My Faith Is Not In Belief!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 13:31

Belief belongs to the mind and faith, to the being. Faith assumes a different dimension in the teachings of Gautama, the Buddha. A short story carries this import.

It was customary of a king to go out into his kingdom in disguise in the nights to ensure the wellness of his subjects directly. During his night rounds, the king always came across a a very beautiful young man standing silently under a tree like a marble statue, perfectly at ease at all times of his visits. The king was intrigued and wanted to know as to what the man was guarding through out the cold nights . He could get to see that he possessed nothing as he stood stark naked.

The king finally approached the man one day and asked as to what he was guarding. The man laughed and said that he was guarding himself, "I do not possess anything but to guard by being alert, awake and aware which is the greatest treasure" He told the king, "You have everything but you don't have the guard!" Though the king was puzzled, he however was attracted to the words of the man.

The king started meeting the man every night and a beautiful friendship developed but the man never asked the king, "Who are you?" One day the king asked the man " I have asked you many questions, but you did not even ask me who I was!?

The man replied, "Had you known who you were, you would not have actually asked me these questions!"

The man further told, "I do not intend to hurt you, I just accept you as you are. I have never asked the trees, birds and the stars who they were. So why should I ask you?! It is perfectly good the way you are and I am perfectly at ease with everything! Nothing can be predicted. Life is a mystery. Whatever each and every moment unfold is sweet and good and I cannot ask for more. Whoever you may be, you are good and I love you for what you are. In fact I simply love everybody and know not any other way to relate to existence!"

Lured by the man's words the king was tempted to take him to His palace. However he knew that the man may refuse his proposal, for he was a renunciate and may deny the luxury and comfort of the palace. One day however the king asked, " I have the longing to take you to my palace to live there. I am really attracted by your words and cannot wait till night to be with you everyday. I fear that one day you might disappear from here. I intend to be closer to you. May I invite you to my palace?"

The man readily succumbed to the invitation which shocked the king. He had actually thought that being a renunciant, he would definitely disagree to the proposal or at least would accept it after much compelling. He immediately started doubting his saintliness. He doubted that he was be-fooled. So reluctantly the king took the man to his palace. The king's doubt deepened more when the renunciant promptly accepted the best of the accommodation that the king offered, in which he used to accommodate other great emperors and dignitaries. He had hoped that the man would deny it saying that it was not suitable for a mendicant like him. Instead he said, "Great, this is the right place!"

The king turned and twisted in his bed the whole night with utter disappointment, but the mendicant on the other hand was perfectly at ease with the new surroundings. The renunciate's gestures further more disappointed the king the next day when he saw him savour the delicacies of the palace served by beautiful women. The naked man even wore beautiful clothes. However he looked the same. The feeling that he was cheated, tormented the king greatly and that he started thinking of a way to dispose the man off his palace.

Days passed on and the king could not retain himself that one day he asked the man, "I have been haunted by a question for many many days and somehow not been courageous enough to ask you."

The moment the king uttered these words, the man said, "Not many many days, but the day I accepted your invitation!"

To be continued