A story of faith,fear and humility

by **skfarblum** September 5th 2013, 4:10 am

When a certain Guru was dying, one of his disciples asked him "Guruji, who was your
master?"He said, "I had thousands of masters. If I just relate their names it
will take months, years and it is too late. But three masters I will certainly
tell you about.
.
One was a thief. Once I got lost in the desert, and when I reached a village it
was very late, everything was closed. But at last I found one man who was trying
to make a hole in the wall of a house. I asked him where I could stay and he
said 'At this time of night it will be difficult, but you can stay with me - if
you can stay with a thief'.And the man was so beautiful. I stayed for one month!
And each night he would say to me, 'Now I am going to my work. You rest, you
pray.' When he came back I would ask 'Could you get anything?' He would say,
'Not tonight. But tomorrow I will try again, God willing.' He was never in a
state of hopelessness, he was always happy. When I was meditating and meditating
for years on end and nothing was happening, many times the moment came when I
was so desperate, so hopeless,that I thought to stop all this nonsense. And
suddenly I would remember the thief who would say every night, 'God willing,
tomorrow it is going to
happen.'
.
And my second master was a dog. I was going to the river, thirsty and a dog
came. He was also thirsty. He looked into the river, he saw another dog there --
his own image -- and became afraid. He would bark and run away, but his thirst
was so much that he would come back. Finally, despite his fear, he just jumped
into the water, and the image disappeared. And I knew that a message had come to
me from God: one has to jump in spite of all fears.
.
And the third master was a small child. I entered a town and a child was
carrying a lit candle. he was going to the temple to put the candle there.'Just
joking,' I asked the boy, 'Have you lit the candle yourself?' He said, 'Yes
sir.' And I asked, 'There was a moment when the candle was unlit, then there was
a moment when the candle was lit. Can you show me the source from which the
light came?' And the boy laughed, blew out the candle, and said, 'Now you have
seen the light going. Where has it gone? Can you tell me?' My ego was
shattered, my whole knowledge was shattered. And that moment I felt my own
stupidity. Since then I dropped all my knowledge-ability.