Twelve Facets of Reality

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: New York Dodd Made & Company

Page 65

Freedom from Dependency 43
"Thieves don't have any sense, and when they find out that I don't have anything for them to take, they will be angry. They may try to harm me.”
So he opened his only cupboard, which was empty, and hid himself inside. The thieves came and looked about. They found nothing. When they noticed the cupboard, they opened it. They saw the old man standing there.
"Why are you hiding yourself from us?" they asked. "What to answer?" he thought. Then he said, "I am hiding from you because of shame."
"What is your shame?" they asked him.
"Sirs," he answered, "there is nothing in this house to present to you. I am ashamed to have nothing to offer to you guests. So I thought I must hide."
The thieves laughed. "Yes," they said, “you are a wise man because you don't have anything."
"Yes," answered the wise man, "if you have something, you have worry. If you don't have anything, what worry can you have?"
By collecting things, you are collecting worries. You even worry whether or not people notice what you have. If guests come and do not appreciate your painting, you think they don't have any sense of appreciation. If thieves come and take it away, you also fret.
The initiate is given this reflection so that he will not become unhappy upon seeing so many worldly things. As a monk, he goes from house to house for his alms. At that time, he should not become upset that he has nothing in his monastery except four walls and an empty room. So he meditates on that oneness.
"I came into the world with nothing, only my good vibrations. Because of them, I have been unfolding my human life. Identifying with so many material things, I