SPIRITUALITY

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Posted by: " SPIRITUALITY " reach.mentor

Sat May 31, 2008 9:08 pm (PDT)

SPIRITUALITY

 

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. " Diamonds

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 feet of the beggar and admitted

his defeat. he said, " Just tell me one thing. You are victorious - but

before you leave, just fulfill my curiosity. 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.