SINGLE-MINDEDNESS IS ANOTHER NAME FOR DEVOTION

A MAN was angling in a lake all by himself. After a
long while the float began to move. Now and then
its tip touched the water. The angler was holding
the rod tight in his hands, ready to pull it up, when
a passer-by stopped and said, "Sir, can you tell me
where Mr. Bannerji lives?' There was no reply from
the angler, who was just on the point of pulling up
the rod. Again and again the stranger said to him in
a loud voice, "Sir, can you tell me where Mr,
Bannerji lives?" But the angler was unconscious of
everything around him. His hands were trembling;
his eyes were on the float. The stranger was
annoyed and went on. When he had gone quite a
way, the angler's float sank under water and with
one pull of the rod he landed the fish. He wiped
the sweat from his face with his towel and shouted
after the stranger. "Hey!" he said, "Come here!
Listen!" But the man would not turn his face. After
much shouting, however, he came back and said to
the angler, "Why are you shouting at me?" "What
did you ask me about?" said the angler. The
stranger said, "I repeated the question so many

times, and now you are asking me to repeat it once
more!" The angler replied, "At that time my float
was about to sink: so I didn't hear a word of what
you said."
A man can achieve such single-mindedness in
meditation that he will see nothing, hear nothing.
He will not be conscious even of touch. A snake
may crawl over his body, but he will not know it.
Neither of them will be aware of the other.