It so happened that someone seeking met someone standing on the way, and he said to him:
— There is a secret well in the mountain caves. Go to him and ask your question. If you ask sincerely, the well will answer.
And this man began to search. It was difficult to find the well, but he managed it. Leaning over the well, he asked: “What is life?” But there was only an echo in response. He repeated the question, and the well repeated: “What is life?” But this man was sincere in his intention, and he continued. For three days and three nights he asked again and again: “What is life?” - and the well only returned his voice. But the man did not get tired, he continued.
If you work with the mind for many days, years, the mind does not give you the key, it simply repeats your voice. But the sincerely thirsty one continues; he doesn't get tired.
After three days, the well realized that this man was sincere and was not going to leave. And the well said:
- Okay. I'll tell you what life is. Go down to the nearest town, enter the first three shops. Then come back and tell me what you saw.
The man was surprised: “What is this answer? Well, okay, if the well says so, it must be done.”
He went down to the city and went into the first three shops. But he came out even more amazed and embarrassed. In the first shop, several people were fiddling with some metal parts. He went into another shop - several people were making some kind of strings. In the third shop he entered, there were carpenters, they were making something out of wood.
- And this is life?
He returned to the well:
-What do you mean? I was there, that's what I saw, but what's the point?
“I showed you the way,” answered the well. - You followed it. Someday you will see the meaning.
The seeker got angry:
- Deception! What have I achieved by continuously asking the well for three days?
And, upset, he set off.
After many years of wandering, he once passed by a garden. It was a wonderful moonlit night - a full moon night. Someone was playing the zither. The man was delighted and shocked. As if attracted by a magnet, he entered the garden without asking permission. He approached and stood in front of the musician. He played the zither, immersed in meditation. The man sat down and began to listen. In the moonlight I looked at the player, at the instrument. He had never seen such an instrument before.
Suddenly the man realized that those workers were working on something similar. These were parts of a zither.
The man jumped up and began to dance. The musician woke up and interrupted the game. But no one could stop the seeker’s dance now.
- What's the matter? - asked the musician. - What happened to you?
“I understand,” he replied. - Life has everything. All you need is a new combination. I went to three shops. Everything was there, but there was no zither. Everything was separate. Order was needed, but everything was in chaos. And so it is everywhere: there is everything you need. What is missing is only synthesis, only unity. And then such wonderful music will flow from this.
You have everything you need. God does not send anyone to be poor in this world. Everyone is born an emperor, but lives like a beggar, not knowing how to combine everything into harmony.
The mind must become a servant, consciousness must become a master, and then the instrument is ready, and then wonderful music will flow. First make a zither out of your life, and then you will be able to completely eliminate the mind. Then you find yourself outside the circle of birth and death. This is God.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru