Theos-Talk Archives (December 1998 Message tl00018)

Here is an excerpt from a post from listening-l.

mkr

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<fontfamily><param>Courier New</param>Here is a fable K wrote when he was
still fairly young:

</fontfamily>

  Once upon a time -- which is the way in which all true stories begin
--

there was a world in which all the people were sick and sad, and yet

all of them were seeking to be released from their suffering and to find

happiness.  In search of this happiness they prayed, they worshipped,

they loved and they hated, they married and made wars.  They begot

children as miserable as themselves and yet they taught those children

that happiness was their right and their eventual goal.

  Then one day in the midst of this suffering world there rose a

whisper, which grew into a shout, that a Great Teacher was coming

who, because of his love for the world and because of his wisdom,

would bring to those who were suffering, comfort in their sorrow, and

would show all the people in the world how they might find the lasting

happiness which all were seeking.

  And in order to spread widely the glad news of the coming of the

Teacher, organizations and societies were formed, and men and women

went throughout the world telling of the Teacher who would come.

Some prayed to him that he would come more quickly.  Some performed

ceremonies in order to prepare the world to receive him.  Some made

profound studies of forgotten times, when other great Teachers had

come and taught, so that by this study they might better understand

him.  Some proclaimed themselves his disciples in advance, so that when

he came there might be some at least to stand around him and to

understand him.

  Then one day he came.  And he told the people of the world that he

had come to bring them happiness, to heal their pain and to soothe
their

sorrows.  He said that he himself, through much suffering and pain, had

found his way to an abode of peace, to a KIngdom of eternal Joy.  He

told them that he had come to lead them and to guide them to that

abode.  But, he said, because the path leading to that Kingdom was
steep

and narrow, only those could follow him who were willing to set aside

everything that they had accumulated in the past.  He asked them to set

aside their Gods, their religions, their rites and ceremonies, their
books

and their knowledge, their families and friends.  And if they would do

that, he said, he would provide them with the living water he
possessed,

and would bring them into the Kingdom of Happiness where he himself

dwelt eternally.

  Then those people, who for so many years had been preparing for

the Teacher, began to feel uncomfortable and troubled.  For they said:

"This is not the teaching we expected and for which we have been

preparing.  How can we renounce all this knowledge which we have so

painfully acquired?  Without it the world would never understand the

Teacher.  How can we renounce all these splendid rites and ceremonies

in the performing of which we we find so much happiness and power?  How

can we renounce our families and friends when we need them so much?

What teaching is this?

  And they began to question among themselves: "Can this indeed be

the Teacher whom we have been expecting?  WE never thought he

would speak in this way and ask of us such renounciations."  And those

especially who had proclaimed themselves his disciples, because of
their

more intimate knowledge of his will, felt uncomfortable and troubled.

  Then after much thought and meditation light came to them and a

solution to their difficulties.  And they said: "It is true that the
Teacher

comes to help the world, but we know the world better than he does

and so we will act as his interpreters to the world."

  And so those who had knowledge said: "HIs call for renunciation

does not apply to us because the world needs our knowledge and could

not do without it, so for the sake of the world we shall go on seeking

knowledge."

  And those who perormed rites and ceremonies said: "We have of

course renounced all rites and ceremonies or our own benefit, we have

passed beyond any need of them, but for the sake of the world we shall

continue to peform them, otherwise the world would suffer."  So they

continued to build Churches and Temples and to perform rites, all to

help the world, and they were too busy to listen to the Teacher.

  And the only people who willingly renounced were those who gave

up their homes and their families because they wanted freedom from

duty and obligation.  And they came to the Teacher and said: "We have

left all to follow you, now find us an easy job where we can work for

you and also earn a living."

  Some there were, a few, who set all things aside, and sat at the feet

of the Teacher, and tried to learn from him how they might feed the

hungry and satisfy the thirsty.  These people thought that his wisdom

was likely to prove more helpful to the world than their knowledge;
that

his simplicity might be more easily understood than their
complications;

 that the Teacher might know best when he said that rites and
ceremonies

were not necessary for finding the happiness he came to give;

that you could renounce your family and friends in your heart while not

deserting them in the flesh.

  But the others reproached them for their selfishness and idleness.

They said: "The world does not need the bread of the Teacher, but a

particular kind of pastry for which we hoild the recipe.  It does not
need

water to quench its thirst, but the wine contained in our chalices.
The

words of your Teacher will not help the world, because they are too

simple and the world cannot understand what they mean.  We have

complicated theories to solve the complicated problems of the world

and the world can understand them."

  So there were few of those who had most eagerly announced the

coming of the Teacher who listened to the teaching he gave.  There were

some who said: "This is not the Teacher we expected, so we will go on

preparing for the coming of the real Teacher."  And the pthers built up

walls and barriers round him so that none could get to him unless they

opened the gates.

  So in a few years he went away and then the same people hailed him

as divinely inspired, and they built new Churches in his name and

invented new and elaborate rites and ceremonies for his glory, and
built

a new religion founded upon the teaching he had not given.

And the world continued to suffer and cry for help.