Once upon a time, some devotees built an Ashram in a faraway land and requested their Guru to send one teacher from His Ashram to take charge of their ashram over there. The distance between the two Ashrams are very far and it would take days of walking to arrive at the Ashram (Walking and meditation was the only mode of transportation back then ;)
The Guru promised the Devotees that he would send a teacher to their Ashram. The Guru sent 10 disciples for this mission. Everyone in the Ashram was shocked. 'How come our Guru sent 10 disciples when the people from the Ashram only asked for one?' they thought, unable to understand their Guru's actions.
However, nobody argued and the 10 disciples begin their journey to the faraway Ashram.
After a few days, they arrived at a city. There they met a rich Businessman. The Businessman said ,'I run a big business and I own an empire. But alas! I have no son! I would like to look for a son-in-law to take over this empire of mine!'
'Oh, but our Guru gave us a mission. We could not help you,' the disciples replied.
'Ah,' said the rich Businessman. 'But imagine the riches and the life you will lead if you are willing to help me. Furthermore, if one of you stayed back, you still have 9 of you to go!' and the Businessman introduced his beautiful daughter to them.
One of the disciples were captivated by the beauty of the businessman's daughter. So he decided to marry her and stayed back to assist the businessman to run his business, while the other 9 disciples continued on their journey.
After a few days, they came to another kingdom. They were met by the King himself, as the King is a very religious person and respect the Guru's followers very much. After the feast, the King said to the disciples,'My Head Priest had passed away recently and I can't find any other suitable candidate to fill his position. It would be a great opportunity if one of you could stay to fill this position.'
'But we are on our way to the Ashram!' they replied.
'Ah! But you see,' replied the king,'There are many benefits in becoming the Head Priest. You would be the most respected person in the Kingdom after me. You would be the second most powerful man in this Kingdom. You would have all the funds you need for your religious endeavours!'
One of the disciples were tempted by the King's offer. 'Anyway, there are still the other disciples who can go to the Ashram,' he thought. So he stayed back to become the Head Priest to assist the King and the rest of the disciples continued on their journey.
One day, they came to a village slum. The villagers were divided into 2 opposition parties which were always fighting. 'Please help us restore peace in this village!' the villagers pleaded with the disciples. So they organised yoga and breathing courses and transformed the village from a slum to a peaceful state. When they were prepared to leave, the villagers pleaded to the disciples,
"Please stay with us to maintain the peace that you have brought to this village! What could we do without you? We might go back to the old days and continue to fight and live in a state of unrest."
So after discussing among themselves, 2 of the disciples decided to stay back in the village and continue with organising the village projects.
The rest of the 6 disciples continue with their journey.
* * * * *
So it happened that along the way, the other 4 disciples also left the group due to various reasons.
Now only 2 disciples were left to continue with the journey.
One day, they passed by a place where an organiser came to welcome them anxiously. "I am in a difficult position. I was organising a mega Yoga course and suddenly the teacher did not come. Can you help me?"
So the last 2 disciples stayed back for a few days to help teach the Yoga course. After the course, the organiser and the teachers were discussing about the course and one of the teacher got into an argument about the Guru's knowledge. So the teacher told the other disciple," You go ahead to the Ashram, I need to stay back to discuss about this point of knowledge before I could continue the journey. I cannot bear to see the Guru's knowledge being twisted and misunderstood!"
The last disciple continued the journey alone and finally reached the Ashram. Everyone was amazed that the Guru sent 10 disciples but alas, only one reached the destination!
(I try to retell my favourite story of Balvinderji as accurate as possible, but details might differ)
I first heard this story 2 years ago at the Bengalore Ashram as told by Balvinderji. I heard this story again when I was blessed enough to meet him again 2 months ago. The moral of the story is that the journey towards enlightenment is full of obstacles. Those obstacles include our desires and attachment towards riches, power, career, relationships, setting other people right and so on and so forth. At first I was very skeptical and misunderstood the moral of this story. But 2 years down the road, this story became one of my pillars of strength when I was feeling very lonely walking on this path; when I was filled with self doubt, remorse and regret; and especially when I lost every ounce of belongingness with the organisation that I have grown so attached to. Listening to Balvinderji the second time round helped me regain my confidence on this path, to accept the changes around me gracefully, and to look ahead courageously. If you ever felt so much pain, know that you have been given more ability to love.
Sangh Gachadhwam and happy journey!
Love,
ZY
