A Fable for this day (by Krishnamurti)

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A FABLE

 

Once upon a time -- which is the way all true stories

begin -- there was a world in which all the people were

sick and sad, and yet all of them were seeking to be

released from their suffering and to find happiness.

In search of this happiness they prayed, they worshipped,

they loved and they hated, they married and made wars.

They begot children as miserable as themselves and yet

they taught those children that happiness was their right

and their eventual goal.

 

Then one day in the midst of this suffering there rose a

whisper, which grew into a shout, that a Great Teacher

was coming who, because of his love for the world and

because of his wisdom, would bring to those who were

suffering, comfort in their sorrow, and would show all the

people in the world how they might find the lasting

happiness which they were all seeking.

 

And in order to spread widely the glad news of the

coming of the Teacher, organizations and societies

were formed, and men and women went throughtout

the world telling of the Teacher who would come.

Some prayed to him that he would come more quickly.

Some performed ceremonies in order to prepare the

world to receive him. Some made profound studies of

forgotten times, when other great Teachers had come

and taught, so that they might better understand him.

Some proclaimed themselves his disciples in advance,

so that when he came there might be some at least to

stand around him and to understand him.

 

Then one day he came. And he told the people of

the world that eh had come to bring them happiness,

to heal their pain and to soothe their sorrows. He said

that he himself, through much sufering and pain, had

found his way to an abode of peace, to a Kingdom of

eternal joy. He told them that he had come to lead them

and to guide them to that abode. But, he said, because

the path leading to that Kingdom was steep and narrow,

only those could follow him who were willing to set aside

everything they had accumulated in the past. He asked

them to set aside their Gods, their religions, their rites

and ceremonies, their books and their knowledge, their

families and friends. And if they would do that, he said,

he would provide them with food for the journey, he would

satisfy their burning thirst with the living water he possessed,

and would bring them into the Kingdom of Happiness

where he himself dwelt eternally.

 

Then those people, who for so many years had been

preparing for the Teacher, began to feel uncomfortable

and troubled. For they said: "This is not the teaching

we expected and for whicjh we have been preparing.

How can we renounce this knowledge which we have so

painfully acquired? Without it the world would never

understand the Teacher. How can we renounce all these

splendid rites and ceremonies in the performing of which

we find so much happiness and power? How can we

renounce our families and friends when we need them

so much? What teaching is this?"

 

And they began to question among themselves: "Can this

indeed be the Teacher whom we have been expecting?

We never thought he woukld speak this way and ask of us

such renunciations." And those especially who had

proclaimed themselves his disciples, because of their

more intimate knowledge of his will, felt uncomfortable

and troubled.

 

Then after much thought and meditation light came to

them and a solution to their difficulties. And they said:

"It is true that the Teacher comes to help the world, but

we know the world better than he does and so we will act

as his interpreters to the world."

 

And so those who had knowledge said: "His call for

renunciation does not apply to us because the world

needs our knowledge and could not do without it, so for

the sake of the world we shall go on seeking knowledge."

 

And those who performed rites and ceremonies said:

"We have of course renounced all rites and ceremonies

for our own benefit, we have passed beyond any need of

them, but for the sake of the world we shall perform them,

otherwise the world would suffer." So they continued to

build Churches and Temples and to perform rites, all to

help the world, and they were too busy to listen to the

Teacher.

 

And the only people who willingly renounced were those

who gave uop their homes and their families because they

wanted freedom from duty and obligation. And they came

to the Teacher and said: "We have left all to follow you,

now find us an easy job where we can work for you and

also earn a living."

 

Some there were, a few, who set aside all things, and sat

at the feet of the Teacher, and tried to learn from him how

they might feed the hungry and satisfy the thirsty. These

people thought that his wisdom was likely to prove more

helpful to the world than their knowledge; that his simplicity

might be more easily understood than their complications;

that the Teacher might know best when he said rites and

ceremonies were not necessary for the finding of happiness

he came to give; that you could renounce your family and

friends in your heart while not deserting them in the flesh.

 

But the others reproached them for selfishness and

idleness. They said: "The world does not need the bread

of the Teacher, but a particular kind of pastry for which we

hold the recipe. It does not need water to quench its thirst,

but the wine contained in our chalices. The words of your

Teacher will not help the world, because they are too simple

and the world cannot understand what they mean. We have

complicated theories to solve the complicated problems of

the world and the world can understand them."

 

So there were few of those who had most eagerly

announced the coming of the Teacher who listened

to the teaching that he gave. There were some who

said: "This is not the Teacher we expected, so we will

go on preparing for the coming of the real Teacher."

And the others built up walls and barriers round him so

that none could get to him unless they opened the gates.

 

So in a few years he went away and then the same

people hailed him as divinely inspired, and they built

new Churches in his name and invented new and

elaborate rites and ceremonies for his glory, and built

a new religion upon the teaching that he had not given.

And the world continued to suffer and cry for help.

 

[source: "From Darkness to Light" by J Krishnamurti]

 

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