at that moment.

As Life has it, just a few minutes passed by and the fisherman decided to go someplace. The fisherman took the container with little fish and he walked by the Ocean with it… Richard thought “Yes! Release them.” But the fisherman swoosh around the content of the container and threw the fish towards the white sand away from the Ocean… some birds standing by did not hesitate to have a feast with the small fish!

Richard felt sad, guilty, he felt like a coward…

“Wait a minute… what is the big deal with fish? It is just fish. No big deal!”
That is what a fish represents for everyone else but Richard.

When Richard goes by the Ocean, fish will jump looking at him. Their jumping out of the Ocean and into the air, is a precious sight to watch. There is a language there between fish and Richard, an experience that no one else could be able to understand. Richard loves fish as a human could love their own pet. That is the story, which is not in the surface, which is not known to everyone… Fish are “special” for Richard.
For that “reason,” Richard felt at that time that he betrayed his “friends.”

Life will show us different stories.
For the fisherman; those fish meant something different. They meant food, and so for the birds.
The scene was meant to bring certain emotions in Richard.

Seeing fish jump out of the water and enjoying that unique moment, is to enjoy Life.
To use that moment to decorate Richard’s passive ego by giving to fish a certain significance such as “special,” “friends,” and any other label to bring closeness and partiality towards them to the point of feeling a need to protect them, that is another story.

Out of that need to “protect” something which does not call for protection, an “active” ego is born.
“Richard: Protector of fish, the innocent, the unprivileged ones, the handicapped, etc.” but… as much as Richard is known to be brave, he is a coward as well… for he didn’t save his friend, (as the Disney channel could show how a Dolphin will save his “friend” the dog, from the evil Shark when “cute dog” fell off the boat of his master… I mean human friend.)

The ideal was broken and Richard was able to see how his emotions were dependent on that “savior image” that he (the “I”) has placed upon himself.

The passive ego suffers. The passive ego will call himself derogatory names to feel “better.”

Didn’t the fisherman feel bad for throwing the fish to the birds?
No. He acted according to his nature. He gave food that he didn’t need to the birds. He may have thought of himself as “helping the birds” but the passive ego can believe anything about himself. “Fish” means something different for the fisherman than for Richard. This scene only brought emotions, which inflicted self-punishment in Richard.
That was a great opportunity to heal.

Fortunately, Richard was able to observe that “sad” story in himself at that moment … so he is no longer that “sadness.”

The passive and the active ego will play with our emotions when a scene of Life “attacks” a deep belief. To be open, means to be able to recognize other perceptions in Life: The fisherman and the bird’s. Perceptions are not wrong, neither right.

Life is truly a movie. We are not “part of it,” we are “it,” the movie itself…. One. When we lose that perspective we may get caught up with deep collective human beliefs. Suffering will arrive when our ego has invested itself to promote or defend a particular belief and that belief is being challenged in Life.

As Richard learns to see that the fish became part of the bird, he could understand that the perception of horror of a separated ego fighting to keep himself alive, is just another perception. Death is part of Life. We could embrace it or we could reject it. The ego rejects… Ego cannot see beyond its little “self.”

Consciousness cannot be destroyed. Therefore, the easiest thing to do in Life, is to let go… but we were taught to stick with the difficult, to fight for the static “I” to continue on despite changes.

The role of the victim and the hunter are continually played in Nature. In the human world, we have the same roles but with more “civilized” labels; the coward and the brave. Every being gets to play both roles.
We are taught to stick with one role and to reject the other.
That is insane.