Discover the ancient, absurd bedtime story that challenges everything you believe about reality.
Long ago, a nurse sat beside a young child to lull him to sleep. She promised him a grand tale of three brilliant princes who ruled a magnificent kingdom. The child listened with wide-eyed wonder, completely unaware of the trap being laid for his mind.
Of these three brilliant princes, the nurse whispered, two of them were never actually born. The third prince was even more remarkable—he had never even been conceived. Yet, they lived, ruled, and conquered.
The princes resided in a glorious capital city. But this city did not exist on any map, nor did it have any walls, streets, or foundations. It was a city built entirely of pure void, yet to be constructed.
When the princes rode out to hunt, they leaped onto the backs of swift, powerful horses. These magnificent steeds, however, were yet to be born. Together, they galloped gracefully through empty air.
To sustain themselves, the princes grew magnificent crops. They cultivated these rich harvests not on fertile soil, but on a barren, empty patch of the open sky. It was a feast harvested from nothing.
Thirsty from their travels, they came across three rivers. Two were completely dry, and the third had absolutely no water. Yet, the princes bathed deeply and quenched their thirst in these dry beds.
They dined in an unbuilt palace using three golden plates. Two were completely broken, and the third was pulverized into dust. On these plates, they cooked a negative amount of rice.
They invited three holy men to feast. Two of these guests had no bodies, and the third had no mouth. The mouthless guests ate heartily, leaving absolutely nothing behind for the princes.
Hearing this impossible tale, the young child clapped his hands in pure joy, fully believing every word. To him, the unborn princes and their sky-crops were as real as his own bedroom.
This absurd story is found in the Yoga Vasistha, an ancient philosophical text. Sage Vasistha told it to Prince Rama to make a radical point: our daily lives and struggles are exactly like this bedtime story.
We look at the world around us and believe it is solid, permanent, and absolute. But Eastern philosophy suggests the universe is a projection of the mind, a complex mental trick we mistake for truth.
Like a Zen koan, this story is designed to short-circuit our analytical minds. By realizing the absurdity of the tale, we begin to question the absolute reality of our own anxieties, greed, and fears.
When stress or worry overwhelms you, remember the unbuilt city. Recognize that many of our daily struggles are built on mental projections—unborn horses we try so desperately to ride.
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