Parables of Rama
by Swami Rama Tirtha | 102,836 words
Stories in English used by Swami Rama to illustrate the highest teaching of Vedanta. The most difficult and intricate problems of philosophy and abstract truths, which may very well tax the brains of the most intellectual, are thus made not only simple and easy to understand but also brought home to us in a concrete form in such an interesting and ...
In India, in a certain temple, a man was seen distributing sweets. The way with Indians is that on occasions of great joy and prosperity, they distribute sweets or other things among the poor. Somebody came and asked what the cause of this rejoicing was. The man said that he had lost his horse. That was the cause of his rejoicing. The people were astonished and surprised. They said, "Well, you have lost a horse and you are rejoicing?" He said, "Misunderstand me not. I have lost a horse but saved the rider. My horse was stolen by a band of robbers. I was not riding the horse at the time the horse was taken. Had I been mounted on the horse, I might also have been stolen. I am thankful that I was not stolen with the horse and that it was only the horse that was stolen." The people laughed heartily. What a simple man!
The story seems to be ridiculous. But everyone has to apply it to himself and examine, whether he or she is not behaving worse than that man. He lost the horse but saved himself, the rider. But thousands, nay, millions of people are trying to save the horse and loose the rider. That is the worst of it. So he had high occasion to rejoice when he saved the rider and lost the horse. Everybody knows that the real spirit, or the seal Self, ego or soul, is related to the astral body as a rider or horseman is related to the horse. But let us go to any body and ask about his whereabouts and his real nature. "What is your self, what does it do?" The answer will be, "I am Mr. so and so. I work in such and such an office." All these signs and all these answers relate to the gross body only. That is to say, these are answers which are not to the point. We ask, "Who are you—what are you?" and his answer does not let us know what he is in reality. It is wide of the mark, not to the point.. We ask about himself, and he is telling us about the horse, the body. We want to know about the rider, he evades the question and tells us things not asked at all. Is it not that we are taking the horse to be the rider? The horse is lost; it is high time to raise the cry, lost! Lost!! Lost!!! The thing lost is the rider, the soul, the spirit, the Atman, the true Self.
MORAL:—People rejoice in caring for the body, while they have lost the soul, or Self. This is ridiculous and foolish.