come home

[Guest guest]

Jack Kornfiled told a story of an elderly woman in New York who goes

to a travel agent and says, "Please get me a ticket to Tibet. I want

to go see the guru."

The travel agent says, "You know, it's a long trip to Tibet. You'd be

much happier going to Miami."

She says "I insist. I want to go." So this old lady gets a ticket,

brings her things with her, gets on the plane and goes to India, gets

the visa and the pass, takes the train up to Sikkim, gets a border

pass, takes the bus up to the Tibetan plateau, and gets out.

And they're all saying, "Where are you going?"

"I must go see the guru."

They say, "It's such a long way. You're an old lady. It's up in the

mountains."

She says, "I'm going. I have to see the guru."

They say, "You know, you only get three words with him."

"It doesn't matter, I am going."

So she goes, and she gets on the horse in Tibet, because there are no

roads in this part, gets to the foot of this large mountain, and all

these pilgrims are saying, "Where are you going?"

She says, "I want to see the guru."

They say, "Remember, you get just three words."

She says, "I know, I know." She gets in line, gets up there, finally

past the guards at the door who say, `Three words only."

She goes in and there's the guru sitting in his robes with a kind of

scraggly beard. He looks up at her and she looks at him, and she

says, "Sheldon, come home."