This week's story !!(the secret)

[Guest guest]

Dear baburoy, you are right about the brahmin.

but not so about the other bhakta.<br>Shiva has a

thousand names signifying his varous aspects; the word

Shiva meaning as "the one who is beneficial to

all".<br>So, Shiva just would not do harm to anyone.<br>In the

story. Shiva himself tells that the two of his most

closest bhaktas are the brahmin and the rich merchant

over and above millions of

others.<period><br>THE REST OF THE STORY IS A RUSE TO HIGHLIGHT TO THE

READER HIS EXISTENCE IN DUALITY.<br>Shiva who is

equanimity incarnate does not recognize differences created

by the mind like rich-poor, good-bad behaviour,

high-low, good-bad luck, etc.<br>SHIVA ONLY ACKNOWLEDGES

THE CLOSENESS OF THE BHAKTAS TO HIMSELF.<br>As the

PRIME cause of pain for any bhakta is the distance

between himself and his diety, what to say of the two

highly 'ranked' bhaktas. This pain in advanced stages

morphs into pleasure involved in serving the "IMAGE" of

the diety, probably the stage of the two

bhaktas.<br>BY HIS BOONS SHIVA HAS ONLY SHOWERED HIS INFINITE

GRACE ON BOTH THE BHAKTAS BY CUTTING OUT THE SHORTEST

PATH FOR THEM TOWARDS THEIR PRIME GOAL OF MERGING WITH

SHIVA.<br>The rich man already well entrenched in the luxuries

of life can only progress at the earliest by having

his few remaining vain desires being fulfilled. If

the rich man was to lose his wealth he stands to

further get enmeshed in maya. Shiva in his innocent love

with bhakta also wants him to come to him as early as

possible, hence the boon of a thousandfold increase in

wealth. Jai bhole baba, whose third eye(non-dualistic

view) is always open !<br>As for the poor brahmin! What

would have happened if he was blessed(cursed to be more

accurate) with wealth? The brahmin just on the verge of

giving up everything to merge with shiva would

rediscover maya and get enmeshed! The shortest path for the

brahmin to Shiva was indeed by the death of his sole

possession, "the cow".<br><br>Now the dualist in us will

re-analyse the story like this: <br>The brahmin will indeed

be the "first" one to end the painful distance

between himself and his araadhya diety due to his

"better" treatment of the guests. The merchant also

blessed will take a "while".<br><br>But let us all rise

above these comparative tendencies of the mind and

attain the non-dual "BHOLA" eye of Shiva. The whole bank

of knowledge existing in this universe may be

discarded for such a piercing INNOCENCE.<br>May we all by

the grace of Shiva tear asunder the dualistic viel

and open our 'third-eye'.<br>Amen<br>Jai BholeBaba !