The Saint & The Drunkard

(54)

“The next worst enemy of  a human being is his complex.”

“You mean to say the superiority and inferiority complex?”

“The very same, Mathew. We should know one thing, In this world, there is no one superior except for God and no one inferior, except who does wrong.”

“Rafael, do you mean to say that when someone does any wrong, they become inferior?

"Right. We are not here in this world as human beings but as spiritual beings so naturally,  when we are spiritual beings, do you know who is high caste or low caste?” All nodded in the negative.

“Good, what about beautiful and ugly?” All nodded in the negative

“The saint and a sinner?” All nodded in the negative.

“Wrong, you will know.”

“Really? How?”

“That is the only differentiation in our spiritual life.”

“How about a story?” All nodded.

“Years back, there was a saint, who lived on the face of this Earth, very famous and well loved by all. At the same time, there was a drunkard, who lived in the same area, who literally abused everybody when he was drunk, that would be every evening.

The saint had a ritual, he went to pray to the nearby temple by foot and all the devotees  would stand by the side of the road with bowed head and joined hands. Some even strewed flowers on his way and some their head dress too. The saint blessed everyone of them.

 So one day, while taking his ritual, the Earth shook and the saint found himself going inside the Earth but at that very moment someone caught him by the dress and slowly pulled up and to the surprise it was the vulgar drunkard, the first thing that came into the saint’s mind was, what a tragedy,  his evil might have passed on to me.”

“God what a bastard saint.” All nodded. Rafael smiled and continued

“but still the saint thanked the drunkard profusely. “If it weren’t for you, I would have been a dead person.”

 “No sire, don’t give much notice of my action, people like you makes this Earth a heaven. So anyone who is in my place would have done the same thing. You should live sire.” Saying so the drunkard walked forward. But unfortunately the Earth shook again and both the drunkard and the saint went inside the Earth leaving their physical bodies behind. Now they were spirits, the drunkard’s spirit was more illuminated than the saint and the saint’s soul was moving in search of darkness, he couldn’t stand near the drunkard’s soul.”

“Why? What happened?”

“The drunkard knew, he had this bad habit of drinking , he knew, he was wrong, he was inferior in his character and he never forgot that. So he was always humble. But on the other hand, the saint knew, he was always right, he was always doing only the right thing in the eyes of himself and in the eyes of society and his actions were accordingly, perfect and in his heart he kept himself on a high pedestal, just like we keep a position for the Gods and saints, on a high seat.” All nodded

“That is where the saint made the mistake.”

“But Rafael, what mistake did the saint do? He just did only the right things.”

“He thought he was above all other people, that is the worst mistake in the eyes of God.”

“How?”

“Have you seen a tree full of fruits?”

“Yes, once our mango tree bore full of fruits, that it bent down, Rafael.”

“Exactly, a person, who has been gifted, would become more humble and wise and dumb.”

“Dumb?”

“yes Ajay, dumb, the gifted people would come to know from where they got their giftness, from the vastness and the depth of the ocean of God. So when you stand near an ocean what would you feel?”

“Speechless, awe.”

“Exactly, we will know, how small we are, that should be the criteria to measure ourselves, not by the standard what we do or what we think by looking at others or according to the value people put for us.”

“Oh!!!!!!!!!!!”

“People who think themselves as saints or great people, is in itself are very inferior in themselves.” All nodded.

“No wonder, the first man, who stepped on the moon, decided to go recluse, he physically saw, how small he is when he compared himself with the nature he saw from above”

“Yes Mathew, but still he became superior in the eyes of man. But this didn’t affect him, that is what we should be, look into yourself and compare yourself with the ocean of God soul, then in the eyes of God you are the perfect being.” All nodded.

“But Rafael, what happened to the drunkard?”

“He with his humility and service mindedness gained entry to be near the God soul and the saint fled to the corners of darkness because he couldn’t tolerate the glare of light, love understanding and love coming from God.”

“What a pity?”

“Don’t be Monica. This is simply a story but we at some point or other feel very important, at that time just remember, you are just a child near the ocean.” All nodded.

“Is this what we call ego?”

“Exactly, when we feel that we are important, then you feel that everyone should respect you. Now you know. Good, so don’t let yourself degrade yourself with ego. Will you be able to do that?”

“You know Rafael, it feels good, when someone praises us. So it is not easy to just deny it just like that, automatically our head would go high, don’t you think?”

“Good, you know, where you stand, so take it slowly, just be aware, as time passes, you will learn to bow yourself like the fruit laden tree.” All nodded

“Why don’t we continue this tomorrow?” All nodded.

...to be contd....(55)....

Until then... Take care.....Bye

Meena