Sa shochati tu kim pashchāt pakshi- ghātaka bhupavat.
36. The Palace : An Inn
Once, a saintly person came to Abou ben Adham, the king of Balkha
Abou asked, “What do you want?”
The stranger said placidly, “I want nothing. I wish to stop in this inn only for a night.”
Abou showed surprise, “It is not an inn. It is my palace.”
The stranger asked, “Who owned and lived in it before you?”
Abou’s answer was simple, “My father owned it and lived here.”
The stranger asked, “Who owned and lived in it before him?”
Abou’s answer was again simple, “My grandfather owned it and lived here.”
The stranger asked, “Who owned and lived in it before him?”
Abou’s answer was simple, “My great grandfather owned it and lived here.”
The stranger asked, “Who owned and lived in it before him?”
Abou’s answer was similar, “His father lived here who got it constructed.”
The stranger had another question, “Where have all these owners who lived here departed?
Abou was not very confident with his correct answer, “They are all dead.”
The stranger asked sweetly, “Then, is it not an inn in which, people stay and after some time depart?”
This conversation changed Abou ben Adham. He had no interest left in worldly possessions. He accepted the world as transitory. Now, for him, it was more important to find the soul and God.
Soul Searching
The greedy people get nothing. A humble man gets many times more, and more valuable things in the form of insight, tranquility, solace, peace, health and happiness.
37. Extreme Patience and Tolerance
One day dacoits abducted the son of a rich businessman and sold him to a cruel trader. The trader forced the boy to work hard and gave him little to eat. He would also often beat the boy. One day another businessman came there and recognised the boy.
He sympathised with the boy and said, “Here you must be in a lot of pain and suffering.”
“Why to worry about that state which is not to last long in this ever-changing world?” the boy answered placidly.
Many years passed. The trader grew old and died leaving behind a wife and a minor son. The boy was now young and free as the trader freed him while dying. Since the boy was earning he looked after the wife and son of the trader.
The same businessman happened to visit them again. He met the young man and asked, “How are you now?”
“Why to worry about that state which is not to last long in this ever-changing world?” the young man said very calmly.
Many years passed, the young man made enough progress to be declared the Chief of the place. The son of the trader was with him, however, his mother passed away.
The same businessman met him after a few years and congratulated him for his wealth and position. The young man expressed the same opinion, yet again, “Why to worry about that state which is not to last long in this ever-changing world?” he answered placidly.
Time passed, he now became the king of that country. The same businessman, who was now old, learnt it and somehow managed to meet him. He congratulated and offered gifts and expressed his satisfaction and pleasure, “It is really a pleasure to see a man coming to the top from the bottom.”
The king thanked him and repeated his statement: “Why to worry about that state which is not to last long in this ever-changing world. Why to be aggrieved or elated?”
Soul Searching
It is the faith in the God and the self and the knowledge of the world that gives immense capacity to make steady progress as the positive qualities are enhanced rather multiply. By following a simple path one becomes extraordinary; a being of profound cosmic subtlety.
39. Final Lesson
A prince had just completed his education. On the day of convocation, the king and the courtiers also came. When the convocation address was over, the prince came to his Guru for final obeisance. He touched the feet of his Guru. The Guru said, “Bring me a stick.”
The prince brought a stick. The Guru took it and without any provocation hit the prince hard twice with the stick and then gave the blessings: Jivet Basantah Shatam Prasannamanāh!
No one heard the blessing. All the persons present there were astonished at the sight of the beating. They were wondering why it happened when the prince had done nothing wrong. The humble prince stood silently before the Guru.
“Now, you can go with your father,” the Guru ordered.
But the king had a question, “O Learned Guru! May I ask why did you beat the prince and why did you select this very moment for his beating?”
The Guru said, “This was the last lesson. Your son is so humble that I did not get an opportunity to punish him. So, I chose this moment to punish him in the presence of all. It would not have been so effective had I given it earlier. O king! Your son is brave, wise and humble but he has to rule the people. He must know the pain of punishment, otherwise he may not be able to do justice. He must experience the pain.”
The king saluted the Guru, the courtiers followed suit. Then, they returned back along with the prince.
Soul Searching
To enjoy pleasant days is one thing and to experience pain and suffering is quite another. It opens the inner eyes and tests resistance and sustenance. It gives wisdom too.
41. Gratification through others’ Satisfaction
Once, a very learned philosopher fell ill. His condition kept on deteriorating. When many physicians failed then came a reputed physician.
He examined him and declared, “The patient should not be given a single drop of water till I re-examined him. He may die if water is given.”
The people looking after him became careful and ensured that no water was given to the patient. His thirst grew. He was apprised of the doctor’s instructions. When his thirst became unbearable, he thought over the problem and came up with a solution.
He called his wife and said, “Invite the Brāhmins and give them sorbet, melon water and coconut water to drink in my presence.”
It was obeyed and arranged. While they were drinking sorbet and fruit water, the philosopher was looking at them gregariously. He was losing the intensity of his thirst. Later on he felt no thirst.
He smiled and said, “I drank it with them.”
Soul Searching
A person should see and treat other creatures as a replica of his own self. Then he is wise and then there is no pain:
Ātmavat sarva bhuteshu yah pashyati sah panditāh.
42. Search for an Honest Man
A king needed an honest man. His employees were collecting taxes and filling their own pockets without depositing it in the treasury. He discussed the problem with his wise minister. The minister suggested, “Get it announced throughout the kingdom that you need an honest man; fix a date of interview and when the candidates come before you, ask them to dance.”
The king could not see the relation between dance and an honest man but he had ample faith in his minister. The announcement was made with due urgency.
The news spread like wild fire and many candidates came. They were asked to pass through a dark passage in order to reach the king. They gathered before the king who asked them to dance.
They were shy of dancing and stepped back. However, one person started dancing but he did not know how to dance. The king smiled at his dance which had no rhythm.
The minister said to the king, “He is the only honest man among them.”
“How is it?” The king wanted to know.
“In the dark passage, at many places, gold coins were stocked. The candidates filled their pockets with gold coins while passing through it. They could not dare to dance as the exposure of their theft was im
minent. This man is honest, he did not take any coin,” the minister explained.
Soul Searching
When one loses one’s integrity, he/she is unable to see the truth and think clearly. Then one fails to realise that the Māyā has spread its net to catch them. Since they are confused, they are caught in the net and suffer.
43. Association with the Wicked
A king was riding a horse and passing though an unknown village. Suddenly he heard a parrot crying:
“Come! Chase! Catch! Take the horse! Take his jewels!”
The king knew he was among the dacoits. He raced his horse. He was chased but his horse brought him to safety. Then again he heard the call of a parrot:
“Welcome! Welcome King! Come! Sit! O see! A guest! Bring a seat! Bring water!”
The king stopped. He wondered yet he smiled. He was pleased. He came down. It was not difficult to know that it was a hermitage of a great sage.
The sage came out to welcome the king. The king expressed his wonder much before the formalities, “O sage! I have just met another parrot. He cried loudly: ‘Come! Chase! Catch! Take the horse! Take his jewels!’ But your parrot is different. What is the reason.”
In place of the sage, the parrot spoke:
“Rājan! We are brothers, the off-spring of the same parents. He was taken away by the dacoits and I came to the sage. It is simply because of our association with different persons and milieu that we are different. He listens to the thieves and murderers and I to the learned and refined words of learned men and sages. That is why we speak differently!”
Soul Searching
The best way to show one’s gratitude towards one’s master is to follow him. His association is the greatest gift which can be given to others graciously provided that you are under the best master, the real preceptor and not under a cheat.
44. Time: A Leveller and Settler
Once, Buddha was walking from one town to another with a few of his followers. This was during the early days when he delivered many discourses everyday. While they were travelling, they passed a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told his disciple who seemed to be a little disturbed.
“I am thirsty. Do get me some water from the lake.”
The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached there, he noticed a bullock cart entering into it and crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, ‘How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!’
So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in the lake is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”
After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.
This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the lake to find the lake absolutely clean with pure water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked crystal clear. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.
Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You left it as it was, and the mud settled down on its own. So you got clear water. Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”
The disciple understood and became claim and peaceful.
Soul Searching
Mind creates modifications. These mental modifications keep a person restless. The tranquility is restored if one stops further creation of disturbing modifications.
45. The Safest Place
A man was staying with a saint with the idea that the place of a saint is the safest place and death will not dare to come near him. While living with the saint, he had also become pious. But one day, a Yama Duta, the messenger of death came there. He was surprised to see that man there. By the surprise look on his face, the man was convinced that he would die soon. He asked, “Why have you come here?”
“I have come to take away the saint.” The reply came instantly.
“But the saint has been doing wholesome deeds for quite a long time,” the man voiced his doubts.
“What of that! Each one has to die at the designated time and place,” the Yama Duta gave a straightforward reply.
“Why did you look surprised to see me?” At last, he put the question that worried him.
“It surprised me to see you here with the saint. I shall come to take you tomorrow,” he said and went inside.
The man ran away from there fast and travelled with whatever means he could get. He wanted to go as far away as possible. He thought that the messenger of death will look for him at the place of the saint.
He came to a lonely place and hid himself in the basement of a new tower under construction and disguised as a worker. Only after a few hours, the Yama Duta came.
He asked, “How did you know that I am here.”
“I had the orders to pick you up from here that is why I was surprised to see you there with the saint as I had no idea how you will reach here in less than a day,” he explained further.
Soul Searching
Where one feels fully secure, can be the least secure place. It can well be his/ her place of death designed by destiny and earned by prārabdha karma. There is no safe place where one won’t die. Only good deeds, throughout the life, ensure the death to be the last. For a man with good deeds, there will be no further birth or death.
46. Different and Unique
A saint came to a village. He was very old and soft-spoken. People liked him and came to him to listen to his teachings.
The third day, there came a vibrant youthful farmer – laborious and competent. When the discourse was over, he asked the saint, “I want to check the flow of our Dhanauti River so that the farmers can irrigate their crops throughout the year. How can I do it?”
“You are a single person. Have you ever compared with combined human effort? What has been the result?” the saint asked.
The farmer kept on looking at the saint. The saint continued, “From time immemorial, man has been trying to wipe out the rats and mosquitoes – a small animal and a small insect. With the combined effort of all the men worldwide and unknown but huge money spent and millions of tones of insecticides spread, man has not been able to stop the tiny creatures from breeding. They still exist and create menace. Are they only menacing? Are they not needed?”
The farmer neither understood nor said a word. He kept on looking at the saint. The saint added, “We are all essential to the greater cosmic system. We are born with the innate feeling that we are a shade better than our intolerant neighbour, incompetent colleague or nibbling rats pricking mosquitoes.
This uncanny awareness adds up to the ego that we already possess. Hence, we try to change the course the Cosmos has prescribed. We must discover the role that we have been assigned and the role that we can play the best for making life better and more refined. We must realise that every individual, without an exception, is endowed with individual characteristics and hence is different and unique. The river is more useful when it flows throughout the year. To try to check the flow of energy is selfishness and blunder.”
Soul Searching
Changing the ways of Nature and natural elements and objects may not yield the expected result.
47. Imaginary Wealth and Fear
Gopal Bhatt lived next door to a poor couple who had the habit of day-dreaming.
One day the husband said to his wife, “If I had some money I would buy a few cows.”
“Then we would have a lot of milk,” said his wife. “I could make plenty of butter and ghee and we could sen
d some milk to my sister too.”
“Send milk to your sister!” exclaimed her husband. “How dare you suggest such a thing!”
“But we would have milk to spare,” said his wife.
“We’ll sell it!” said her husband. “I don’t want anymore talk on the subject and to make sure you don’t carry milk to her when I’m away, I’m going to break every pot in the house!” And picking up the four or five pots they had, smashed them on the floor.
Gopal Bhatt, who was passing by at that time, asked him as to why he was breaking the pots? When he learnt the reason, he picked up a stick and started beating the air with it.
“What are you doing?” asked his neighbour, puzzled.
“Driving away your cows!” said Gopal. “They’ve eaten the cucumbers in my garden.”
“Eaten you cucumbers!” exclaimed the other man, indignantly. “But you don’t even have a garden!”
“I’m going to have one soon,” said Gopal, “and I’m going to grow cucumbers in it.” And he began hitting out with the stick again.
The neighbours finally realised that Bhatt was trying to show them, how foolish it was to live in a world of make-believe! They felt ashamed of themselves.
Soul Searching
The world is a roller coaster ride. It is in a constant churn. It is a mix of the pairs of opposite, and definitely unpredictable. Yet the structures are constructed with the mix. One can compare it with the churning of the upper (outer) layer of curd (self). If churned well, one can get both – butter and healthy buttermilk.
48. Rice vs Gold
A beggar saw a king coming. He was extremely excited that the king would pass through his hut. He could not control his excitement. Every moment the king was coming closer, he was losing his composure, not because he was about to see the king at his place but because the king was known to part with expensive jewels and huge sums of money when moved by compassion.
When the king’s chariot was exactly at the beggar’s hut, a kindly man started filling his begging bowl with uncooked rice. Pushing the man aside, he ran on to the road carrying his bowl and shouting praises of the king and the royal family.
50 Soul Stirring Stories Page 4