There was once a time, when people were not as busy with their worldly life as they are now. One did not have to bother too much about which car to buy, there were only horses and bullock carts. There was no such thing as a posh locality, everyone lived in the same village, or the next. Food and festivity also meant more or less the same thing to most people.
Now, because people then did not have to worry too much about these things, they did however, strongly believe in knowing God for themselves, first hand.
And though some intellectuals always scornfully remind us that we have grown out of 'The bullock cart age', yet everything God has made , has its virtues, and the story I am about to tell, is exactly from that time, when knowing God first hand was considered a good aim in life.
In that time, in a mountainous region, there lived a master, who was fabled to be very knowledgeable about God and godly matters. The master was in charge of a simple monastery, where he would teach and impart wisdom to only a few select students.
People said that in his youth, he had visited a very Divine cave. In that cave, there was said to be a "Great red jewel" Laal Ratan , at which he had gazed and gained direct access to almighty God.
Now, the master kept with him a map to the secret cave, and every year, he would disclose the map only to the best spiritual student in the monastery, so that he too could see the great red jewel. It was the greatest privilege to be selected for the mission. Year after year, the top student would be given the map in front of the whole congregation, and asked to undertake the great spiritual expedition for themselves.
When they would return after a few days,the master would ask in a set manner, about the journey,
" Did you use the map i gave you?"
" Yes master"
" Were the directions accurate?"
" Yes master"
" Did you see the red jewel?"
" Yes, thank you great master," would be the reply.
The master would then accord a great seat of honour to the student, saying,
" Be seated, and guard your secret well!"
and there, seated with the others in the hall of fame before them, the successful students would guard the secret and hold their heads high.
Year after year, people came to him from far and wide, and the process continued.
One day a young man walked into the monastery hall, and on the first glance itself, the master knew that he was a very sincere seeker of God. From that first day, the master would delight in the young man's company, calling him always " My little truth seeker" . But many of the others did not like this, and were jealous. Whenever they could get a chance, they would try to turn the master against the boy, but masters, of course, do not turn, that is why they are masters!
Within a few years only, the master declared that the young man was to be given the secret map. This disappointed many students who could not understand why they had not been chosen, but the master had conveyed his decision, and so the truth seeker went his way.
Days passed, then weeks, and even a month, but the boy did not return. The detractors started passing unpleasant comments about the mission ,but the master said simply " He will return".
And one day, when the full hall was in attendance, true to the master’s confidence, the truth seeker walked in.
His clothes were torn, he had lost weight, grown a beard, he even walked with a limp, altogether, he had a beggarly appearance, but there was a certain light in his eyes- a light of certainty.
"Did you use the map i gave you?" the master asked his usual question
"Yes ,master" came the reply
"Were the directions accurate?'"
"Yes master,but.." the boy hesitated
"But what?" asked the master, as the congregation got restless
"But, the map took me only to a grove, and there it ended, and i was lost" came the reply
"And then? " The master beckoned, "Then what happened?"
"Then i continued, and used so many of your teachings with my own understanding, and i found the cave"
"And did you finally see the red jewel?"
"Yes, i saw the jewel, master, but..."
"But what? "
" But was Blue" said the boy
" He is an unworthy pupil" cried the congregation, feeling sure that now he would be reprimanded,and they looked to the master as refree.
But the master was up from his chair, he danced and beamed as he held the boy, and looking at the pupils, declared authoritatively , " He speaks the truth".
"All these years you guarded your secret, which is that you were never able to reach the cave" The master continued, "But this boy went beyond the map, and he did go to the cave for himself, and yes it is true that the jewel was always blue. The search for God is not about secrets and maps, but about sincerity and courage. It is not about someone else’s truth, which he will hand down to you, but about our own truth which we all must find for ourselves, And which is thereafter realised as the ONE truth for all ”
The search for God, therefore, is also not about this story and a red or a blue jewel, this is just a little parable I made up for you from my own journeybook.
Your search for God is about you embarking on your own journey, of course with help from the masters that have already been. It is your good fortune if you can take their guidance and reach quite near the divine heights, but there comes a time when even the Buddha tells you, to discard all that comes in your way of the truth, and the Buddha went as far as to compare any support to a raft used to cross a river. He advised that the crossing was more important than the raft and that the raft could be discarded on the other side. People often say that death is a last journey, a journey that one has to undertake alone. But dear friends, i like to remind that finding God is also a tremendous journey that one has to undertake alone, that too, when alive! And this can only be done with an unmatched passion, to the exclusion of all other things. So don’t wait for a secret map, don’t worry about the colours of God’s jewel, just begin your own adventure, and be, as the Buddha said,” a lamp unto yourself”.
Shail Gulhati is the Author of the books :SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.
