A Small Bird Extinguishing Fire
Igor Blaževič concluded our recent podcast conversation with his beautiful story, taken from a Buddhist story he was reading his children one evening. This story serves as a powerful reminder of the impact that one individual can have in the face of a great challenge. The small bird's determination to do its duty, despite the discouragement of others, ultimately leads to a greater outcome as the gods are inspired to send rain to extinguish the fire. In the same way, the democracy movement in Myanmar is made up of individuals who are making a difference, one drop at a time!
By following their example and doing our own part, we can make a real impact and help bring about the change we hope to see in the world. So let us each be like the small bird, doing our duty with determination and perseverance, for together we can extinguish the fire and bring about a brighter future.
“That’s the way we can extinguish the fire.”
“When I was still living in Chiang Mai, I had my young kids with me. So, in the evening, I was reading to them these illustrated Buddhist stories. One of the stories stuck with me and in a certain way has been inspiring for me ever since. The story goes like this:
There is the fire that starts in a forest. It's a big fire. All the animals are escaping, trying to save their lives. And there is one small bird who basically is going to pick up some drops of the water from the lake and trying to extinguish the fire.
All the escaping animals are saying, ‘Hey stupid bird, what you are doing? Run away and save your life! And then the birds says ‘No. If you don't want to help me, don't take my time. I need to do my duty.’
So she, the bird, continues to bring these drops of water to the to the huge fire. The gods of a heaven somewhere were looking and they say, ‘Oh, look at the stupid bird.’ They send a messenger to tell the bird to escape. The messenger says, ‘Hey, stupid bird, go and save your life!’ And the bird responds, ‘If you don't want to help me, don't waste my time. I have my duty to do.’ And then the bird continues to bring the drops of water. So, the gods are standing above and looking and saying ‘Oh, what we should do?’ And then they say, ‘Okay, let's send the rain.’ And then they send the rain, and the rain is extinguishes the fire.
When you read that, then you ask yourself who really extinguished the fire. You can say it was the miracle of the gods who sent the rain. But you can take it from the other side and say no; it was really the small bird who extinguished the fire!
I see so many people now in Myanmar who are acting [just like] this small bird, who are taking the drops that they can pick up, bringing them to the big forest fire in their country, and doing what they can to extinguish that. And when I see them doing that, then I feel that I should do the same. I should every single day bring my drop. And that's the way to go. That's the way we can extinguish the fire.”