There lived a wise and venerable saint. From all over the country, enlightened people rushed to see his wisdom, but he remained silent. He was silent before everyone who came with a question; instead of answering, he drew on the ground with a bamboo staff: “He who is satisfied in his heart sees goodness everywhere and at all times.” Sometimes he wrote: “Where there is dissatisfaction, all efforts are in vain,” or: “Abide in silence, stillness, and you will know.”
But the visitors were not satisfied with these answers, because they were too attached to words. They could not understand why the sage did not answer them directly. Why? He probably knows the answers. Other sages give advice and prescribe different methods, talk about severe asceticism, but what about this one? You cannot hear his sermons with your ear, so how can you understand them?
The saint was a real mystic. He was not an ascetic, and he did not have any special recipes or exercises, only understanding - silent understanding.
One day, during a holiday, a young man appeared in front of him. He had no staff, no wise scriptures, no questions were on his tongue, only aspiration and great passion were in his eyes. He approached the saint, without sitting down, without looking for a place to lie down, like others, he looked at the serene face of the elder, without saying a word. Then, to the amazement of the others, he took the staff from his hands and inscribed the words in the sand: “How does light dispel darkness?”
The saint, having returned his staff, wrote: “What darkness? Are you lost in the darkness? The young pilgrim wrote: “Does the lost lose the way? Is the lost truly lost? For some time the sage contemplated the young man’s face, and then wrote on the ground: “Only forgotten.”
The sage erased everything written and wrote: “What desire brought you here?”
Many greedy eyes watched as the staff was passed from hand to hand: “Desires?.. I don’t have any.”
Looking at the pilgrim, the saint took the staff, stood up, extended his right hand and, knocking it on the ground three times, froze in this position.
- Why did you do this? - asked the pilgrim.
The sage scribbled: “Curiosity is a form of desire.”
The staff flashed back and forth until the pilgrim wrote: “They say there is a sacred mantra, by reading which you can merge with the Universe.” The sage inscribed: “Have you ever been separated from Her?” Suddenly the monk raised his staff and brought it down on the young man’s head, throwing him into a deep trance.
The days have passed. Sitting in self-denial at the feet of the great sage, the young pilgrim tasted his bliss. He never asked a question; boundless love blossomed between them. On the third day, the sage broke his many years of silence.
- Here you are, finally! - came his hoarse voice.
The young man did not answer, looked into the wise eyes of the old man, then took the staff from his hands and wrote: “I just remembered!”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru