Gorakhnath and Matsyendranath

[Guest guest]

Once, Gorakhnath(GN from now) became too snobby with all he and

learnt, and his guru Matsyendranath(MN from now) decided to teach him

a lesson. He sent him to a foreign land. When Gn reached there, he

found his Guru was already there. Mn had fallen in love with a local

woman, and married her. Not only that, he had 7 kids, and forgot all

about religon. Gn was angry, and tried to dissuade his guru, but to no

avail.

 

After many years, he returned to his own land, only to find his guru

in samadhi. His other followers told him he had never left the place.

When Gn was surprised, Mn laughed and said "In one role I was married

to that woman, but in another I was here in Samadhi. The real me was

nowhere, for I am Shiva, and I was merely observing both my roles."

 

Gn learnt his lesson. Rather than looking at externalities, we should

look at the inner spirit of Man.

[Guest guest]

I read a similar story. Once Gorakhnath and his follower were touring

India. Gorak believed in teaching by practice, rather than dry

philosophy. But Goraks chela didnt think he was learning anything,

while was Master thought he was a good teacher. So Gorak decided to

teach him a lesson.

 

Once they went to a city, Gorak asked him to go beg for food. He

reached the house of a very beautiful woman, who gave him lots of

food. She had a magical parrot that could recite the Vedas. When the

women left to get some food, the student started talking to the

parrot. When the parrot found out he was Goraks chela, he asked for

help. The parrot said he wanted to be free, but the woman kept him

captive. The parrot asked the student to ask his Guru how to escape.

 

When the student went back to Gorak and told him what the parrot had

said, Gorak started coughing loudly, rolled up his eyes and fell

asleep on the floor. The Student, who already thought his Guru was

crazy, decided not to say anything.

 

The next day the student again went to beg for food, the same lady

invited him for food again. When she left the room, the parrot asked

what his Guru had said. The student told hm the strange behaviour of

his Guru. As soon as he heard this, the parrot roled up his, coughed

and fell down dead. The woman saw this and came running, crying loudly

"What have u done to my parrot!". When she opened the cage, the

parrot, who had be pretending, flew out.

 

Flying away, he said to the student "I never met your Guru, only

indirectly talked to him for 5 minutes, yet he taught me how to

escape. You have been with him for 10 years, yet you claimed to have

learnt nothing?"

 

Lessson: Learn from how Gurus act and behave, not just what they say.