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."