Chitrabhanu Man with Vision

Author(s): Clare Rosenfield
Publisher: Jain Meditation International Centre New York

Page 94

Here I am, grounded in confidence and trust, and here is a man, the embodiment of knowledge and wisdom. I have come home.
It was love at first sight! "Now tell me, dear soul, why you have come.”
Rup remembered once again his pain and his quest. His soft black eyes smarting with tears, he brought forth his voice to say, “I am here to know the secret of death. First I lost my mother, then I lost my sister, later I lost my beloved friend, and now I have lost my peace. I have come to find peace.”
The Achārya smiled to see before him a young man with a quest.
"It is good you have come. And it is good you are not carrying dogma and opinion with you, only a real longing for truth.”
There was a space of silence. Then he asked Rup, “But will you be satisfied with temporary answers?”
Rup replied, “I am looking for that which is permanent and real, nothing else.”
“And do you know where you will find that permanent, that real?"
"I do not know,” Rup answered honestly, “but to find that, I am here. I am ready for anything."
"Yes," continued the Acharya, "these blows in your life have sharpened your quest. It's a blessing in disguise. Your quest has not come from dry intellectual discussion or from blind faith; it has taken birth in the depths of sorrow. Do you know that when pain is moist with living feeling, it can be used as fertilizer to bring forth the beautiful harvest of your reality? That is the meaning of Enlightenment — to find yourself. You will draw the sparkling treasure from your own Self. Why not have the experience of your own life?"
Rup felt a deep tremor of ecstasy in his being. The words of this, ancient and eternally wise soul touched him deeply. He was suffused with love and light from without and within. For a moment duality ceased.
"I request to become your disciple,” he spoke simply.
"Yes, dear soul," answered the Acharya, “I welcome you as my disciple. Under my guidance, you will listen to my words
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