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old story....
A king was very much interested in a young man who always remained underneath a tree, sitting silently. Every night the king passed around the city in disguise to see whether everything was right or not. He always found that young man sitting like a statue, without any movement.
Finally, he could not contain his curiosity. He stopped his horse and he said, "Young man, forgive me for disturbing your meditation."
The young man opened his eyes and he said, "There is no need for any apology because I am not meditating, I am meditation -- nobody can disturb it. But whatever your curiosity is, please fulfill it."
The king said, "I would love you to come to my palace. I will take care of you. There is no need to sit under this tree. Seeing you so silently, like the ancient story of Buddha, I have fallen in love with your silence, your gestures, your utter undisturbance. I invite you to come with me to my palace. I am the king."
This is how the barbarous mind functions. The king asks the young man to come to his palace -- inviting him -- but deep down his unconscious wants him not to accept his invitation because that will mean he is still desirous of luxuries and palaces.
But that young man simply stood up, and he said, "I am coming."
Immediately the whole scene changed. The mind of the king was thinking, "What have I done? This man is still interested in the luxuries of a palace, being the guest of a king. This is not a great saint." This is the old idea of the saint, that he should be as uncomfortable as possible. Discomfort is religion. Sick, hungry, torturing oneself in thousands of ways... and then you become a great saint. This fellow has suddenly fallen from his sainthood, in the mind of the king. But now it was too late. He could not take his word back; it would be to ungentlemanly.
But the young man was watching everything. He didn't say anything. The king provided for him in the best part of the palace, servants, young girls to look after him -- and he accepted everything. With each acceptance he was falling down in the scale of saintliness: what kind of saint was he? He accepted a
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