The Devil and Fried Eggs - (2424)

Anecdote on the State of Alertness

This comes from my marvelous missionary and it is so good at describing in a comical way what the psychological sense of alertness is. Here it goes:

Two Questions

"So there was a man working day and night on an oil rig in a very hot and remote place. After a while he really wanted to be out of that place and doing something different. Somehow he heard that if he were to make a deal with the Devil, the Devil could help get him out of there.

So one day he cries out with all his might offering his soul to the Devil as long as the Devil gets him out of his miserable job and out of that hot and unforgiving place.

Then lo and behold the Devil appears in all in His power and says to the man: "I will help you as long as you answer two questions immediately without a second of hesitation.". "Do you like eggs?" "YES!" replied the man emphatically in less than a second.

The Devil then disappeared. A few days passed and the man continued working, a week passed and the man continued working and waiting, a month, a year, two years, three, five, ten years. Then after a little over ten years, while the man was working and sweating like a poor devil, a voice from behind him asked: "How?" and in less than a second the man yelled out: "FRIED!".

The man then got what he was asking for.

Some Comments

That is the state of alertness to be constantly waiting, with alert perception, to catch something a little special, a little different and new, lurking behind the thoughts, that will give us a new clue about the ego.

As the anecdote suggests a degree of firm wanting, or definition in other words, is needed to maintain our state of alertness. The firm wanting is fueled by the yearning of wanting a change in ourselves. Just as the man in the anecdote was desperate to change his physical circumstances.

End (2424).