A guru and his student lived in a small countryside hut with only their begging bowl and dhoti as possessions. Each morning they would take their begging bowl to the village, and each evening wash their dhoti and hang it out to dry. One day, the guru announced to his student that he was embarking on a pilgrimage. His greatest worry was that the student would starve!
That day, the student begged and received generously for his needs. He washed and hung out his dhoti to dry. But in the morning, he discovered the rats had chewed the edge of his dhoti. He asked the villagers for another piece of cloth, which he was kindly given, but he also needed a cat, which they also provided him with. When the cat needed milk, they gave him a cow. Then the cow needed pasture, so they gave him land. Soon, he wanted an assistant to help with the extra work and adopted a young man. A wife and children were soon occupying the small hut so a large house was needed. One summer’s day, the master guru returned. He was shocked! “what’s all this” he said. The student replied “I needed all this to keep my dhoti clean!
Story told to Wendy at festival 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment