Theme: Greed see no end.
Short Story 22
Greedy Sufi.
Here we read, a Sufi story, on greed.
Barring a few, most people in the spiritual path has a Guru or mentor. Also not all the people in spiritual path enter the forest and do meditation or any other spiritual sadhana.
There were many householders among saints who performed their duty as a house holder and pursuing a spiritual path. None of them could be identified during their life time. There could be industrial workers, bus drivers, shop keepers and so on.
In this story a fisherman set himself on his spiritual journey. He had his mentor in a far away place.
This fisherman had a few disciples too who also lived by fishing. All these fishermen live in hamlet.
Many fellow fishermen did not know that these small group of men are any different from them. But, all that they might think of them are these people are humane, helpful and charitable.
The elderly fisherman one day turned to one of his disciples and asked him to visit his Guru in his abode in the far away town. He asked him to meet him and convey him his concern that he did not make any significant progress in the spiritual path for quite some time. He sought his advice.
This man had unique characteristic. He goes into the deep sea along with fellow fishermen every day. He keeps one fish and distribute the remaining catches among fellow men who are poor among them. He does not sell them for money or any other material in exchange.
His disciple set on a journey to meet the mentor.
Finally located his abode. He had his first shock to find a great saint which his guru described lived in a palatial house. After verifying several times he entered the house and conveyed his desire to meet his Guru’s mentor. Before he arrived at the hall he was ushered in, he watched with dismay the opulence of the building. The pillars had expensive diamonds embedded in them. He though, even an emperor of that country would envy the mentor for his riches.
While his thoughts were engaged in the assessment of the wealth of the Sufi saint, the mentor entered the hall. The visitor introduced himself and explained his mission.
The saint, thought for a while. He replied in one line and walked away from him and vanished. His remark was small and crisp. He said that it was the greed of his student that impedes his growth. The disciple was unable to accept the observations of the saint and dumbfound.
He returned to his land as fast as he could.
When he met is mentor, he did not dare to tell what his mentor wanted him to convey.
He then described his guru the opulence of the place where his mentor lived, the expensive attire he wore and the luxurious life he led. He concluded that he could not believe that he met Sufi saint in the first place.
He replied that he knew all that. He was only keen to know what he said and not how he looked or how he lived.
The disciple still hesitant to tell what he was asked to convey. The Guru grew impatient. He ordered his disciple to tell only what his mentor conveyed.
The disciple began saying that there is no other soul who ate only one fish in the entire day and gave out the remaining in charity. But, his mentor was uncharitable in making a remark of him saying that you are greedy. He demanded to know from his guru how do one accept a remark by a person who lead a life of an emperor, about a simple person who worked hard all the day, kept only one fish for himself and distributed the rest in charity as greedy?
The guru jumped in joy!
He asserted that his mentor was right in his observation. He explained to his disciple that he was indeed a greedy person. While I lead an austere life and charitable, my thought were not as much, he reasoned.
While he ate only one fish, some times, he said he felt hungry after eating one fish. In those occasions, he said, he used to think that he should have kept two fishes instead of one. Is that thought not reflect greed?
He observed that it is easy to live an austere life while living among poor or in seclusion. Even though my mentor lives in a luxurious environment, he lives a life free of greed, jealousy and anger. That is really a difficult task.
It is more to do with the mind and less to do with the matter. In our normal life, this extent of greed is tolerable. But, in the spiritual life, it is a great obstacle.
The students of the greedy fisherman understood the underlying concepts. Did you?
Theme: Our Real Problems:
Often our problems are just that someone else is seemingly happy and prosperous. We make wrong comparisons among ourselves. Life is a package deal. Let us see, what these mean through a simple story.