The Old Man and The Old Cottage - A Story

Once there was an old man who lived in a cottage in the forest. He had recently retired due to old age, and was bored and restless as a result. He missed going to work in the village every day.

His cottage was old. He built it when he was young, and they had both had seen better days. More cracks and leaks appeared every day.

One day, while noticing he could see sunlight streaming through one of the larger cracks, he thought, “Why not tear it all down and build a new one? I did it once before.”

He decided to start right away. He picked up his heaviest sledgehammer and – with some effort – hoisted it over his shoulder…

Then he stopped himself, lowering the hammer.

Something told him he should get some advice in case he was making a big mistake.

He heard there was an old guru who lived deep in the forest, so he decided to seek him out. He'd never had time before because he always worked long hours, but this was the perfect excuse. 

After a long day of traveling into the deepest part of the forest, he found the bearded guru sitting on a rock contemplating a bird on the branch of a tree. After he explained his situation to the guru, he asked, “Should I tear down my cottage and rebuild it, or just let it waste away?”

The guru stroked his beard and said, “There is only one important voice you should listen to, yes? When you hear it, come back and tell me what it says.”

The old man said he would and thanked him.

On the way back home, he stopped in the village to chat with some villagers. He told them what he was thinking of doing.

Immediately everyone started giving him opinions on what he should do. This surprised and confused him.

Suddenly the crowd parted, and the richest man in the village strutted through. He spoke louder than the rest:

“Your cottage is old and falling apart. But so are you, old man, so just sit in your rocking chair and wait till your next life to build a new one.”

This saddened the old man. As he left, he even heard some of the villagers laugh at him.

He went back to the guru and told him what happened. "...so therefore, I think it's best I leave my cottage alone.”

“Because of what the man said, yes?”

“You said to listen for the most important voice. He’s very rich and successful, so I knew his voice was the most important one.”

The guru clasped his hands and spoke in a low tone. “Go deeper, yes? Because the most important voice is within you."

"I don't hear it."

"With time and patience, you will hear it constantly. You just have to work at it."

The old man nodded and left.

As he stepped over some large roots on the way back, he tried in vain to hear some voice inside himself. But all he could hear were the villagers’ taunts and the rich man’s insults.

This made him angry. “They didn’t care about me, or what was best for me. I’ll show them!”

When he got home he immediately picked up the sledgehammer. It was very heavy and he grunted as he swung it...

But he stopped himself again. Something told him he should see the guru one more time, even at this late hour. Plus, his back hurt from swinging the sledgehammer.

The guru was sitting by a small campfire when the old man emerged from the trees, limping from  his back pain.

“Did your inner voice show you the way?” the guru asked.

“Yes! It said 'I'll show them and tear it down even if it kills me!'” the man said.

The guru poked the small fire with a stick. A glowing ember fluttered up into the night sky.

“That voice was your ego talking with pride, yes?”

“But it’s the only voice I hear!”

“If you go deeper in your meditation, I promise you will hear your divine voice, from your purest, truest Self. It will guide you every time. You just need to work at it.”

“Is it talking to me now?”

“Every second of the day. You just have to work at it.”

“The other voices are so strong! I don’t think I can do it, Master. Something must be broken inside of me.”

The guru smiled. “Then we would repair it, yes? But you can’t be too broken because you already hear the voice. Don’t you see? It’s the one that told you to come to me for help.”

The old man was suddenly enlightened by this – nothing else needed to be said.

He had a nice, quiet walk home.

At home, he meditated on all the guru said and knew it to be true. He started listening.

He started hearing.

And he was no longer restless.

So now that he hears his divine voice consistently, what did it tell him to do with his cottage and all of its cracks and leaks?

Maybe it wasn’t too broken. Maybe he just needed to work at it. 

by Scott Ware

What is a Well-Rounded Life? - Satsang

From Gautum Baiji's Satsang:

Three people were travelling on a boat. As the trip progressed, they introduced themselves and got to know each other.

They were all quite educated in their particular disciplines, and they enjoyed showing off their knowledge.

Soon the conversation turned to the Vedas, and each seemed to know more than the other. They were more interested in impressing each other than in encouraging each others' spiritual enlightenment.

One of them noticed the boatman was listening to them.

"What's your opinion of the Vedas?" one of them asked.

The boatman shrugged and said, "I have not read them."

The scholars looked at each other with surprise. "Are you serious? The Vedas are crucial to a well-rounded life. Only an idiot would not be familiar with them."

"Your life is practically worthless," one of them said arrogantly about the boatman.

The boatman just listened and continued steering the boat.

The sky darkened just then and a storm descended on them. Low clouds brought heavy rain and wind, and the waves rose menacingly around them. They were violently rocked from side to side.

The passengers grabbed on tight or they'd be thrown into the churning waters.

"What's happening?!" one of them cried.

The boatman looked at them grimly. "The boat is taking on too much water and is going to sink. You all know how to swim, yes?"

The first scholar looked at him frightfully. "I spent all my time at the library studying. I never had time for swimming lessons!"

The boatman looked at the others, whose shared the same expressions of shame.

"Well I hope whatever you read in the Vedas is going to help you now. As for my worthless life, somehow I found time to learn to swim and I will continue to live that life past this challenging day."

Keep the Fire Low - A Story

​A man was ​lost in the forest for days until he found the guru he was looking for. Overcome with exhaustion and hunger, he collapsed at her feet. She promptly gave him food from her campfire, then waited patiently until he could speak.  

 

“You expected me?” he asked, referring to the prepared food. 

“Is that what you came to ask?” 

“No. I am seeking answers to life​, which has become so difficult."​

​She smiled and seemed to look through him.

“You searched for me a long time. How did you find me?”

​“For years I heard stories about your wisdom. I decided to seek you out by asking others.” ​He showed her some worn maps. “They gave me directions which didn't work very well. I almost starved to death.”

She took the maps and glanced at them. “These are from someone else’s journey.” She tossed them into the fire.

“What else did you do to find me?” she asked gently.

​

“I prayed.” 

“Did that help?”

“No, but I heard that's because some prayers aren’t answered. So then I used my mind to conjure food and water.” 

“Did you succeed?”

“No, but I almost became food for a bear.”

She laughed. “Maybe his conjuring abilities are better than yours.”

​He frowned. “Usually I can make things happen in my life, but the old ways don’t seem to work as well. I just want answers.” 

Her eyes grew brighter. “I’m prepared to give them to you.”

He sat up in anticipation. 

“You probably noticed that you only found me when you’d given up the other's maps.”

“Yes.”

“You also had to give up your usual tricks of attracting and creating because they were running counter to another force at work.”

“How do you know this?” 

“Because you still had something deep inside you giving you direction. You did find me, after all.”

He became very excited. “Yes, I did! Can you help me get access to that all the time?”

“You do not need a guru for this. Meditation alone allows you to touch the divine inside you for all the answers, any time.” 

“The kingdom of God is within you,” he recited.

“Yes.”

“Is that it?”

“Tell me what else you want.”

He looked embarrassed. “Well, sometimes I want… things. Nice things. Maybe some comfortable things, too.”

“That is very honest. You can pray for things. You can attract things to you.”

“That's okay?”

“It is, and you will continue to do that until you are less interested in those things, and more interested in what your true self wants. I'm talking about the part of you that is connected to the divine, your soul… It’s always been there, gently guiding you to your bliss, and now you’re hearing it come through more clearly, even as you try to deny it or silence it.”

“If it’s my soul speaking, as you say, wouldn’t I want to hear it?”

The guru tossed another stick on the fire.

“You would think, but people have many habits accumulated over a lifetime that distract them from hearing it. It is easier to watch one hour of T.V. than spend two minutes listening to that voice, your own true voice.”

He struggled with this. “If it’s really my voice, why am I such a stranger to it?”

“Because your ego has been running the show, protecting you from harm, but also keeping you from your own deepest self. Which is love, by the way.”

“So my ego’s the bad guy?” 

“No, it’s a useful tool, like fire on a stove. Use it carefully to cook food, just don’t let it burn down the kitchen.” 

“So you’re saying it’s okay to ask for material things…”

“Or you can let the ego fall away and see the God in you and go from there.”

He was awestruck. “Why would I do one when the other is so available to me?”

“Because the Ego is fierce. It fights for relevance and control every second.”

The man thought for a moment. “So how do I keep the "fire on the stove" low?”

A piece of wood suddenly shifts in the campfire, and the flames rise higher. The guru sees this and hands a cup of water to the man. 

He nods, and tosses the water on the fire. The flames recede and become manageable. 

“Meditation,” he says.

The guru nods.