Whose key is more valuable?

[Guest guest]

I was staying in a small village in an aboriginal community in Bastar. The people reported to me;

 

afew days before, something had happened in the town. A Christian missionary came. Now thoseare very primitive people, absolutely uneducated, still live in the nude, are utterly unaware of

 

whathas happened to man. They are not contaminated by civilization yet.

 

The people told me that a Christian missionary had come, "And he convinced us, he had almostconvinced us that Christ is the true savior."

 

I asked them, "What happened? Why do you say 'almost'?"

 

They said, "Because a Hindu sannyasi came and disturbed the whole thing." I asked them the wholestory; the story was beautiful.

 

A Christian missionary came. Now if you want to convince these poor uneducated people, youcannot talk philosophy, theology. You have to be very practical, and the Christian missionary wasvery practical. He brought two statues, one of Krishna, one of Christ. Krishna's statue was madeof iron and Christ's statue was made of wood, but they were painted alike. From the outside it

 

wasdifficult to say which was which - which was wood, which was steel. He talked about both, and

 

thenin a bucket of water he dropped both the statues. Naturally, Krishna was drowned, Christ

 

continuedto float.

 

So he said, "Look! Your God cannot even save himself. How can he go to save you?" And thepeople were really convinced. They had seen it, the miracle was there. They looked, and it wastrue. Simple people....

 

But next day a Hindu sannyasi entered the village and he heard about it. And he said, "Let us seeit again." So the missionary was called again. He did the show again, and the sannyasi could seewhat was the matter with it.

 

So he said, "Now, light a fire, and let us throw both in it, because fire is more of a criterion

 

thanwater." And the primitives agreed: "That's true. Fire is certainly more powerful. That will be

 

decisive."

 

The missionary was very reluctant, but what could he do now? He had to agree, and both thestatues were thrown into the fire. Christ was burnt immediately - poor Christ - and Krishna cameout perfectly. And they were again convinced that Krishna is the true God.

 

This goes on happening at the most primitive level and at the most sophisticated level. This is

 

thewhole effort of Christian priests and Hindu monks and Jaina priests and Buddhist philosophers;

 

thisis the whole effort: they go on quarreling with each other. Nobody is concerned with opening thedoor! Everybody is claiming that my key is the right key. In fact, there is no way to decide

 

whose keyis the right key, unless you try it and unlock the door. But the argument continues: that the

 

Bible isthe REAL book, or the Vedas or the Koran. And they go on finding clever and cunning arguments.Beware of these arguments, because your mind is also full of them.WHEN THE ANCIENT HAD DIED AND THE SONS GREW UP, ONE AFTER THE OTHER, EACHCLAIMED PRIMACY FOR HIMSELF BECAUSE OF HIS POSSESSION OF ONE OF THE RINGS.NOBODY COULD TELL FOR CERTAIN WHICH WAS THE MOST VALUABLE.Hindus go on claiming that the Vedas are the most ancient scriptures, and they may be right. Thatmay be the ancient-most book, but that doesn't prove anything. But their effort is: because this

 

isthe first book that came to the world, this is from God. The Koran and the Bible and other books

 

arenot basic. "Our religion is the ancientmost," says the Hindu. What does the Christian say? Whatdoes the Mohammedan say? The Mohammedan says, "Maybe your book is very old; that's why it isrotten. The Koran is the latest, the last message from God - of course improved, far more

 

relevant.And when the last book has come the first is cancelled. What is the need of the first?" And so onand so forth, they go on arguing. And this whole argument takes so much time, so much energy,that no time is left to look into the book, to search for the key, and to open the door and

 

becomereally rich. There is no time left to live a rich life.

 

EACH SON GAINED HIS ADHERENTS, ALL CLAIMING A GREATER VALUE OR BEAUTY FORHIS OWN RING.

 

And soon they started finding supporters. They became churches.

 

BUT THE CURIOUS THING WAS THAT THE 'DOOR TO WEALTH' REMAINED SHUT FOR THEPOSSESSORS OF THE KEYS AND EVEN THEIR CLOSEST SUPPORTERS.

 

Nobody was worried about the door. Who cares about the door? The basic thing is to prove whosekey is more valuable, whose Master is more enlightened. That seems to be far more important topeople. This is utter stupidity, beware of it; and the human mind tends towards this stupidity.

 

 

Regards,K.s.Vishwanathan.Tel No: 022-28738192.e-mail:kalpathyvs.