One guru gave instructions to his disciple:
- One God is yours, and no one else belongs to you.
The student asked in surprise:
“And my mother and my wife, who care so much about me, who love me and are so unhappy when they don’t see me—they are mine, aren’t they?”
The Guru replied:
- That's where you're wrong. I'll show you that none of them really love you. Don't believe for a minute that your wife or mother will sacrifice their life for you. You can try it and you will see. Go home and pretend you're in terrible pain. And I will come and show you what to do next.
The student did as he was told. Doctors were called, but none of them could bring him relief. His mother expressed extreme grief and sighed. The wife and children were crying. At that moment the guru entered.
“This disease is very serious,” he said. “And I don’t see any way to save the patient unless someone agrees to give their life for him.”
At these words, horror appeared on everyone’s faces. The teacher, turning to the old mother of the patient, said:
- To live or die - does it matter to you at your age if you lose your son, who feeds you and the whole family? If you can give your life for him, then I can save him. If you, mother, cannot make this sacrifice, then who else in the world will want to do it?
But the old woman, stammering, said through her tears:
- Dear father, I am ready to do whatever you order to save my son. But how will I leave the little children? This is my misfortune - children stand in my way, I cannot agree.
Listening to this conversation between the guru and the husband's mother, his wife, crying bitterly and turning to her parents, said:
“Because of you, dear father and mother, I cannot make this sacrifice.”
Thus, everyone found a reason for themselves. Then the guru, addressing his disciple, said:
- You see, no one agrees to give their life for you. Now do you understand what I mean when I say that no one belongs to you?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru