An anxious disciple went to a spiritual master and said, “A deep desire has arisen within me for God-realisation. Pray, show me the way to mukti – liberation. Grant me the gift of emancipation.”
The guru quietly replied, “In order to fulfil your wish, you will have to come and stay for a period of time with me, follow my instructions and surely you will attain enlightenment.”
“This is the jet age,” the disciple interrupted, “The computer age. Why can’t you give me enlightenment right now?”
The guru thought for a moment and said to him, “I am glad you are eager to receive enlightenment. Let us first try to get a little familiar with each other. If you will permit me, tonight I will come and have dinner with you.”
The aspirant jumped at the idea. At night the guru arrived at the residence of the aspirant. Immediately he said to the aspirant, “I am eager to eat. Kindly put all the dishes you have cooked into my begging bowl.”
The aspirant looked into the begging bowl and saw that it already had some stale, leftover articles of food.
“Let me wash the bowl first,” he said. “I am too hungry. I cannot wait. Forget about washing the bowl, be quick and serve me with the food,” the guru insisted.
“But I have made everything with so much effort. Great care has been taken to cook a delicious meal for you. The good food will get polluted if it is put in this filthy, unwashed bowl!”
Quietly answered the guru: “If this food can’t be served until the vessel is clean, how can I put enlightenment – the food of knowledge – into your mind which is not pure? First, purify the mind through the practice of silence!”
(Dada J. P. Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.)
