STORY OF THE DAY

[Ramesh Ramnani]

His hand behind the canvas of this vast creation.......Part-II

The universe is not a chaos, but a cosmos; it is not happening by chance but by a well-determined law working all the time.

This law is referred to as dhamma or dharma. Lao Tzu calls it tao, the way; Nanak calls it hukum, divine order. When Nanak says hukum do not imagine that He is standing somewhere issuing orders. Hukum means the universe is an order, not a chaos. Things do not happen here haphazardly. An ordering hand is in everything, providing a purpose behind each event. All happenings are directed towards their ultimate development.

If you have no eyes for creation you are totally blind. There are many who cannot see the hand behind creation. When you see a small picture or statue and you ask who made this, you never for a moment think it may have been formed by chance. But such a vast painting hangs all around you, each leaf a work of His genius, and you cannot see Him behind all this? You must simply have made up your mind not to see Him; you have resolved to turn your back towards Him as if you feel there is some danger and you are afraid.

Certainly the fear is there. No sooner do you recognize His hand behind the canvas of this vast creation than you are a changed person; you cannot remain the same. Whoever hears even the faintest murmur of the divine music in creation has to alter his life, because once you begin to see His hand behind everything, you cannot continue to do what you have been doing; it all appears wrong.
As long as you pretend He doesn't exist you can sin, misbehave, mistreat others, and give yourself full freedom to indulge in any evil; as soon as His hand appears to you that freedom is lost. Then you have to think twice before you act and pay more attention to remembrance, to remembering God, because now you know that He sees, that He is present. He is in and around everyone, everything.

Whatever you do to anyone, you do to Him. If you pick someone's pocket, it is His pocket you pick; if you steal, you steal from Him; if you kill, it is Him you kill.

Most human beings turn a blind eye towards Him. Once aware of His presence, you can no longer remain as you are; you will have to change at your very roots. This change is so sweeping that many prefer to avoid all the trouble, so they deny God and remain as they are.

A hundred years ago Nietzsche declared: "God is dead. Now man is totally free." It is exactly for this freedom that you deny God, because then you are at liberty to do as you please. There is no one to decide for you. You are unrestrained, independent. He who is self-willed and independent persists in denying God no matter how much you try to convince him. It remains easy to deny Him because the gross handiwork can be seen, but the subtle hand remains invisible.
 
So people say:"Creation happens by itself; everything happens on its own."

But this is the definition of God: He who happens on His own, who is swayambhu, the self-created.

contd....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

His hand behind the canvas of this vast creation.......Part-III


The second type of man sees God's handiwork and also accepts the hand behind it, but his acceptance is only mental. He is intimidated and frightened, so you will find him in temples and mosques, in churches and gurudwaras. He goes there because he is frightened, having suffered the lashes of the whip of life. Out of fear he comes to pray, to beg protection and to seek solace in wealth, position, name. He has come to beg. Fear is always a beggar, always asking for something or other. He has an inkling of the hand behind creation and a slight feeling for the presence of God, but only because of his fear. He is totally oblivious to God's munificence, or else he would not beg.

The third type is what Nanak talks about, the devotee. He sees His handiwork all around; he also sees His bounty and His grace in everything. To see His grace is subtle, like seeing the shadow of the whip. The devotee can see at every moment that He showers us with His gifts. What is left to be desired? You can only thank Him, therefore the devotee goes to the temple in thanksgiving, not as a supplicant. He has nothing to ask for.

Were God to appear before him and say, "Ask whatever you wish," he will instead reply, "You have given everything. It is already more than enough, more than I deserve.

To ask for anything would imply a complaint that You haven't given enough, but I have been filled to the brim. What more is there when you have been given life?

But you attach no value to life. It is said that a great miser's life was coming to an end. As is usually the case his whole life had been spent gathering wealth which he was hoping to enjoy someday in the future. When death knocked at his door he was frightened that all his endeavors had been in vain. In working untiringly to gather enough wealth he had postponed living.

He told death, "I shall give you ten million rupees; give me just twenty-four hours, because I have not yet enjoyed life."

Death replied, "There can be no bargaining."

The man persisted, "I would give fifty million, a hundred million, just for one day." Ultimately he offered all his wealth for twenty-four hours more.

A whole lifetime lost amassing this fortune, and now he was begging to give it away for just one day more. He had never breathed freely; he had never sat beside the flowers; he had never seen the sun rising at the break of day, nor had he ever talked with the twinkling stars. He had never lain on the green grass and seen the clouds pass by nor heard the birds sing. He had had no time to see life as it passed by. All along he had deferred that moment. "Now I shall work, later I shall enjoy." That moment never came.

Contd.....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

His hand behind the canvas of this vast creation.......Part-IV
 
Death said to him, "This is no transaction. Your time is up. Get ready to leave."

The man said, "Give me a few moments. I ask not for myself but for those who come after. Let them know how I toiled all these years and let life pass me by in the hope of enjoying it someday. Let me tell them that day never came." He wanted this inscription put on his grave.

All graves bear this inscription. If you have the eyes, go and read them. And the same will be inscribed on your grave too, if you do not sit up and take notice. If only you could see -- you would find that what life has given you is limitless and beyond comparison.
 
How do you value life? For a moment more of life you are willing to give up everything, but during the years you have lived you were not at all thankful to God. If you were dying of thirst in a desert, you would be ready to part with all you possess just for a mouthful of water, but have you ever looked with gratitude at the rivers that flow, the clouds that bring rain? If the sun were to become cold we would die this very moment, yet did you ever get up in the morning and thank the sun?
 
Actually man follows a strange logic: what is near him he cannot see, what is not there at all he sees. When a tooth falls out, the tongue goes time and again to the empty space in your mouth. When the tooth was there the tongue never once stopped in that spot.
Now no matter how much you try to stop your tongue, it keeps exploring the empty place.
 
Man's mind always searches out empty places. He is blind towards all the filled places, but has eyes for all that is empty. Have you ever taken account of all you possess? Unless you do, you will never become aware of God's gifts; they are infinite.
 
God's bounty is infinite but try to be aware of what He has given you. All around His grace pours. Just as each handiwork bears His signature, so behind each handiwork His grace lies hidden. All existence blooms only for you, all existence is His gift -- to you. When a person becomes capable of seeing this, a new kind of devotion is born.

There is the atheist, stiff with pride; there is the believer, trembling with fear. Both are irreligious. The really religious person dances and sings in utter gratefulness; he is filled with ecstasy.

THERE IS NO END TO HIS WORKS AND HIS BOUNTY,
AND ENDLESS WHAT HE SEES AND HEARS.
THERE IS NO KNOWING THE SECRETS OF HIS MIND;
THERE IS NO BEGINNING OR END TO IT.
SO MANY STRUGGLE TO KNOW HIS DEPTH,
BUT NONE HAS EVER ACHIEVED IT.
NO ONE HAS EVER KNOWN HIS LIMITS;
THE FURTHER YOU LOOK, THE FURTHER BEYOND HE LIES.
THE LORD IS GREAT. HIS PLACE IS HIGH,
AND HIGHER EVEN IS HIS NAME.
 
What does it mean for His name to be high? For travelers on the path, it is only through His name that we reach Him.

His name is the bridge; if it got lost the bridge is gone. For us the path is more significant than the destination for the simple reason that the goal cannot be reached without the path.

Therefore, Nanak says, he who knows the name has found the key. The key is more important than the treasure-house. To look at, it is only a piece of iron; but this piece of iron will open the doors to infinite treasures.

Contd......

[Ramesh Ramnani]

HIS hand behind the canvas of this vast creation.......Part-V

His name, which Nanak refers to as Omkar, is the key. This key opens His gate. When this 'remembrance' begins to crystallize in you, you will also have cast the mould of this key inside. The key is not such as can be given to you; you have to cast it yourself; you have to become the key. Gradually you will find yourself turning into a key through the resonance of Omkar. Then you yourself will open His gates.

Man can find himself either in the state of thoughts or in the state of no-thought. In the first state, storms of thoughts are raging inside you; the mental skies are filled with clouds of argument, debate and discussion. It is as if there is always a crowd gathered in your head, as in the marketplace; it is a schizophrenic state.
The other state is of no-thoughts; the bazaar has cleared, the shops have closed; the market is deserted, there is silence and stillness all around. All thoughts have gone. As long as you are united with the thoughts, you are one with the world; as soon as your mind is freed of all thoughts, in this no-mind state, you are one with God.

No sooner are you empty than the door opens.

The key that takes you from thoughts to no-thought is called the name, the resonance of omkar. The first stage is the japa, the repetition of Omkar. Get up in the morning or in the stillness of the night, sit in your room and repeat Om, Om, Om as loudly and quickly as you can, so that it resonates all around you. The Omkar has a very lovely melody. It is not music created by man, it is the rhythmic melody that resounds in existence. As you progress, taking the name louder and louder, its impression will begin to form on you. This is the state of japa, repetition.

Then , slowly slowly, close your lips and begin sounding Om within, as you did without. This time the resonance will be only in the mind. This is the intervening state between japa and a-japa.
Let the resonance increase deeper and deeper within. You must repeat the Omkar as well as hear it; articulate the name and be aware and listen to it also. Gradually you must decrease articulation of the name and concentrate on the resonance within. Then a moment comes when you will stop pronouncing the japa but the resonance continues. Then you only listen. This is the a-japa-jap, the unrepeated repetition.
 
When the resonance arises on its own, the Omkar has manifested. This is the sound of the stream of life that flows within you. The day you are capable of hearing it, you will discover you can hear it all day long.

Contd.....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

HIS hand behind the canvas of this vast creation.......Part-VI


It is already there so you don't have to bring it about. You merely close your eyes and you will hear.

When anxiety, tension, restlessness or anger take hold of you, just shut your eyes for a moment and hear the resonance within. A moment's touch of Omkar and anger flees. A slight contact with the music within, a faint remembrance of the name, and the mind that made you so restless is no more.
 
Light a torch in a dark house; at the appearance of light darkness flees. Thus, a slight spark of Omkar and all darkness fades.

So it is that Nanak lays so much stress on Omkar -- Ek Omkar satnam. All of his practice aims at attaining the resonance of the authentic Omkar. He refers to it as sabad, the word, or nam, the name.

THE LORD IS GREAT. HIS PLACE IS HIGH,
AND HIGHER EVEN IS HIS NAME.
NANAK SAYS: ONE ONLY KNOWS HIS GREATNESS
WHEN RAISED TO HIS HEIGHTS,
BY FALLING UNDER THE GLANCE
OF HIS ALL-COMPASSIONATE GRACE.

Nanak is saying: Greater than You is Your name. You are endless. For us the name is our only clue, through the name alone are we joined to You. Whether You are or You are not, we do not know. It is the name alone that brings tidings of You. Through the power of the name shall we be drawn gradually towards You. When the resonance sounds by itself you are drawn towards God.

Scientists speak of the force of gravitation.
 
We remain on the ground because of gravitation. If the earth were to lose this power of gravitation we would be flung up into the skies.

Simone Weil, a leading thinker in our century, has written a book called Grace and Gravitation. She says, "Just as we cannot see the force of gravitation that pulls us to the earth, there is another force at work, which is called grace."

Contd....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

HIS hand behind the canvas of this vast creation.......Part-VII

Some time back it appeared in the newspapers that scientists are worried because the force of gravitation is becoming less. Though it has decreased only minimally, if this continues the earth will disintegrate, because it is gravitation alone that holds things together. It is this invisible magnetic force of the earth that keeps the trees rooted in the soil, allows man to walk and birds to fly.

Simone Weil has asserted that the force of grace also exists, and it too is invisible. She is talking precisely about that which Nanak calls His gift -- that is, His compassion or His grace. As gravitation binds us downwards to the earth, grace pulls us upwards -- to Him. As the resonance of Omkar intensifies inside you, the pull of gravitation diminishes, and the pull of grace increases proportionately. Then a moment comes when you become absolutely weightless. Yogis often experience this.

Some people intensely practicing meditation here have experienced this sudden feeling of weightlessness.

No one can perceive this phenomenon from the outside. If the meditator were to open his eyes, he would find himself seated on the ground just as before; but as soon as he closes his eyes and feels the resonance inside, he experiences a sense of weightlessness. The physical body remains on the ground but the inner body separates from the earth and rises. If you continue in meditation one day you experience two bodies, not one; the body that has risen can see the body sitting on the ground, a thin thread of light connecting them.

Therefore remember, if someone practicing Omkar is deeply lost in meditation, do not shake him or bring him back too suddenly. This can be dangerous, and cause an imbalance between his physical and subtle bodies, which can be irreparable because the balance is very delicate.

In a deep stage of meditation a person steps out of his body, then comes back. When you become perfectly fluent with this art of stepping in and out of your body, you will know how to enter into and emerge from God. Then you see no difference between the material world and God Himself. You stay in your body but your remembrance becomes uninterrupted; the thread of your thoughts is connected with Him.

THE LORD IS GREAT. HIS PLACE IS HIGH.
AND HIGHER EVEN IS HIS NAME.
NANAK SAYS: ONE ONLY KNOWS HIS GREATNESS
WHEN RAISED TO HIS HEIGHTS,
BY FALLING UNDER THE GLANCE
OF HIS ALL-COMPASSIONATE GRACE.

The end.

[vaishali]

Thank you Rameshbhai for very nice stories and messages from these stories.

We all are blessed to have you here among us.

May baba always bless you.

omsai srisai jayjay sai

Vaishali

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Still further............If you halt before that, you will wander.

There is a very old Sufi story: A man went to a Sufi fakir asking the secret of attaining God. The fakir proceeded to recount the following tale:

A woodcutter went every day to the forest to cut wood. Each day he would gather wood, carry it to town and sell it. Whatever he got would be barely enough to give him a meal. Sometimes he managed to buy a little food; at other times he went to sleep hungry.
 
A fakir who used to stay in the same jungle watched him every day. He was filled with pity for this miserable man who barely managed to keep alive.

One day he told him, "Every day for the last so many years I have been watching you. You are such a foolish fellow. Why don't you go still further into the jungle?" The wood-cutter asked, "How will that help?" The fakir replied, "Whoever went deeper within became wealthy. Go in, and you will find mines of copper."

The man went a little further and he found the copper mine. He began to sell copper. Once again he met the fakir who said, "Foolish fellow, go still further. There are mines of silver there." The man went and found the silver mines. He now began to sell silver and became very rich.

One day he met the fakir again who said to him, "Had you any sense you would have taken the hint by now. You have failed to understand. Go still further, you fool, for there are gold mines there!" The man penetrated deeper into the forest and found the gold, but he got totally involved in the gold.

He must have been a man like us, this woodcutter. Wherever we go we get involved. We don't think of getting up from where we sit. The fakir felt sorry for this man. One day he went to him again and said, "You really lack intelligence. So many times I goaded you to go onward to go still further, and you have not understood me. Now you are outwardly very rich, but within you are as miserable a wretch as before. Go still further, there are mines of diamonds." The man went further in.

Then, after some years, the fakir happened to meet him again. He rebuked him as before. Even though he was the owner of huge palaces and all that wealth could buy, the fakir was sorry for him. "You are as poor as ever within," said the fakir. "All this gold and silver and diamonds are on the outside. Go still further.

"Now where?" asked the man. "Why don't you leave me in peace? Why are you goading me on and on? Now what is left to be attained after getting these diamonds?"

The fakir replied, "Beyond that is my ashram and only I can give you the genuine diamonds. They are diamonds of meditation. Until now you sought the mines outside, now your search for the mines within must begin." And though the man had heard about the jewels within, he was not ready to seek them. Besides, he claimed that this talk was beyond him, so he begged to be allowed to stay where he was.
 
The fakir said, "As you wish. But remember, these mines within will not remain forever -- today I am, tomorrow I may not be. The mines you dig now will remain. They always were, they always will be."

The mines of meditation manifest rarely -- sometimes once in a thousand years. Sometimes some person discovers it and becomes an entrance to it. Such a person is the guru, and Nanak refers to his temple as gurudwara, guru's door -- a beautiful name for a temple. He who comes upon the mine of meditation during his lifetime becomes an opening for others, but he does not live forever.

And you? You are so blind that you go past the door and do not see it! Your eyes are fixed on the visible wealth and not the true wealth that is invisible.

Remember this maxim: Still further. Until you reach God you should hold it always to your heart. If you halt before that, you will wander.

[SS91]

Happy Baba's day Rameshji.

I am missing your stories for the past 3 days.

Why and what happened?

Kindly continue to do so.

We are very  well blessed in having you in our Sai family.

Waiting for tomorrows story.

Hope you have a great day.

Jaisairam.

subhasrini
OM SAI SRI SAI JAYA JAYA SAI!!!
Let us pray at the feet of Sai Baba who is the incarnation of all gods and protector of all, to show mercy on us, and increase our devotion towards him.

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Dukkha...innermost, suffering - 'spiritual agony.'......Part-I

Buddha was not physically ill. He had one of the most beautiful and harmonious physiques. He was not in anguish. There was no psychological complexity, no psychological disharmony -- one of the most well adjusted beings. But he felt dukkha. I will have to explain to you what dukkha is. It is real suffering, the innermost suffering.

Buddha's whole story will have to be told to you:
 
When Buddha was born, all the wise men came to bless him. One wise mao came from the Himalayas. The moment he saw Siddharth (Buddha's name), he began to weep. Buddha's father was disturbed. He asked, "Why are you weeping? You have come to bless the child and instead you are weeping. Is something going to be wrong with the child?"

The wise old man said, "No, nothing is going to be wrong with the child. I was weeping for myself. The child is going to be a Buddha, an enlightened one, but I will not be here to see it. I am going to die this year, my course is completed. My whole life I was seeking and seeking for a man who is enlightened, but I couldn't find one. This child is going to be an enlightened one, but I will not be there. That is why I am weeping."

This forecast disturbed the father even more, because if Buddha, Siddharth, was going to be enlightened, then what would become of the kingdom? So the king asked the other wise men how to stop the child from becoming a Buddha.

They said, "There are only two possibilities. If he can be prevented from becoming aware of suffering only then can you hold him back. Otherwise he is going to be a sannyasin. So don't let him know suffering, don't let him know DUKKHA."

But the father could not understand how it was possible to prevent someone from knowing dukkha. He again asked for advice.

The wise men advised him that Siddharth should never be allowed to see death. If there is death then life becomes meaningless, so he should not become aware of death. He should not know at all that death exists, that life is going to end. Secondly, he should not be allowed to become aware that old age comes. Otherwise, youth will become meaningless. And thirdly. he should never see a sannyasin. If he sees a dancing, laughing, blissful sannyasin, his life will become meaningless. "These three conditions must be fulfilled. he should never see a diseased old man, he shouldn't see anyone dead and he shouldn't see anyone blissful."

Buddha's father arranged it in such a way that not even a dead leaf would ever be seen by him. No old man could come nearby to where Siddharth was. Whenever he would go out in the streets, the whole street would be cleared so that no old man passed by. Nor was he ever allowed to become aware of death, or ever allowed to see a sannyasin.

Contd.....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Dukkha...innermost, suffering - 'spiritual agony.'......Part-II

But how can you prevent it forever? One day there was going to be a youth festival.
 
Siddharth was invited to preside over it. Young men and young women had come from all over the kingdom. As he was moving on his chariot, an old man passed by. He asked his driver, "What has happened to that man?"

The chariot driver said, "I cannot deceive you. Nothing has happened to that man that does not happen to everyone."

Siddharth asked, "Will I also be like that someday?"

The chariot driver said, "I cannot deceive you. No one is an exception."
 
Siddharth said, "Let us go back to the palace. It is no use going to a youth festival. I have become an old man. If old age is to come someday, in a way it has already come. Youth is useless because it is just a hiding place for old age."

While they were driving back, a dead body was being carried by. Siddharth asked, "What has happened?"

The chariot driver said, "The second stage. After old age, this happens."

Siddharth said, "Then I am dead! Life makes no sense at all. It is meaningless, futile."

Back home, just when he was at the door to his palace, he saw a sannyasin. This is what the parable says. It seems impossible, it couldn't happen like that: first the old man, then the dead man and then the sannyasin. It was all arranged by destiny, by the deities. In life it couldn't happen that way -- that Buddha would see these things one after the other -- but according to the tale, the myth, it was arranged this way by the deities because otherwise Buddha would never feel suffering and if suffering is not felt, then you cannot attain that inner harmony that is bliss.

Dukkha means this knowledge: that whatever appears to be living is going to die; whatever appears to be blissful, is not so. Ordinary life is going to end in death; it is JUSt a progression toward death. So on the third level, the innermost, suffering means dukkha. Or, you can call it 'spiritual agony.'

Contd.....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Can we also become like the portrait that had the glimpse of God in it?

It is a small tale. Many, many years ago, in a certain country, there was a young and famous painter. He decided to create a truly great portrait, a lively portrait full of the joy of God, a portrait of a man whose eyes radiated eternal peace. And so, he set out to find someone whose face reflected that eternal, ethereal light.

The artist roamed from village to village, from jungle to jungle, in search of his subject, and at long last he came across a shepherd with shining eyes, with a face and features that held the promise of some celestial home. One look was enough to convince him that God was present in this young man.

The artist painted a portrait of the young shepherd. Millions of copies of the portrait were made and it sold far and wide. People felt great gratitude, just being able to hang the picture on their walls.

After a spell of some twenty years, when the artist had grown old, he decided to paint another portrait. His experience had shown him that life is not all goodness, that Satan also exists in man. The idea of painting a picture of Satan persisted; were he to fulfill the project, then the two pictures would complement each other, would show the complete man. He had already done a painting of godliness; now he wanted to portray evil incarnate.

He sought a man who was not a man but Satan. He went to gambling dens, to bars and to madhouses.

This subject had to be full of hell's fire; his face had to show all that is evil, ugly and sadistic.
 
After a long search, the artist finally met a prisoner in a jail. The man had committed seven murders and had been sentenced to be hanged in a few days. Hell was evident in the man's eyes; they spouted hate. His face was the ugliest one could possibly hope to find. The artist began to paint him.

When he had completed the portrait he brought out his earlier picture and set it by the side of the new painting for contrast. It was difficult to assess which was better from an artistic point of view; both were marvelous. He stood, staring at both of them. And then he heard a sob. He turned and saw the chained prisoner, crying. The artist was bewildered. He asked, "My friend, why are you crying? Do these pictures disturb you?"

The prisoner said, "I have been trying to hide something from you all this time, but today I am lost. You obviously do not know that the first picture is also of me. Both portraits are of me. I am the same shepherd you met twenty years ago in the hills. I cry for my downfall in the last twenty years. I have fallen from heaven to hell, from God to Satan."

I do not know how true this story is, but one thing is for certain: each man's life has two converse sides; two portraits of everyone are possible. In every man both God and Satan exist; in every man there is the possibility of heaven, and the possibility of hell.

A bouquet of beautiful roses can grow in man; a heap of mud can also pile up in him. Every man swings between these two extremes. Man can attain to either of these extremes, but most people are inclined towards the infernal. Those fortunate few who aspire to the eternal, who let godliness grow in them, are rare. Can we succeed in making our lives temples of God? Can we also become like the portrait that had the glimpse of God in it?
 
How can man become the reflection of God? How is it possible to make man's life heaven, to make it fragrant, beautiful, harmonious? How is it possible for man to know that which is deathless? How is it possible for man to enter the temple of God?

In this context, the facts of life indicate that all our progress, so far, has been in the opposite direction. In childhood we are in heaven, but as we grow older, by and by we land in hell. The world of childhood is full of innocence and purity, but we gradually begin traveling a road paved with lies and treachery and by the time we are mature we are old -- not only physically but also spiritually. Not only does the body become weak and infirm, but the soul falls into a ruinous state as well. But we simply accept this; we simply let the matter finish there. But we also finish ourselves.

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Simplicity...It is Grace, it is a Benediction.......Part-I

A king was very much impressed by the simple and innocent life of a Buddhist monk. Slowly slowly he accepted him as his master. He watched -- he was a very calculating man -- he inquired about his character: "Is there any loophole in his life?" When he was totally convinced logically -- his detectives informed him that "this man has no dark spots in his life, he is absolutely pure, simple. He really is a great saint, he is a buddha" -- then he went to the man, touched his feet and said, "Sir, I invite you to come to my palace and live there.

Why live here?"

Deep down, although he was inviting the saint, he was expecting that the saint would refuse, that he would say, "No, I am a simple man. How can I live in the palace?" -- even though he was inviting him! See the complexity of human mind: he was inviting him, he was expecting that if the invitation were accepted he would be greatly joyous, and still there was an undercurrent: that the saint, if he were truly a saint, would refuse, that he would say, "No, I am a simple man, I will live under the tree -- this is my simple life. I have left all the world, I have renounced the world, I cannot come back to it."

But the saint was really a saint -- he must have been a buddha. He said, "Okay. So where is the vehicle? Bring your chariot and I will come to the palace." He said, "Of course, when one comes to the palace one has to come in style. Bring the chariot!"
 
The king was very much shocked: "This man seems to be a cheat, a fraud. It seems that he was pretending all this simplicity just to catch hold of me." But now it was too late; he had invited him and he could not go back on his own word. Being a man of his word -- a samurai, a warrior, a great king -- he said, "Okay, now I am caught. This man is not worth anything -- he did not even refuse once. He should have refused!"

He had to bring the chariot, but he was no longer happy, he was not joyous.

But the saint was very happy! He sat in the chariot like a king, and the king sat in the chariot very sad, looking a little silly. And people were watching in the streets: "What is happening? The naked fakir...!" And he was really sitting like an emperor, and the king was looking very poor compared to this man. And he was so joyous, so bouncing with ecstasy! And the more ecstatic he was, the more sad the king became: "Now, how to get rid of this man? I have become caught in his net on my own. All those detectives and spies are fools -- they could not see that this man has a plan." As if he was sitting under that tree for years so that the king would become impressed! All these ideas came into the head of the king.

The king had arranged the best room for the saint, if he would come. But he did not believe that he would ever come. You see the split of the human mind: you go on doing one thing, you go on expecting something else. If the man had been cunning he would have simply refused. He would have said, "No!"

The king had arranged the best room. The saint reached the room -- he had been sitting under the tree for years -- and he said, "Bring this, bring that. If you have to live in the palace you have to live like a king!"

The king was getting more and more puzzled. Of course, he had invited him so whatsoever he asked for was brought. But it was heavy on the heart of the king, it was becoming heavier every day, because the saint started living like a king -- in fact, better than the king, because the king had his own worries and the saint had none. He would sleep in the day, in the night. He would enjoy the garden and the swimming pool and he would rest and rest. And the king thought, "This man is a parasite!"

Contd.....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Simplicity...It is Grace, it is a Benediction.......Part-II

One day it was unbearable. He said to the saint.... The saint had gone into the garden for a morning walk, and the king also came and he said, "I want to say something to you."

The saint said, "Yes, I know. You wanted to say it even before I left my tree.

You wanted to say it when I accepted your invitation. Why did you wait so long? You are unnecessarily suffering. I can see you have become sad. You don't come to me anymore. You don't ask the great metaphysical, religious questions that you used to ask me when I used to live under the tree. I know -- but why did you waste six months? That I can't see. You should have asked immediately, and things would have been settled then and there. I know what you want to ask, but ask!"

The king said, "I want to ask only one thing. Now what is the difference between me and you? You are living more luxuriously than I am! And I have to work and I have to worry and I have to carry all kinds of responsibilities, and you have no work, no worry, no responsibility. I am feeling jealous of you! And I have certainly stopped coming to you, because I don't think there is any difference between me and you. I live in possessions, but you live in more possessions than I. Every day you demand, 'Bring the golden chariot! I want to go for a walk in the country. Bring this and bring that!' And you are eating delicious food. And now you have stopped being naked, you are using the best clothes possible. Then what is the difference between me and you?"

The saint laughed and he said, "The question is such that I can answer it only if you come with me. Let us go outside the capital."
 
The king followed.

They crossed the river and they continued. The king asked again and again, "Now what is the point of going on any further? Why not answer now?"

The saint said, "Wait a little. I am in search of the right spot where to answer."

Then they came to the very boundary of his kingdom, and the king said, "Now it is time, this is the very boundary."

The saint said, "That's what I have been searching for. Now I am not going back. Are you coming with me or are you going back?"

The king said, "How can I come with you? I have my kingdom, my possessions, my wives, my children -- how can I come with you?"

And the saint said, "Now you see the difference? But I am going and I will not look back even once. I was in the palace, I lived with all kinds of possessions, but I was not possessive. You are possessive. That is the difference. I am going."

He undressed, became naked, gave the dress to the king, and said, "Keep your clothes and be happy again."

Now the king realized that he had been foolish: this man was rare, a rare gem. He fell at his feet and he said, "Don't go. Come back. I have not understood you yet. Today I have seen the difference. Yes, that is true sainthood."

The saint said, "I can come back, but remember, you will become sad again. For me there is no difference whether to go this side or that side, but you will become sad again.

Now, let me make you happy. I am not coming, I am going."

The more the saint insisted on going, the more the king insisted on him coming back. But the saint said, "Once is enough. I have seen you are a stupid person. I can come, but the moment I say 'I can come,' I can see in your eyes the old ideas coming back: 'Maybe he is cheating me again. Maybe this is just an empty gesture, giving me the clothes and saying that he is going, so that I become impressed again.' If I come you will be miserable again, and I don't want to make you miserable."

Contd....

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Simplicity...It is Grace, it is a Benediction.......Concluding Part

Remember the difference: the difference is not in possessions, the difference is in possessiveness. A simple person is not one who possesses nothing, a simple person is one who has no possessiveness, who never looks back.

This simplicity cannot be practiced, this simplicity can come only as a consequence of innocence. Otherwise, on the one hand you will practice, and from some other corner of your being.... And you are a vast continent; you are not like an island, you are a really vast continent! And in the deepest core of your being there is still uncharted territory, unmapped territory. You still carry a great, dark continent like Africa inside you, which you have never traveled, of which you are not even aware -- of its presence you are unaware.

If you repress -- and that's what cultivation is -- then it will start coming in another form from somewhere else.

You will become more and more complex in this way, more and more cunning and calculating in this way; more disciplined, more with a character which people respect and honor. If you want to enjoy your ego, the best way is to be a holy man. But if you really want to celebrate existence, the best way is to be absolutely ordinary, utterly ordinary, and live the ordinary life with no pretensions.

Live moment-to-moment: that is innocence, and innocence is enough. Don't try to become simple. Millions of people have tried, and they have not become simple at all. On the contrary, they have become very very complex, entangled in their own jungle, in their own ideas.

And you can live in a palace with all the luxuries, but if you live in the moment you will be living a simple life. You can live like a beggar and you will not be simple if your effort to be a beggar is something that you have imposed upon yourself. If it has become your character then you are not simple. Yes, once in a while it has happened that even a king has lived a simple life -- simple not in the sense that he did not have the palace and the possessions -- they were there -- but he was not possessive.

This has to be understood: you may not have any possessions yet you may be possessive. Possessiveness can exist without possessions. If that is so, then the opposite is also true: nonpossessiveness can exist with all kinds of possessions. One can live in the palace and yet be totally free of it.

Get out of the mind: that is innocence. Be a no-mind: that is innocence. And everything else follows. And when everything else follows, it has a beauty of its own. Cultivated, it is plastic, synthetic, not natural. When it comes uncultivated, it is a grace, it is a benediction.

The end