Parable about the wolf and the hunter

Rigden: …It happens that, while under the influence of the Animal nature and not bothering much with working on himself, a person only boasts about his spiritual development “accomplishments” in front of others. He thinks mistakenly (out of arrogance) that he “is watching out” for his Animal “fully armed”. But in reality, this situation resembles the fable about the wolf and the hunter:

“Once upon a time, a wolf decided to go on a sortie alone so that he could later boast to his pack that, on his own, he went hunting for the human himself. At the same time, a man decided to go hunting alone so that he could later boast to huntsmen that he went hunting a wolf all by himself. So both of them went, the wolf and the man, and both of them were afraid, shivering from fear in the night. Both of them got settled on the edge of a forest, having leaned against a “warm tree”. So they sat until dawn, pressed to each other back to back out of fear, soothing themselves only with the thought of how they would boast to their fellows that they went hunting all alone. They were warm and cosy and they both were infinitely glad they had remained safe and sound. The wolf was happy that the hunter did not get him, and the hunter was happy that the wolf did not get him.” 

Anastasia: Well said. Many people do not bother about real work on themselves. They only soothe themselves with flattering thoughts. Later they are surprised why they haven’t got any significant results in their spiritual development though they “went hunting” their Animal many times. It is surprising how many subtle substitutions there are. The impression is that it is not only you who is learning more but the Animal doesn’t sleep either, that it is constantly improving itself on where else it can catch you.

From the book “AllatRa” by A. Novykh