 |
|
In the Middle Ages there weren't so many laws about what people could make and sell. Governments hadn't set standards for the amount of silver or gold contained in precious objects offered for sale. People had peculiar ways of testing things. One was to take a certain kind of black stone and rub the metal on it, just a bit; if there was a fair amount of silver in it, for instance, a streak of that should show up on the stone. Such stones were called touchstones, "testers."
There is another kind of "touchstone," however, found in some Oriental countries. They were magic ones, sometimes called "philosopher's stones." Magic, because any metal which touched them would immediately be turned to gold.
You remember the tale of King Midas, who had an even greater power and went around touching a lot of things --tree branches, stones-- everything he touched turned to gold! Very inconvenient. When he wanted to drink water or eat his breakfast, that became gold. King Midas was soon cured of his greed for gold and asked to have his magic power taken away.
Our story today is about a woman in India who was tired of trying to live on the little bit her husband earned. Chandramani was her name, and she could rarely buy anything nice; it was difficult enough just to live from day to day.
Chandramani, however, had a religious bent of mind. She went to the edge of the village near the forest, where she had heard a sadhu (holy man) lived, and she found and approached him. This man seemed to know all the scriptures, and yet he was very simple and sweet of heart. Chandramani felt that he was everything she was not. She noticed something else: everything this teacher needed came to him automatically --food, blanket, well water, fuel, flowers-- all arrived at the hut as if by magic.
Chandramani began to serve the sadhu almost daily. Her regard for him was mixed, however. Along with all the admiration there was just a bit of envy, for all his good luck. Whenever she could be free from housework she would go out to the hut, some distance away, and find ways to serve the saint.
She asked him if she could be his disciple. Sometimes she would just sit and listen to his words. This teacher spoke of unselfishness, calming the mind, making the heart still....
Her husband put up with this behavior for a while and then lost his patience. "Look," he said, "you have been going to this guru of yours for quite a while. You like his company better than mine, " he grumbled. "You spend the money I earn on giving things to him. What has he done for you? Show me one single way that our fortune has improved since you started going to him!"
The strain between husband and wife went on for several days. Finally her husband said to Chandramani, "I have heard people say that that man has a touchstone. All he has to do is rub it and he gets whatever he wants. He even has more than one, they say, because once he gave one to somebody and they got rich. So if you really love me, go to that man tomorrow and ask for a touchstone for us. Why not?"
"Oh, no," Chandramani protested. "How can I ask such a man for a thing like that? He deserves everything that has come to him; and what do we deserve?"
But in the end, to keep peace in the house, she agreed. After all, she too had once felt envy of the holy man. The next day when she went to the hut she said to her teacher, "The gossip is that you have touchstones, wishing stones, to bring you what you wish; won't you give me one of those?"
"Oh," the sadhu said, "there is this much truth in it: I did get a touchstone, a week or so ago; it was turned over to me by a traveller who came from afar. But I threw it away. I think if you look over that way, along the fence, you may still find it there." And he described for her the shape and color of the stone.
As Chandramani began eagerly to walk toward that spot, a deep wonder began to stir in her. "He threw it away!" she said to herself. "What can that mean? Has he no want of it, no need of it, no use for it?" She thought deeply. "Ah, yes. That is what he has been teaching us all along: desire cannot be satisfied by satisfying desires." The truth spread through her mind. She realized that the guru's peace of mind, the sweetness of his smile, his simple mode of life, his constant cheerfulness, none of these had anything to do with touchstones. The saint was exactly what he told others to be --free from desire. He had found the Source, the Fountain-head of all power. He had touched the Self within, and with that touch all doubts had been destroyed, all vanities ended, all wishes were fulfilled.
Because he wanted nothing, the whole world was at his doorstep.
Going home, all she told her husband was that the sadhu had thrown the stone away.
Traditional Indian story, adapted
|
|
Add To Favorite
Flag as inappropriate 
Post Rating
