The bowl is never filled up

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The Bowl is never filled up (by Sita Krishnan)

 

 

 

 

An emperor was coming out of his palace for his morning walk when he

met a beggar. He asked the beggar, " What do you want? " The beggar

laughed and said, " You are asking me as though you can fulfill my

desire! "

 

 

 

The king was offended. He said, " Of course I can fulfill your

desire. What is it? Just tell me. "

 

And the beggar said, " Think twice before you promise anything. "

 

 

 

The beggar was no ordinary beggar, he was the emporers past life

master. He had promised in that life, " I will come and try to wake

you in your next life. This life you have missed but I will come

again. " But the king had forgotten completely -- who remembers past

lives? So he insisted, " I will fulfill anything you ask. I am a very

powerful emperor, what can you possibly desire that I can not give

to you? "

 

 

 

The beggar said, " It is a very simple desire. You see this begging

bowl? Can you fill it with something? "

 

 

 

The emperor said, " Of course! " He called one of his viziers and told

him, " Fill this mans begging bowl with money. " The vizier went and

got some money and poured it into the bowl, and it disappeared. And

he poured more and more, and the moment he would pour it, it would

disappear. And the beggging bowl remained always empty.

 

 

 

The whole palace gathered. By and by the rumour went throughout the

whole capital, and a huge crowd gathered. The prestige of the

emperor was at stake..

 

 

 

He said to his viziers, " If the whole kingdom is lost, I am ready to

lose it, but I cannot be defeated by this beggar. "

 

 

 

Diamons and pearls and emeralds, his treasuries were becoming

empty.The begging bowl seemed to be bottomless. Everything that was

put into it --everything! --immediately disappeared, went out of

existence. Finally it was the evening, and the people were standing

there in utter silence. The king dropped at the fet of the beggar

and admitted his defeat. he said, " Just tell me one thing. You are

victorious - but before you leave, just fulfill my curiousity. What

is the begging bowl made of? "

 

 

 

The beggar laughed and said, " It is made up of the human mind. There

is no secret. It is simple made up of human desire. "

 

 

 

This understanding transforms life. Go into one desire -- what is

the mechanism of it? First there is a great excitement, great

thrill, adventure. you feel a great kick. Something is going to

happen, you are on the verge of it. And then you have the car, you

have the yacht, you have the house, you have the woman, and suddenly

all is meaningless again.

 

 

 

What happens? Your mind has dematerialised it. The car is standing

in the drive, but there is no excitement anymore. The excitement was

only in getting it. You became so drunk with the desire that you

forgot your inner nothingness. Now the desire is fulfilled, the car

in the drive, the woman in your bed, the money in your bank account -

again excitement disappears. Again the emptiness is there, ready to

eat you up. Again you have to create another desire to escape this

yawning abyss.

 

 

 

That's how one moves from one desire to another desire. That's how

one remains a beggar. Your whole life proves it again and again --

every desire frustrates. And when the goal is achieved, you will

need another desire.The day you understand that desire as such is

going to fail comes the turning point in your life. The other

journey is inwards. move inwards, come back

home.......................

 

 

 

.... As is the mind, So is the Man The Supreme Truth