AMMA SAYS - STORIES & JOKES

[Guest guest]

OM AMRITESWARYAI NAMAH

 

AMMA SAYS - STORY

 

Talking & Listening

 

"Once, there lived a great master who was renowned for his wisdom

and spiritual attainment. He used to give beautiful deeply inspiring

sermons. The people of a certain village cherished a desire to hear

the master speak, and invited him to their village. The master

accepted their invitation. When he arrived, there were hundreds of

people waiting for him. After a grand reception, the master stood on

a podium to deliver his sermon. The crowd was eagerly waiting for

him to speak. He said to them, 'My dear brothers and sisters! I feel

happy and privileged to be here with you today, but let me ask you

something. Do any of you know the subject I am going to talk about?'

As a response to his question, the whole audience shouted, 'Yes, we

know!' The master paused, looked out at the crowd, smiled, and

said, 'Well, then, if you already know about it, there is no need

for me to say anything, is there?' Without another word he got down

from the podium and left the village."

 

"The villagers were very dissappointed. They decided to invite the

master again, and again he agreed to come."

 

"The day arrived and the master was received in the traditional

manner. He was about to deliver his speech, when he asked the

audience the same question he had asked the previous time. But this

time the villagers were prepared. So when he asked, 'Do any of you

know the subject I'm goint to talk about today?' all the villagers

shouted in unison, 'No, we don't know anything!"

 

"The master paused, and there was a slightly mischievous smile on

his face. He said 'My dear ones, if you don't know anything at all

about the subject, then it would be useless for me to speak,

wouldn't it? Before anyone could protest, the master had left.

 

The audience was stunned. They had been so sure that 'no' was the

answer the master expected. You can imagine how dissappointed they

must have felt. However, they refused to give up. They asked

themselves, 'If the answer to the Master's question is neither yes

nor no, what, then, could it be?' What were they to say to finally

benefit from his wisdom? The villagers had a meeting to discuss the

master, and they decided what they would do next time the master

asked them the question. They were certain that this time it would

work. Once again they invited the master. He arrived on the

appointed day. The villagers were both nervous and excited. The

master stood up before them, and as usual he asked the same

question: 'Brothers and sisters, do you know anything about the

subject I wish to talk about?' Without a moment's hesitation, half

the crowd shouted, 'Yes!' and the other half shoulted, 'No!'"

 

"The villagers then waited expectantly for the master's response.

But the master said, 'Well, then, let those of you who know teach

those who do not know!' This was an unexpected blow to everyone.

Before they had time to recover from the shock, the master quietly

left the place."

 

"What were they to do now? The villagers were determined to hear his

sermon. They decided to give it one more try. They had another

meeting. People suggested all sorts of things, but nothing seemed to

be the answer. Finally, an old man stood up and said, 'Whatever we

answer seems to be wrong, so the next time the Master asks the

question, wouldn't it be best if we were absolutely quiet and said

nothing?' The villagers agreed."

 

"The next time the master arrived, he asked the same question as

usual. But this time no one spoke. It was so quiet you could hear a

pin drop. In the depth of that silence, the master finally began to

speak, and the words of his wisdom flowed out towards the villagers."

 

"My children, the meaning of the story is that only in the depth of

pure silence can we hear God's voice. During his first visit, when

the master asked if they knew what he was going to speak about, the

villagers said, 'Yes, we know.' That is the ego. The thought, 'I

know', is the ego speaking. When the intellect (the seat of the ego)

is full of information, nothing else can enter into it. The mind

that is brimful with intellectual knowledge cannot receive even a

drop of true spiritual knowledge. This is the reason why the master

did not speak during his first visit."

 

"During his second visit, the villagers replied to the same question

saying, 'No, we don't know anything!' That is a negative statement.

A closed, negative mind cannot receive the highest wisdom either. To

receive pure knowledge, one has to be wide-open and receptive like

an innocent child."

 

"The third time, they said both yes and no. This exemplifies the

doubtful, vacillating nature of the mind. An unsteady, doubting mind

is incapable of being open to any real knowledge."

 

"Finally, when the people kept quiet, the master spoke. Only when

the mind stops all its interpretations can we hear the inner voice

of God."

 

"These four responses can be compared to a glass that we want to

fill with water. The first answer, 'Yes, we know,' is like a glass

that is already filled to overflowing. There is no room for another

drop. The second response, 'No, we don't know anything,' is like a

glass turned upside-down. It would be useless trying to pour

anything into it. The third response, when the two opposite

answers, 'yes' and 'no', were given, can be compared to a water-

filled glass mixed with dirt. The water has been contaminated and

has lost its purity. Any additional water poured into it would also

be spoiled. Only the fourth answer, silence, is like an upright,

empty glass that is capable of being filled with, and retaining, the

water of knowledge."

::

AMMA SHARANAM