The Tale of Kurma, the Deep Sea Turtle

In the ocean depths, there lived a wise and ancient turtle named Kurma who was an advisor to all deep sea creatures. Kurma possessed deep knowledge of the ocean rhythms and the harmony of all marine creatures, but he always wanted to come to the surface and see the sun, feel the air. He sometimes dreamed about the sun, moon, and stars but was scared to come up.

One fateful day, while Kurma swam upwards with the gentle ocean currents, he felt a peculiar force guiding him—the music of the air that beckoned him forward. Despite what his dead grandfather repeated as a child, “Don’t go up, we are deep sea beings and the surface can be fatal to us,” he surrendered to the call. He followed the ever-changing tide, trusting in its wisdom.

But fate took an unexpected turn when the water current changed, flushing everything on the surface, and Kurma found himself stranded on the unfamiliar shores of Swamy Land. Upside down and unable to right himself, he was trapped, gazing at the world from an unfamiliar angle.

Days turned into months and months into years, as Kurma, having the depth of life, patiently endured his isolation. When years started turning into decades, Kurma began cursing his low oxygen and low food requirement body. What was a blessing in the depths of the ocean now turned out to be a curse; he couldn’t even die. Feeling the weight of his predicament, his sunken eyes would gaze up at the heavens and ask the Sky Father, just like the prophet Christ did, “Have you abandoned me? Have you forgotten this humble creature?”

As tears started to bleed from Kurma’s upside-down eyes on a crescent moon night, a firefly landed on him. The firefly, with its little voice, said, “Listen, dear Kurma, I come as a messenger of hope, although I can’t turn you right. The universe has a way of training us to where we need to be, even if the path is not clear. I have heard that even the most revered Buddhas had to endure the pain and hardship of multiple lives to evolve and become wise. Change what you can and leave everything else in the hands of Mother Nature. Bigger exams are given to old souls so that they become the most robust among creatures. You are being trained to share the stories of the land with the ocean depths.” The firefly flew away as if it had another message to deliver.

Kurma, helpless, accepted his fate. As soon as he did, his perspective started to change, teaching him this valuable lesson: acceptance changes the perspective. The sky, moon, and stars were everything he had always asked for. He developed the feeling that nature was not forsaking him but inviting him to delve deeper into the mysteries of existence. He remembered how he hated the weight of the skeleton above him that kept him from reaching the heights of wisdom mammals possessed, like those beings who lived on land and dreamed of going to the ocean depths. Kurma gained profound insights into the nature of existence. He witnessed how every event, no matter how small, played a part in the grand tapestry of life. He successfully communicated with the breeze of the air and the message it carried. He observed the sky through different seasons and fell in love with the hue of the sky during the rise and set of the sun, making way for the rise of the moon. He even got to observe the creation and death of stars with his shell flat on the swampy land.

Realizing that his journey to the surface was not a mistake but a necessary step in his evolution, Kurma felt gratitude to the heavens for the wisdom that had brought him to Swamy Land, thinking him bold enough to teach the lessons of unconditional surrender.

One midnight, as Kurma was contemplating the full moon’s journey across the sky, he felt a surge of energy as the tides shifted. He looked up and saw the stars brightly in the sky and felt the wind blowing through his hair. A bright star shot across the sky. Kurma knew that this was the moment he had been waiting for. With a mighty heave, Kurma righted himself and swam back into the ocean. He felt the waves carrying him home, and he knew that he would never be the same.

On the ocean bed, he taught the creatures the wisdom of the sun and moon, and the stories of the stars he carried in his heart. He fondly spoke about the colors nature puts into the clear sky, the smell the breeze of air brings, and encouraged young creatures to get up there and see the world.

Kurma’s story of endurance is a reminder that even in the most challenging of circumstances, there is always hope. It is a story about the power of acceptance and the importance of finding a flip-side perspective before one truly matures. Challenges can be frustrating for a while, but trusting in the universe’s wisdom is something one must train for. Similarly, the life of a seeker who has made a point to find spiritual enlightenment involves passing tests of courage as well as tests of surrender and patience before they truly metamorphose.