One day a priest died. Of course, from the very beginning he was sure that he would go to heaven, to heaven. He arrived there and everything was fine. The house he found himself in was simply magnificent, it was the most amazing house he could have ever dreamed of. The moment he had a desire, a servant immediately appeared. If he was hungry, the servant would hold in his hands a tray of food, the most delicious he had ever tasted. If he was thirsty, then even before his desire formed into a thought, while it was still a feeling, a man with drinks would appear.
So it went on and he was very happy for two or three days, and then he began to feel restless, because a person has to do something, you cannot just sit in a chair. Only a man of Tao can sit in a chair like that and sit, sit, sit... You can’t do that.
The priest became worried. Two or three days off, a little rest is normal. During his lifetime he was so active: many public services, missions, churches, preaching; he was so involved in the affairs of the community and flock that he now enjoyed relaxing. But how long can you rest? It’s good to rest until, sooner or later, the weekend is over, and then you return to the world, to your usual circle of activities. He became restless and began to feel some kind of discomfort.
Suddenly a servant appeared and asked:
-What do you want? This feeling of yours is not a need, you are not hungry, you are not thirsty, you are just restless. So what should I do?
“I can’t always sit here, I can’t sit forever, I want to do something,” the priest explained.
“That’s impossible,” the servant objected. “All your wishes here will be fulfilled by us, why do you need to do anything?” This is of no use, and therefore this is not provided here.
The priest became even more worried and exclaimed:
- What kind of Paradise is this?!
- What Paradise? What other Paradise? What makes you think this is Heaven? - the servant was surprised. - This is Hell. Who told you that this is Heaven?
And it really was hell. Now he understood: without activity it was hell. He had to go crazy sooner or later. Without communication and without conversation, without the need to hold services, without pagans to convert to Christianity, without stupid people to make wise, what could he do?
Only a man of Tao could change that hell and turn it into heaven. The man of Tao, wherever he is, is peaceful and calm. He does only the most necessary, and if you do this necessary for him, he will become even happier. Everything unimportant is discarded.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru