Once upon a time, a king was hunting with his companions when he stumbled upon a hermitage. There, he discovered a saint resting on the uneven, hard ground. He was astonished that anyone could find comfort in such discomfort. Filled with curiosity, he invited the saint to be his guest at the palace. The saint readily accepted, gathered all his belongings—no more than would fit in a small bag—and stepped into the king’s carriage.
Upon his arrival at the palace, the king arranged for the most luxurious suite and the finest meals for the saint, ensuring his servants attended him throughout the day. The king often joined the saint at mealtimes, inquiring whether he felt comfortable. However, beneath the veneer of this exquisite hospitality, the king felt challenged by the saint’s simplicity, peace, and contentment. To alleviate his sense of inadequacy, he secretly longed for the saint to admire his lavish lifestyle and acknowledge its relative superiority. Yet, all the king ever received from the saint was love and blessings, rather than the validation he craved. This gradually bred resentment within him as he began to question the wisdom of hosting someone he perceived as far beneath his stature and incapable of appreciating the value of what he possessed. One morning, while having breakfast, he asked the saint if he missed his hermitage, to which the saint replied, ‘No,’ further irritating the king.
After breakfast, the king tactfully conveyed to the saint that he believed the saint yearned for his hermitage, even if the latter did not admit it out of politeness. Thus, he had arranged for him to be taken back there. The saint gladly accepted, expressed his gratitude and boarded the carriage arranged to transport him back to his hermitage.
Before the saint’s carriage reached his hermitage, the king, hiding behind bushes, eagerly awaited the saint’s reaction upon disembarking. He observed that the saint promptly resumed his customary routine after bidding the king’s men farewell. The saint swept where he usually slept, brought a bucket of water, foraged for herbs, berries and other fruits, and enjoyed his meal with the birds, squirrels and rabbits that had gathered around him. Once he had dined, he lay down to sleep, and the king noted the profound contentment etched upon the saint’s face, even in slumber.
When the king returned to his palace, he wondered why the saint felt no discomfort or reluctance upon returning to that same uncomfortable old place after living in such luxury. Despite being a king, why was he almost always restless and anxious, and why was that saint so happy and content despite having nearly no possessions?
So, the king visited the saint the following day to discover the latter’s secret and asked, “I was expecting to impress you with my luxurious lifestyle and evoke a craving for it in you. However, I found that you were as comfortable and happy when you returned here as in the palace. How do you live so happily with so little without getting attracted tor craving anything?
The saint replied, “I truly admired the architecture of your palace, along with its gardens, fountains, exquisite food and your keen taste for beautiful things. However, after appreciating the beauty of anything, I never allow the seed thought of ‘I’ to arise, as it leads to a desire to possess, prolong, or repeat any pleasant experience that has already passed. Preventing the birth of this sense of ‘I’ enables one to embrace what life presents without comparing it to anything else or developing attachments.” He continued, “When one gazes at a cloud, one appreciates its beauty without wishing to possess it. I have trained myself to view everything like that fleeting cloud, for this is fundamentally the true nature of things. I have learned that we ought to cherish the beauty of things or even use them should life present them to us, but we must be prepared to let them go when they choose to depart. Without a sense of self, comparisons and attachments, most experiences become immensely blissful.”
As the saint bid the king farewell, he shared that we are as happy or sad as our thoughts make us.
Reasons for happiness do not automatically lead to joy without the consent of our thoughts, which we are often reluctant to grant, as our focus tends to be on what we lack. Therefore, rather than spending our time and energy solely on amassing wealth and pursuing achievements, we should also train our minds to remain vigilant about the necessity and quality of our thoughts.
While returning to the palace, the king realised he had mistakenly equated power with possessions. True power comes from dissolving the fictitious “I”, eschewing comparisons, developing detachment and managing our thoughts through self-awareness.
Anil Bhatnagar is a corporate trainer, spiritual coach and the author of Reverse Your Thoughts, Reverse Your Diseases, among several other books. He can be reached at thrive.ab@gmail.com