THE BUDDHA AND THE PRINCE

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THE BUDDHA AND THE PRINCE

Baba said, "I shall consider you blessed, when you will renounce all

attachments, conquer lust and palate, and getting rid of all impediments, serve

God whole-heartedly and resort to the begging bowl (accept sannyas)" in Sri Sai

Satcharitra, chapter XLIV & XLV

Thus have I heard:

The Buddha was a lover of mountains, rivers and forests. On hills and in forests

did he spend periods of silence. They were periods of meditation. He would sit

there with birds near him. He loved them as his brothers. They loved him and

felt happy in his presence – so full was it peaceful vibrations. The Buddha’s

presence breathed out benediction to all.

There comes to him, one day, a young man, fair of face and full of grace and

clad in purple robes. He is a prince. He is in quest. Who will give him the

light he seeks – the light on life’s problem? He has heard of the Buddha – the

Prince of the Great Heart who left his palace and went into silence for six

long years and practiced tapasya and triumphed over Mara and won the Secret.

To the Buddha in the forest comes the young prince. He prostrated himself before

the Lord and says: "Master! A prince and a heir to my father’s throne am I. I

come to thee, for thou art a physician of the soul. Accept me as thy disciple!"

The Buddha is silent. The Master is the Brother of the poor and outcast. The

prince is clothed in purple robes.

The prince speak again: "Master! speak to me, for I seek thee. Scriptures have I

read, and I am versed in the lore of rites and ceremonies. Accept me as thy

disciple!"

Scripture – reading avails little. And empty rites cannot fill the hunger soul.

The prince gazed at the Blessed One and says: "Master! What shall I do to be

accepted as thy disciple?"

And the Buddha’s answer is brief: "Strive – and thou shalt attain!"

The prince says: "Master! I shall strive and return. When may I see thee again?"

And the Buddha says: "After the rainy season is over."

The months of the rainy season slowly pass away. The prince is out again in

search of the Buddha. He is sitting in a little mud-house. The prince

prostrates himself before the Buddha and says: "Master! I have striven and now

return to be thy disciple!"

And the Buddha smiles and asks: "Have you striven?"

"Master!" says the prince, "I went back to the palace, and I renounced rich

foods and worldly pleasures, and I kept far from my wife, rebuking her for not

obeying me, more than once, and I slept on the floor, and I pinched my body,

and I woke up many a night and looked for the Light. The Light has not yet

come!"

The Buddha says: "I preach not asceticism. My doctrine is of the Middle Path. Go

back! Not yet mayst thou be my disciple!"

The prince, with tears in his eyes, asks: Master! Wherein have I failed? Have I not striven hard?"

The Buddha, with eyes radiant with compassion, says: "Your wife committed a

fault, and you say you rebuked her more than once! You did not understand her:

you were not patient with her. You strove hard – but not in love. They who

strive truly are from anger free: in their hearts is compassion more copious

than waters in the sea. You tried to be pure. But purity is not enough. Purity

must shine with the light of love. Else purity may lead to pride."

Is not the story a parable? Yes – purity is not enough! Purity must be illumined

by love. Some time ago, I saw the Himalayan peaks touched with light. How lovely

they looked! Purity is a peak: love is a light – the Light of Lights!.

(Sadhu Vaswani in Mira, April 2004)

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