Once upon a time, long ago, a king grew 50 years old. So he crowned his son and left his kingdom in search of a Guru. After traveling for a long time, he reached a village where the villagers informed him about a great yogi who lived on the top of a hill nearby. He approached the Yogi and prayed him to teach him something. The Yogi was meditating and did not open his eyes. The seeker waited on him for a whole day and only then the Yogi broke his silence with, “Come here tomorrow before sunrise and I will give you a task”. Early next morning, the seeker took a bath, had some breakfast and arrived to meet the yogi who was seated on a rock, watching the Sun come up. Together they enjoyed the beautiful sunrise and then the Yogi pointed his finger and said, “Look at that hill. It is around 10 kms away as the crow flies. Go to the top of the hill and return back before sunset”.
The seeker set off on his mission enjoying the walk through beautiful forests and meadows. He saw a few baby rabbits and stood there watching there play. After a while their mother came and they all started drinking her milk. He stood mesmerized in their pranks and only after a lot of time remembered his mission.
He continued walking and ran into a herd of deer. The young calves were playing happily with their mothers without any fear of human beings. The seeker stood captured by the scene for a long time feeling one with nature. By the time he recovered and walked further, it was about noon.
It was getting hot and he heard the sound of water in the distant. He followed it and found a beautiful waterfall. He took a bath, drank the pristine water and satiated his thirst. He dressed up and found a tree with flowers that had a pleasant fragrance. The heat of the day, the fragrance and the full stomach all acted on him and he silently fell asleep.
When he woke up, the Sun was just a few minutes away from the horizon. The destination was still far away and there was no way he could reach it and return. So he decided to abandon the mission and pursue it the next day. So he ran back as fast as he could back as it was dangerous to spend the night in the forest without any preparation. The Sun had just set when he reached the Yogi who sat on the same rock smiling. The seeker felt ashamed of himself and apologized profusely and promised to accomplish the same the following day. The Yogi asked calmly, “How was your day? What all things did you do today?” The seeker explained all the events in detail with lots of excitement. When he was done, the Yogi asked, “What did you learn from the events today?”
Now tell me what you learn to hear the rest of the story.
- A story by Yogacharya B. Devdas Rao (compiled by AtmaAnanda)
4 comments:
I see a couple of lessons here:
One, if you get distracted by things on the way, you can loose sight of the goal.
Second, it is the journey, not the destination, that counts.
These two lessons are contradictory to each other. So, depending on what makes one happy, one may pursue the goal single-mindedly or enjoy the journey as it unfolds without hurrying towards the final destination.
Eager to see the rest of the story.
Poornima,Why did the seeker enjoy these scenes?
Because he was "one with nature", he was able to enjoy these scenes. Probably in the past (as a king), he might have hunted similar herd of calves.
Poornima,
You nailed the point. When we see a baby sleeping, it is just existing and is one with Atman. The Atman inside us recognizes this and sees the God in the baby and hence our waking mind also experiences some sort of happiness. This is what the King experienced when he mixed with nature. And yes, it is true that you will not reach your goal if you get distracted. And it is equally true that the journey is important and not the Goal when it comes to spirituality. Each seeker has his own answer and observations on where he stands. This is how my Guruji guides them.
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