| |
"My God. What kind of a stupid person am I? This man has deceived me. It seems like he tricked me. Just sitting there every night, he knew I passed at that time, sitting silently like a buddha, he knew that I would be caught -- and he caught me. And now it is very difficult either to swallow him or to spit him out. He is inside the palace."
But how long can you carry such a state of mind?
After six months, one day early in the morning when they were taking a walk together in the gardens, the king said to him, "One question has been continuously harassing me and I want to get rid of it. Because of it, for six months I have not slept well."
The young man said, "You can ask any question."
The king said, "It hurts me to ask, but I want to know what the difference is between me and you. You live in the palace, you enjoy all the luxuries... what is the difference between me and you?"
The young man said, "I knew that this question was going to arise one day. In fact, it arose the same moment I stood up to follow you. You are not a very courageous man. You should have asked immediately. Why waste six months, and for six months unnecessarily disturbing your sleep. I can answer your question but not here. You have to come with me outside the boundary of your kingdom."
It was not far away. Just a few miles away was the river, the boundary of his kingdom.
The king said, "What is the need to go there? You can answer me here."
He said, "No. There is a need."
Both went past the river. Standing on the other shore, the young man said, "My answer is that I am going ahead. Are you coming with me?"
He said, "How can I come with you? I have a palace, I have a kingdom, I have my wife, my children... I have thousands of worries and problems to solve. How can I come with you?"
The young man said, "Do you see the difference? I am going. I don't have any palace, I don't have any wife, I don't have any problems. I was as happy under my tree as I have been happy in your palace -- not a bit more or a bit less. My awareness is the same whether I am in a palace or in a forest."
The king felt very sad at his
|
|
|