Journey
Two travelers were resting near a path which wound its way through the woods. As they rested, they shared some food and water, as well as some memories from the past.
One of the men began talking about an experience he once had during a journey very much like the one the two were now on. He said the series of events happened maybe ten or fifteen years ago.
At that time, the man was suffering from a rather intense case of wanderlust, roaming from place to place, but, not quite sure why. For the most part, at least in those days, he liked to travel alone.
At a certain point during his previous journey, the man encountered a mysterious stranger . She was sitting by the side of the path on which he was traveling.
The seated stranger seemed to radiate an aura of wisdom and knowledge, and, therefore, the traveler decided to stop for a while and engage the individual in conversation and, perhaps, discover why the seated person seemed to have such a compelling, commanding aura.
The stranger was friendly and, soon, the two struck up a conversation. Although the mysterious individual was humble and not at all seeking to dominate the conversation, the traveler quickly recognized that the person had a deep understanding of life and the human condition – a wisdom which the stranger dispensed with both ease and clarity.
Wishing to benefit further from such knowledge, the traveler asked the mysterious stranger which way she was going. The elderly woman informed him that she was going in the same direction as the man was traveling, and when he heard this, he asked for permission to keep her company during her journey.
The woman said: “I fear you will not be able to adhere to the condition which I would impose on you if we were to travel together.”
Not wishing to miss the opportunity to be able to listen to the woman’s insights concerning life, the man assured her: “Noble lady, I will gladly submit to whatever condition you place on me.”
The woman looked at him intensely for a brief instant, looked away, and replied: “All right, I will permit you to travel with me, but the condition which I place on you is that no matter what may happen along the way, you can ask me no questions. You must be content with whatever I may say independently of any questions you might have. If you cannot comply with this condition, then, we will have to part company. Is this acceptable to you?”
The man nodded his head eagerly and said: “Yes.”
The two individuals arose and began to walk along the path.
From time to time, the woman would speak about this or that
observation concerning their journey together, but, quite frequently,
the two walked in silence.
Soon, they came to a beach area near a very wide river. On the
sand was a fairly large, unattended, row boat.
The woman approached the boat, picked up a staff-sized stout
piece of drift wood and began pounding a hole in the bottom of the
boat. When she had completed making the hole, she put the stick
down and continued to walk along the beach.
The man was upset by what he had just witnessed for the woman
had damaged a perfectly good boat -- one which, undoubtedly, was
needed by its owner. He stopped the woman and asked, somewhat,
angrily: “Why did you poke a hole in that boat? It was not your boat,
and, surely, this was a very unjust act.”
The woman looked at him with an unruffled gaze and said: “I
told you before we even began our journey together that you might
not be able to abide by the condition which I would impose on you,
and here we are, hardly half a day together, and you already have
broken your promise not to ask questions of me, no matter what took
place.”
The man was taken aback by the woman’s peaceful, but pointed
comment . He felt confused, alternatively looking at the damaged
boat and, then, back at the woman, caught between, on the one hand,
his sense of the injustice of what had just occurred and, yet, on the
other hand, desiring, nonetheless, to continue accompanying the
woman and listening to her words which he found quite profound
and thought-provoking.
The man lowered his head and stammered: “Yyyess! I ... I did
make such a promise to you, and ... and ... and I must admit that I
am quite puzzled by what has just occurred, but I ask for your
forgiveness and request that you continue to let me accompany you
a while longer.”
A soft look spread across the woman’s previously stern face and
she said: “OK. I’ll not invoke my right to part company with you
despite your having broken the condition of our journeying together.
But, you must promise me, yet again, that you will not ask me any
questions irrespective of what happens.”
The man’s expression registered great relief and happiness. Once
more, he eagerly agreed to not ask any questions of her.
Later, in the early afternoon, and after stopping for a meal of
fruit and bread by the side of the path while the woman spoke about
life, the two individuals came upon an extremely handsome youth
who also was quite self-absorbed. The woman walked over to the
youth and, quite inexplicably, struck a blow to the young man’s
temple, killing him instantly.
The man traveling with her was stunned into silence. He was
quiet for a time, and, then, no longer able to contain himself, he
pointed at her accusingly, and said: “How could you do such a
terrible thing?”
The man was about to go on when the woman stopped him with
a withering look in her eyes. There was something terrifying in the
way she stared at the man, and the words in his throat died as
completely as the young man lying on the ground.
Still transfixing the man with her commanding eyes, the woman
spoke: “Once again, you have broken your promise. Can you tell me
why I should not leave you alone at this very instant?
Clearly, the man did not understand what was going on. While
he could not overlook the killing of the youth, nevertheless, somehow
his heart was urging him to maintain keeping the company of this
woman, for, he felt a strange sort of transformation taking place
within him as he listened to the woman’s commentary on life’s
meaning.
He felt disgusted with himself for doing so, and, yet, he found
himself asking for the woman’s forgiveness. Moreover, he started to
cry and begged her to be permitted to continue on with her.
The woman’s fierce gaze lightened somewhat. A strange sparkle
came into her eyes and a slight smile came to her lips.
“All right,” she said. “I will give you one last chance. But, rest
assured, if you ask any more questions, then, we will part company.
Is that understood?”
The man hung his head, looking at his feet and slowly shook his
head in the affirmative. He didn’t know what was happening to him,
but, for some deeply hidden reason, he wanted to continue on in the
company of this woman.
They set off together in silence. After traveling in that manner
for some time, they came upon a small village, and since the evening
hour was advancing on them, they decided to find a place to eat a
meal and, then, sleep for the night.
As soon as they entered the village, they began to be treated
rudely by the inhabitants of the small town. There seemed to be no
rhyme nor reason for the ill-treatment.
In fact, the difficulties created by the villagers became so great,
that the two travelers had to quickly pass through the main part of
the community and out the other side, seeking refuge in a grove of
trees on the far side of the village. They ate and slept there.
The next morning, after they had resumed their journey but still
were not very far from the edge of the village, they came to a stone
wall which was in disrepair. The woman stopped and began
repairing the wall.
This action baffled the man, and, so, he asked: “After the way we
have been treated by the villagers, why are you doing them any
favors?”
A look of disappointment and resignation appeared on the
woman’s face. She said: “I am sorry, but, you have broken your
promise, yet, again, and this time, we really will have to part
company. However, before we go our separate ways, I will inform
you about some of what you have asking me.”
She paused briefly and, then, continued. “The boat on the beach
belonged to two poor brothers, and it was their only means of
livelihood. Unfortunately, an army was marching through the area
and confiscating all boats which they came across in order to
transport the troops across the river. The hole I put in the boat was
such that, with a little work, it would be easy enough to repair by the
two brothers but, at the same time, the hole left the boat in a useless
condition as far as the advancing army was concerned.
“With respect to the youth whom I struck, his parents are good
people, but their love for the boy , along with the youth’s arrogance
and selfishness, are such, that, in time, the parents would have
permitted the boy to ruin all of their lives. In order to save the
parents, the boy had to die.
“Finally,” said the woman, “the wall at the edge of the village hid
the inheritance of some orphan children who live in the community.
In fact, the place where the wall was in most disrepair might have
revealed the hidden treasure if it were to have crumbled a little more.
Consequently, I repaired the wall in order to protect the inheritance
of the orphans from the greedy villagers who surely would have kept
the treasure for themselves had they stumbled upon it, and, in time,
the orphans will receive the information they need to locate the
treasure.”
The woman started to walk away from the man but, then, turned
around and said: “If you were not so preoccupied with matters which
you do not understand and which do not concern you, you might
have benefitted greatly from our journey together, but, now, as a
result of your actions, you must proceed on your own.
“If you will recall, I told you when we first met that I feared you
would not be able to abide by my condition, but out of compassion
for you, I decided, despite my misgivings, to give you a chance.
“I hope the rest of your journey works out well for you. You never know when the door of opportunity may, once again, open, and, perhaps, the next time, in light of your past experience, you may do better.”
She smiled briefly, and, then, turned. Soon, she disappeared over the hill. The man never saw her again.
Upon finishing his story for his current traveling companion, the man became silent. Eventually, the quiet which had descended upon the two was broken by the one who had been listening to the story.
He began talking about some friends of his who had encountered a person who seemed to be very spiritually gifted. This mystical teacher also was a woman, just as had been the case in the story just related by his traveling companion.
The man went on to describe how his friends decided to take initiation with the woman into a certain spiritual tradition. One of the conditions of initiation was that each initiate would not be permitted to ask questions, just as such a requirement had been imposed on his traveling companion by the woman in his companion’s earlier reminiscence.
Apparently, things went quite well for his friends during the next couple of years. They all spent every moment they could sitting in the company of the woman who had become their spiritual teacher.
Each of his friends, both together and individually, had recounted many incidents in which amazing sorts of things appeared to happen. Some of these events were intriguing, but not necessarily extraordinary, while other events which were related to him were truly mind-boggling.
The man had known his friends for years, and they were all extremely honest, sincere, and down-to-earth people who were not in the habit of making up fantastic stories. Nevertheless, although the man did not believe his friends were lying or ‘telling stories’, he decided to delay making any final decision about the truth of what he was hearing.
On many occasions, his friends used to invite him to meet their teacher. For quite some time, the man resisted these overtures.
Sometimes his reasons for why he did not have the time to meet her were quite legitimate. On other occasions, due to feelings the man, himself, did not quite understand, the ‘reasons’ given were just excuses which were meant to keep the entreaties of his friend at a distance.
Over time, however, his resistance lessened. He began to seriously entertain the idea of meeting with the much vaunted spiritual guide, and, finally, he inquired with his friends how to go about doing precisely what they had been asking him to do for quite some time.
The day he met the spiritual teacher was truly a special day. The man never thought that anything remotely like it would have been possible.
There was something magnetic about the woman. It was as if she could look into his soul and fathom its many currents and nuances.
On more than one occasion, the man felt as if the woman could read his mind. All he had to do was begin thinking about something, and no sooner than one could blink and eye, the woman began talking about exactly that matter which, seemingly, a few seconds before, had been safely hidden under a veil of subjective consciousness.
The woman’s command of various sacred and mystical classics seemed limitless. She was so focused, like a laser, and each flash of her wisdom burned away the fog of ignorance which previously had shrouded the man’s understanding concerning this or that topic.
The man’s heart was drawn to her. No, ‘drawn’ was too shallow a term to properly describe the intensity of what he was feeling.
Moreover, for the first time in years, the man felt at peace. He felt like he finally had found his spiritual home.
He wanted to be initiated, but the woman only smiled, and said: “Be careful of whose hand you offer to place yours. Perhaps, you should think about this decision a while longer. There is no rush.”
The woman’s words made him want to be initiated all the more. Here he was, frothing at the mouth, in a figurative sort of way, to become initiated and to place himself under a vow of obedience, and, she was telling him to back-off and reflect on the situation.
Don’t rush into things. Be careful with whom one takes initiation.
Although feeling somewhat saddened by the turn of events, the man took the recommendations of the spiritual teacher to heart. He returned home meditating on the question of what to do.
On several further occasions, the man approached the woman, seeking initiation. On each occasion, the woman, gently but firmly said: “Be careful in whose hand you wish to place yours,” and, then, she would change the topic to some other issue.
Each time this happened, the man’s heart sank. He began to think all manner of things such as: he was not fit for the spiritual path, and what was happening was just the spiritual guide’s compassionate way of letting him down easily; or, perhaps, this was all meant to be a spiritual test, and, therefore, he was just going to have to be patient; or, maybe the teacher just wanted him to be really sure about what he was doing and why before he committed himself to the regimen of the spiritual discipline.
One thing the man did realize during all of this. On each occasion he was gently rebuffed by the teacher with the words: “Be careful in whose hands you offer to place yours,” the words had the opposite effect of what they seemed to be intended to have - that is, instead of creating distance between the teacher and him, the words just seemed to kindle the fire in his heart ... a fire which might only become bearable through the process of initiation.
Several months passed with the man living in this limbo between worlds. On the one hand, there was his work-a-day life and its usual happenings, and, on the other hand, there were the incredible times when he was with the spiritual teacher, which was an altogether different world - one that seemed so much more real and intense than his work-a-day world, he began to wonder if one world or the other was merely imaginal.
Some time later, he mustered up the courage to broach the issue of initiation one more time with the spiritual guide. To his amazement, on this occasion, she did not say: “Be careful of whose hands you offer to place yours,” but, rather, she stated: “It would be my honor to serve you as a spiritual teacher.”
Instead of offering to perform the initiation right at that moment, the woman suggested a time just a few days off. That occasion marked the commemoration of a particularly renown saint of the spiritual lineage to which the woman belonged, and she felt such a time would be a very propitious one during which to become initiated.
Although it was very difficult to have to walk away once again without being initiated, at least, now, the man had only to be patient a while longer. His heart, soul, and whole being burned with anticipation.
When he arrived home, he decided to phone his friends with the good news. For whatever reason, he had not seen his friends recently.
More often than not, when his friends disappeared like this, they were off on some mission on behalf of their beloved spiritual guide. Consequently, he was not sure if he would be able to make contact with any of them, but he wanted to let them know what was about to take place, and he was hoping they would be able to attend the forthcoming ceremonies.
The first two friends he tried to contact were either not home or unavailable. He was more successful with his third effort.
As soon as his friend answered the door, there seemed to be some sort of subtle emanation being transmitted between them which indicated that not everything was okay. When the man gave expression to his sense of things, the friend said everything was okay and the concern was unnecessary.
Realizing he had pushed his worries as far as he could, he switched topics and informed his friend about the upcoming date of initiation. The news was met with a long silence.
Finally, the friend said: “I don’t know how to tell you this, but we recently came across a fair amount of credible information that the person whom we have been calling a spiritual guide is nothing but a spiritual charlatan. I’ve been meaning to tell you about this, but the whole revelation has been so devastating that my mind and heart are still spinning. I’m sorry - in fact, we are all very sorry, that we got you into this.”
The friend went on to say: “For a long time, we just accepted everything which she said as the gospel truth, so to speak. As you know, one of the conditions of initiation is that an initiate must not question anything which one sees or hears in relation to the teacher, and, as good seekers after spiritual truth, we did as were taught to do by the person whom we thought would lead us to wisdom.
“In fact, we were all encouraged by her to relate to her anything of a problematic nature which we heard or saw which might adversely affect our relationship with her. Whenever we did this, she was always able to alleviate our concerns and worries, as well as to put things in perspective for us.
“Now, however, the information which has come to us is incontrovertible. We feel we have no alternative but to withdraw from her circle, and we all would urge you to do the same.”
The man followed up with a few questions about the information which had been discovered. His friend detailed the evidence for him.
When he left his friend, the man’s inner world was in turmoil. What should he do?
The evidence of his friend was being weighed against the nature of his own experience with the spiritual teacher. Was what his friends were saying the truth, and didn’t they believe something diametrically opposed to what they were now saying was the truth just a few short months ago? Had his friends succumbed to the dictates of their carnal soul? Was this all just a further spiritual test for him and them, and, perhaps, the teacher?
The man who was relating the story to his traveling companion became silent. As the silence continued, his fellow traveler inquired: “So, what did you decide?”
The man replied: “ When we first sat down for a rest and for some refreshments, you told me of a story from your life about how the condition for carrying on a teaching relationship was not to ask any questions. You broke the rule on three different occasions, and, finally, this led to a parting of the ways between you and the mysterious woman whom you encountered during your travels.
“You said you never saw the woman again. Do you believe she was an authentic spiritual guide?”
His companion reflected for a moment, and, then, slowly nodded his head up and down, saying: “Yes ... yes, I do.”
The man who told the second story inquired: “And, you believe this despite all of the things which you witnessed which seemed to run counter to common decency, morality, and justice?”
Again, there was a pause before the response came. Eventually, the man to whom the question was directed simply said: “Yes”.
Upon receiving this reply, the inquisitor responded with: “Your story resonated with my own experience. In some ways, our stories are very similar to one another, and this is why I told you about the series of events which took place in my life.”
He was silent for a moment, and, then, continued: “In answer to your previous question about my decision, I decided to take the advice of the spiritual guide from whom I was seeking initiation. In other words, I decided to exercise caution with respect to in whose hand I was offering to place mine, and, I withdrew from the situation.”
“There was a poet once who spoke about a road less traveled being taken and how this less traveled road made all the difference. I suppose one of the problems with life is not always being sure which road it is that is the less traveled one, and, moreover, quite frequently, it is not all that easy to judge whether a given decision has made all the difference. I guess we may find out after we die, but by that time, it is a little late in the day to reconsider the choices we have made.”
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