One day, a rich man got bored of spending his money and earning new ones. Instead, he decided to find the truth and become righteous.
The rich man abandoned his home, family, and job, and he began to think about what he needed to become a spiritually enlightened person. He thought for a long time, and as a result he decided to become an ardent Christian.
He began to keep all the commandments, read the Bible daily, and pray. But soon he began to find double interpretations and cruel scenes in the Holy Scriptures, and began to think: “Am I doing the right thing by serving the Christian God?”
He again retired and began to think. This time he decided to become a Muslim. Again I began to observe all the duties corresponding to the religion, made a pilgrimage to Mecca, but again I began to think: “Am I doing the right thing by serving the Muslim God? After all, there are so many cruel deeds that are supposedly done by the will of Allah...”
Again he retired from business, and again began to reflect. And I decided to go into Buddhism. But again he was overcome by doubts, and he decided to leave Buddhism.
He looked through a lot of religions and philosophies, but he never found the one he needed. But then he remembered that somewhere far away, almost on the other side of the world, there was a Teacher who, they say, walked exactly the same path as the rich man himself. And the man decided to head towards him.
Finally he found him, and told this man the whole story of his life. The teacher listened to him carefully, and instead of answering, he pulled out from his bosom two tickets to a classical music concert that was to take place that evening. The rich man was very surprised, but did not show it. He went with his teacher to the concert.
After the last melody died down, the teacher asked the rich man:
— Did you like the concert?
- Yes, teacher, of course! - exclaimed the rich man - These melodies were written by the best composers and performed by the best master musicians!
- But I didn’t like it... I tried to listen to the sound of the violin, but its rattling seemed disgusting to me, I wanted to listen to the trumpets, but they only put pressure on my eardrums...
- Teacher, but the concert must be perceived as something integral, and not as the sound of individual instruments!
The teacher grinned:
“You just don’t know how to listen to life, just like I don’t know how to listen to music.” In pursuit of something separate, you cannot enjoy your whole life...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru