the prayer of the frog - 11

[Guest guest]

namaste. Continuing with the series of excerpts from "The prayer

of the frog" by Anthony de Mello. The book can be obtained from

the publishers: The Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Post Box 70, Anand,

Gujarat 388001, India.

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

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The saints

 

 

There once lived a man so godly that even the angels rejoiced at

the sight of him. But, in spite of his great holiness, he had no

notion that he was holy. He just went about his humdrum tasks diffusing

goodness the way flowers unselfconsciously diffuse their fragrance and

street-lamps their glow.

 

His holiness lay in this that he forgot each person's past and looked

at them as they were now, and he looked beyond each person's appearance

to the very centre of their being where they were innocent and blameless

and too ignorant to know what they were doing. Thus he loved and forgave

everyone he met - and he saw nothing extraordinary in this for it was the

result of his way of looking at people.

 

One day an angel said to him, "I have been sent to you by God. Ask for

anything you wish and it will be given to you. Would you wish to have the

gift of healing?No," said the man, "I'd rather God did the healing

himself."

 

"Would you want to bring the sinners back to the path of righteousness?"

"No," he said, "it is not for me to touch human hearts. That is the work

of angels.Would you like to be such a model of virtue that people will

be drawn to imitate you?No," said the saint, "for that would make me

the centre of attention."

 

"What then do you wish for?" asked the angel. "The grace of God," was the

man's reply. "Having that, I have all I desire.No, you must ask for

some miracle," said the angel, "or one will be forced on you.well,

then I shall ask for this: let good be done through me without my being

aware of it."

 

So it was decreed that the holy man's shadow would be endowed with healing

properties whenever it fell behind him. So everywhere his shadow fell -

provided he had his back to it - the sick were healed, the land became

fertile, fountains sprang to life and color returned to the faces of those

who were weighed down by life's sorrow.

 

But the saint knew nothing of this because the attention of people was so

centred on the shadow that they forgot about the man and so his wish that

good be done through him and he forgotten was abundantly fulfilled.

 

 

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[Guest guest]

>

>

>But the saint knew nothing of this because the attention of people was so

>centred on the shadow that they forgot about the man and so his wish that

>good be done through him and he forgotten was abundantly fulfilled.

 

Beautiful story.

 

Reminds me of the story of Bhagavaan Ramana Maharshi - lot of

miracles were attributed to his presence but he knew nothing of those.

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda

 

--

K. Sadananda

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