Flood

[Guest guest]

Om Amriteshvaryia Namah

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Amma,

 

I've been moved and enlightened by the posts on this issue. I have nothing

original to contribute, but I thought I would post this story as it seems to

be relevant. I don't know where I got the story -- it may have been on the

Amma Net. If so please forgive me.

 

Jai Amma!

Vaishnavi

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

There was an old man in a village, very poor, but even kings were jealous of

him because he had a beautiful white horse. Kings offered fabulous prices for

the horse, but the man would say, "This horse is not a horse to me, he is a

person. And how can you sell a person, a friend?" The man was poor, but he

never sold the horse.

 

One morning, he found that the horse was not in the stable. The whole village

gathered and they said, You foolish old man! We knew that someday the horse

would be stolen. It would have been better to sell it. What a misfortune!"

 

The old man said, "Don't go so far as to say that. Simply say that the horse

is not in the stable. This is the fact: everything else is a judgment.

Whether it is a misfortune or a blessing I don't know, because this is just a

fragment. Who knows what is going to follow it?"

 

People laughed at the old man. They had always known that he was a little

crazy. But after fifteen days, suddenly one night the horse returned. He had

not been stolen; he had escaped into the world. And not only that, he brought

a dozen wild horses with him.

 

Again the people gathered and they said, "Old man, you were right. This was

not a misfortune, it has indeed proved to be a blessing."

 

The old man said, "Again you are going too far. Just say that the horse is

back. Who knows whether it is a blessing or not? It is only a fragment. You

read a single word in a sentence - how can you judge the whole book?"

 

This time the people could not say much, but inside they knew that he was

wrong. Twelve beautiful horses had come.

 

The old man had an only son who started to train the wild horses. Just a week

later he fell from a horse and his legs were broken. The people gathered

again and again they judged. They said, "Again you proved right! It was

misfortune. Your only son has lost the use of his legs, and in your old age

he was your only support. Now you are poorer than ever."

 

The old man said, "You are obsessed with judgment. Don't go that far. Say

only my son has broken his legs. Nobody knows whether this is a misfortune or

a blessing. Life comes in fragments and more is never given to you."

 

It happened that after a few weeks the country went to war and all the young

men of the town were forcibly taken for military. Only the old man's son was

left, because he was crippled. The whole town was crying and weeping, because

it was a losing fight and they knew most of the young people would never come

back. They came to the old man and they said, "You were right, old man - this

has proved a blessing. Maybe your son is crippled, but he is still with you.

Our sons are gone forever."

 

The old man said again, "You go on and on judging. Nobody knows! Only say

this, that your sons have been forced to enter into the army and my son has

not been forced. But only God, the total, knows whether it is a blessing or a

misfortune.

 

"Judge ye not, otherwise you will never become one with the total. With

fragments you will jump to conclusions. Once you judge you have stopped

growing. Judgment means a stale state of mind. And mind always wants

judgment, because to be in process is always hazardous and uncomfortable. In

fact, the journey never ends. One path ends, another begins: one door closes,

another opens. You reach a peak; a higher peak is always there. God is an

endless journey. Only those who are so courageous that they don't bother

about the goal but are content with the journey, content just to live the

moment and grow into it, only those are able to walk with the total."

[Guest guest]

Excellent story...thank you!

 

Lesley*