SIMULATION OF HOLINESS MAY BECOME A STIMULATION FOR IT

ONK night a fisherman went into a garden and

cast his net into the lake in order to steal some fish.

The owner heard him and surrounded him with his

servants. They brought lighted torches and began

to search for him. In the mean time the fisherman

smeared his body with ashes and sat under a tree,

pretending to be a holy man. The owner and his

men searched a great deal but could not find the

thief. All they saw was a holy man covered with

ashes, meditating under a tree. The next day the

news spread in the neighbourhood that a great sage

was staying in the garden. People gathered there

and saluted him with offerings of fruits, flowers,

and sweets. Many also offered silver and copper

coins. "How strange!" thought the fisherman, 'T

am not a genuine holy man, and still people show

such devotion to me. I shall certainly realize God if

I become a true sadhu. There is no doubt about it."

TODAY'S IMITATION IS TOMORROWS INSPIRATION

A THIEF entered the palace of a king in the dead

of night and overheard the king saying to the

queen, "I shall give my daughter in marriage to one

of those sadhus {holy men) who are dwelling on

the bank of the river," The thief thought within

himself: "Well, here is good luck for me. I will go

and sit among the sadhus tomorrow in the disguise

of a sadhu, and perchance I may succeed in getting

the king's daughter."

The next day he did so. When the king's officers

came soliciting the sadhus to marry the king's

daughter, none of them consented to it. At last

they came to the thief in the guise of a sadhu, and

made the same proposal to him. The thief kept

quiet. The officers went back and told the king that

there was a young sadhu who might be influenced

to marry the princess and that there was no other

who would consent. The king then came to the

sadhu in person and earnestly entreated him to

honour him by accepting the hand of his daughter.

But the heart of the thief was changed at the king's

visit. He thought within himself: "I have only

assumed the garb of a sadhu, and behold! the king

comes to me and is all entreaties. Who can say

what better things may not be in store for me if I

become a real sadhu!" These thoughts so strongly

affected him that, instead of marrying under false

pretences, he began to mend his ways from that

very day and exerted himself to become a true

sadhu. He did not marry at all, and ultimately

became one of the most pious ascetics of his day.

The counterfeiting of a good thing sometimes

leads to unexpected good results.

NONE WILL FOLLOW THEE AFTER DEATH

A DISCIPLE said to his Guru that his wife loved

him very much and so he could not renounce the

world. The disciple used to practise Hatha Yoga.

To convince him of the hollowness of his plea, the

Guru taught him some secrets of this branch of -

Yoga. One day, all of a sudden, there was great

consternation in the disciple's house and wailings

and sobbing were heard all around. The

neighbours came running to the house, and saw

the disciple in a room, quite motionless, in a

peculiar convoluted posture. They all thought that

life was, extinct in the body. The wife of the

disciple was crying: "Alas! Where have you gone,

dear? Why have you forsaken us? Ah! we never

knew that such a calamity would befall us!" In the

meantime the relatives brought a cot to take the

corpse out for cremation. Then they found

themselves face to face with a very serious

difficulty. As the man was in a contorted posture,

his body would not come out through the door.

Seeing that, one of his neighbours, brought an axe

and began to cut the wooden frame of the door.

Till then the wife was weeping in an uncontrollable

fit of sorrow; but no sooner did she hear the sound

of the axe than she ran to the spot, and, though

still weeping, anxiously enquired what they were

about. One of the neighbours told her that they

were cutting the door as her husband's body could

not otherwise be taken out owing to its peculiar

posture. "No, no," cried out the wife, "don't do so

now. I have been widowed and there is none to

look after me. I have to bring up my fatherless

children. If you now cut the door, it cannot be

repaired again. Whatever was to happen has

happened to my husband. You had better cut his

hands and legs and take him out." Hearing this, the

Hatha Yogi at once stood up; the effect of the drug

having gone by this time, and bawled out,

"Woman, you want to cut my hands and legs?"

And so saying, he went away with his Guru

renouncing hearth and home.

NOT UNTIL THE ILLUSION BREAKS

A GURU said to his disciple: "The world is

illusory. Come away with me." "But revered sir,"

said the disciple, "my people at home—my father,

my mother, my wife—love me so much. How can

I give them up?" The guru said: "No doubt you

now have this feeling of T and 'mine' and say that

they love you; but this is all an illusion of your

mind, I shall teach you a trick, and you will know

whether they love you truly or not." Saying this, the

teacher gave the disciple a pill and said to him:

"Swallow this at home. You will appear to be a

corpse, but you will not lose consciousness. You

will see everything and hear everything. Then I

shall come to your house and gradually you will

regain your normal state."

The disciple followed the teacher's instructions and

lay on his bed like a dead person. The house was

filled with loud wailing. His mother, his wife, and

the others lay on the ground weeping bitterly. Just

then a brahmana entered the house and said to

them, "What is the matter with you?" "This boy is

dead", they replied. The brahmana felt the pulse

and said: "How is that? No, he is not dead. I have a

medicine that will cure him completely." The joy of

the relatives was unbounded; it seemed to them

that heaven itself had come down into their house.

"But", said the brahmana, "I must tell you

something else. Another person must take some of

this medicine first, and then the boy must swallow

the rest. But the other person will die. I see he has

so many dear relatives here; one of them will

certainly agree to take the medicine. I see his wife

and mother crying bitterly. Surely they will not

hesitate to take it."

At once the weeping stopped and all sat quiet. The

mother said: ''Well, this is a big family: Suppose I

die; then who will look after the family?" She fell

into a reflective mood. The wife, who had been

crying a minute before and bemoaning her ill luck,

said: "Well he has gone the way of mortals. 1 have

these two or three young children. Who will look

after them if I die?"

The disciple saw everything and heard everything.

He stood up at once and said to the teacher: "Let

us go, revered sir. 1 will follow you."