There is a story in Indian tradition of a hermit who was disturbed during meditation one day by the cawing of a crow. He glanced up at it in anger, and it fell immediately to the ground, dead. “What power I’ve acquired!” thought the hermit proudly. A devata (angel) just then appeared to him and said, “You think yourself so highly advanced, but there is one who is more advanced than you, living in the town near here. You could learn much from her.”
“A woman! Is that possible?”
“Go and see,” said the angel, and instructed him where to find her. The hermit entered the town and, after some time, arrived at a very ordinary home; he considered it beneath him even to enter there. He therefore called out, and a woman answered from within, “I will come to you shortly. I am busy just now, serving my husband.”
“She’s married!” thought the hermit indignantly. “How could a married person possibly be on a higher spiritual plane than I?” Just then she called out, “Be patient, Sir. I am not your crow!”
So she knew about that episode! He decided to wait. When at last she emerged, she spoke from a level of wisdom that did indeed prove enlightening for him.
Humbled, he returned to his place of seclusion. The angel hadn’t yet finished with him, however. Appearing to him a second time, he said, “You’ve learned something, but not yet everything that you need to know. There is another person in town from whom you still have much to learn.” The angel instructed him where to go.
The hermit returned to town. This time, he found himself entering the lowest section, where the butchers and leather workers worked and lived.
“How could any saint possibly live here?” he marveled. When he reached the house of the person he was to see, he found it belonged to a young man who, again, hadn’t time for him at the moment; he was busy serving his parents.
When finally the youth appeared, the hermit learned from him that to do one’s God-allotted duty is the highest calling, and should never be despised. The important thing is not to become attached to one’s duty.
This was, for him, a vitally important lesson. Many renunciates, in forsaking worldly involvement, overlook their duty to serve their broader family of mankind. The renunciate should offer back gratefully to this world the energy and blessings he receives from God. His renunciation should be a means of expanding his sense of selfhood.
To achieve this end, he must develop an attitude of selfless service, rendered to others according to his own ability. If he can sit all day in effective meditation, that may in fact be the highest service he can offer. His meditation, however, should be practiced with an attitude of self-offering to God, and a desire for the upliftment of all mankind, not with a desire only for personal (even though spiritual) gain.
http://www.nayaswami.org/book/01-my-intention.asp
“A woman! Is that possible?”
“Go and see,” said the angel, and instructed him where to find her. The hermit entered the town and, after some time, arrived at a very ordinary home; he considered it beneath him even to enter there. He therefore called out, and a woman answered from within, “I will come to you shortly. I am busy just now, serving my husband.”
“She’s married!” thought the hermit indignantly. “How could a married person possibly be on a higher spiritual plane than I?” Just then she called out, “Be patient, Sir. I am not your crow!”
So she knew about that episode! He decided to wait. When at last she emerged, she spoke from a level of wisdom that did indeed prove enlightening for him.
Humbled, he returned to his place of seclusion. The angel hadn’t yet finished with him, however. Appearing to him a second time, he said, “You’ve learned something, but not yet everything that you need to know. There is another person in town from whom you still have much to learn.” The angel instructed him where to go.
The hermit returned to town. This time, he found himself entering the lowest section, where the butchers and leather workers worked and lived.
“How could any saint possibly live here?” he marveled. When he reached the house of the person he was to see, he found it belonged to a young man who, again, hadn’t time for him at the moment; he was busy serving his parents.
When finally the youth appeared, the hermit learned from him that to do one’s God-allotted duty is the highest calling, and should never be despised. The important thing is not to become attached to one’s duty.
This was, for him, a vitally important lesson. Many renunciates, in forsaking worldly involvement, overlook their duty to serve their broader family of mankind. The renunciate should offer back gratefully to this world the energy and blessings he receives from God. His renunciation should be a means of expanding his sense of selfhood.
To achieve this end, he must develop an attitude of selfless service, rendered to others according to his own ability. If he can sit all day in effective meditation, that may in fact be the highest service he can offer. His meditation, however, should be practiced with an attitude of self-offering to God, and a desire for the upliftment of all mankind, not with a desire only for personal (even though spiritual) gain.
http://www.nayaswami.org/book/01-my-intention.asp
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