Master

Guru Exist!!!

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Rewind Mode! Going Back to a few years…..to write out a lovely story…this time related by My Pujya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankarji (Follow Him on @SriSriSpeaks – https://twitter.com/#!/srisrispeaks) Himself in Bangalore Ashram in response to a question from the audience.He related using a story about His favourite Character, yes yes, it is Mullah Nasruddin.

Do MASTER exist? (Of course, we say – but why? read on)

Once Mullah Nasruddin falls sick and visits the doctor. They were very good friends and after exchanging pleasantries, the doctor went about doing the job – checked him up and then treated him all the while both were discussing various topic and then it came to concept of Master/Guru.

The doctor says, “there is no such thing as a Master. If he/she really existed, there would be no ignorance in this world. You have to agree all the problems in this world is due to this single biggest factor “IGNORANCE”. If a Master truly existed there would be no ignorance and earth would have been Heaven.

Mullah Nassruddin, the intelligent fool was stumped. It appeared that he lost out on this one for a change. However much he revolted mentally against the doctor friend’s statement, he also realized that what he just heard had some truth but he knew there was something more to it and it was not the reality. He did not want to argue since he had no answers at that time.

The treatment over, Mullah walks out of the clinic thanking the doctor for his wonderful treatment, he was almost feeling normal. He walked a few yards, finds a really sick person, who almost is unable to walk stumbling, mumbling unconsciously. He runs back to the doctor and panting heavily says…”Doctors do not exist in this world…there are no such things called Doctors”

Doctor says, “Nooooo… How can you say that? I am here and I just treated you and you were so happy with what I did”

Mullah says “No, If doctors existed, then there wouldnt be any sick people like that man lying unconscious across the street”

Doctor with a sad face says, “But Doctors do exist, what happens is that he did not come to me”

Mullah says “Yes!!! that is the whole point. People dont go to the MASTER nor look for HIM. They also dont follow what HE says. That is the reason for IGNORANCE and all the problems in this World”

This touched me very much, because it was almost the very first talk I was attending after my rebirth in Art Of Living. And there was so much Truth and I felt that I was very much the doctor of this story.

Criticism – Taker gets it

Ensures1 Comment
 

My next story. For me (see PS) it is a Oriental Buddhist story irrespective of what the world says. Football of other’s opinion.

On one of his globe trotting expeditions, Buddha and a couple of his disciples reached a village a hot summer afternoon begging for alms. Remember that He had to beg for his living (as was the practice). Walking they reached a hut with the door that was slightly ajar. They could hear a lady who was pretty hassled trying to put a crying baby to sleep, with smell of something burnt on the cooking on the chulha (stove), washed clothes to be hung on the lines for drying and so on. The monks addressed the lady, begged for alms. She apparently did not hear this and the monks raised their pitch and the lady of the house came out in a fit of rage and gave the monk a piece of her mind…”You fit for nothing fellows….go and beg elsewhere and I am hassled as it is and dont need any more of troubles like you etc etc and she went on and on and verbally abused them to an extent when the disciples were getting really worked up. Ultimately she just turned them away. In those days, it was considered duty of every household to serve the monks who come begging for alms. The disciples were very surprised to find that the Master as usual remained stoic with a serene smile on his face all along. So who were they to react… The monks then came away and proceeded on their way toward some other home where they could expect some alms.


The disciples could not control any longer and one of them asked, “O Master!!! That wretched lady insulted you no ends and still you dont bother. Why is it that you never reacted? I am boiling inside with anger and if you permit me, would like to go back and return the words that she gave us and more”

In reply, the Master gave the Kamandal(a bowl) to the disciple which the disciple dutifully took from the Master.

Master asked him, “Where is the Kamandal?

Disciple replied, “It is with me”

Master : “Why is it with you?”

Disciple : “Because you gave it to me”

Master: “No…. not because I gave it to you, because you took it when I gave it to you.

The Master then replied, “Similarly, I dont have anything to return to the lady since I never took anything from her, If you still feel that you took something from her, go and return by all means

The words of this story is mine so may not be very “Vikram Seth”ish or “Jeffery Archer”ish but I guess it conveys what I intend to state here.

The lesson that we learn from Buddha’s response is that – “NO ONE CAN INSULT YOU WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION”. It’s only when you internalize the insult that you feel bad. Why should someone else’s opinion kill you (kill you internally I mean)

Listen to Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar (follow HIM @SriSri on Twitter) talk on OPINIONS and their worth In a nutshell, Guruji’s take on Opinions – it is not worth a tinker’s damn and not worth the ink and paper it is written with…. ha ha ha…. (these are not his words, He is never this curt or brusque)

PS:

With due respects to the Americans who happen to read this post, I wish to say that, Like every good thing in this world – the saying “NOBODY CAN CRITICIZE ME WITHOUT MY PERMISSION” is being hijacked and attributed it to Eleanour Roosevelt. Which is so obvious by the irrelevance of the context in which she is supposed to have made this statement.I keyed in this statement into websearch string just before posting it and was astounded to find this attributed to her albeit in a different context