Spiritual Stories: Post #15 “Unknown Tenth Man”

[Guest guest]

MURUGA SARANAM

 

5th Nov 2006

Spiritual Stories: Post #15 "Unknown Tenth Man"

 

Dear Members..

 

This Sunday brings you one of the simplest and funniest of the stories, in the series of Spiritual Stories by Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi. But truly, simple and trivial stories let us understand great facts and realities. The characters in the story may seem really foolish and ignorant. And in the end we will understand how startlingly similar most of us are. A foolish person forgets to count himself while counting members of his group. The very same way, we forget or fail to realize "who we are – The Self".

 

 

I don't know when The Lord of Maruthamalai will show His grace to come in the form of the wayfarer of this story and give that kind slap in my face to realize who I am.

 

 

Please read and enjoy the story.

 

May All Glories be to The Lord of Maruthamalai.

Maruthamalai Muruganukku Arohara !!!

 

MURUGA SARANAM

 

With Best Regards

Meyyappan S

 

 

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The Story begins here

 

 

UNKNOWN

TENTH

MAN

 

 

 

 

D. Not having realised the Truth that the Self alone exists, should I not adopt bhakti and yoga margas

as being more suitable for purposes of sadhana than vichara marga? Is not the Realization of one's Absolute Being that is, Brahma jnana, something quite unattainable to a layman like me?

 

 

M. Brahma jnana is not a knowledge to be acquired, so that acquiring it one may obtain happiness. It is one's ignorant outlook that one should give up. The Self you seek to know is verily yourself. Your supposed ignorance causes you needless grief like that of the ten foolish men who grieved the 'loss' of the tenth man who was never lost.

THE TEN FOOLISH men in the parable (*) forded (*) a stream and on reaching the other shore wanted to make sure that all of them had in fact safely crossed the stream. One of the ten began to count, but while counting others left himself out. "I see only nine; sure enough we have lost one. Who can it be?" he said. "Did you count correctly?" asked another, and did the counting himself. But he too counted only nine. One after the other each of the ten counted only nine, missing himself. "We are only nine" they all agreed, "but who is the missing one?", they asked themselves. Every effort they made to discover the 'missing' individual failed. "Whoever he be that is drowned" said the sentimental of ten fools, "we have lost him". So saying he burst into tears, and the rest of the nine followed suit. Seeing them weeping on the river bank, a sympathetic wayfarer enquired for the cause. They related what had happened and said that even after counting themselves several times they could find no more than nine. On hearing the story, but seeing all the ten before him, the wayfarer guessed what had happened. In order to make them know for themselves that they were really ten, that all of them had come safe from the crossing, he told them, "Let each of you count for himself but one after the other serially, one, two, three and so on, while I shall give you each a blow so that all of you may be sure of having been included in the count, and included only once. The tenth 'missing' man will then be found." Hearing this they rejoiced at the prospect of finding their 'lost' comrade and accepted the method suggested by the wayfarer.

While the kind wayfarer gave a blow to each of the ten in turn, he that got the blow counted himself aloud. "Ten" said the last man as he got the last blow in his turn. Bewildered they looked at one another, "We are ten" they said with one voice and thanked the wayfarer for having removed their grief.

That is the parable. From where was the tenth man brought in? Was he ever lost? By knowing that he had been there all the while, did they learn anything new? The cause of their grief was not the real loss of any one of the ten, it was their own ignorance, rather their mere supposition that one of them was lost – though they could not find who he was – because they counted only nine.

 

Courtesy: Concise Oxford English Dictionary

(*)

Parable

(noun) –

A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.

 

Ford

(noun) – A shallow place in a river or stream that can be crossed on foot or in a vehicle. Forded

(verb) - to cross at a ford.

 

Ends

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