The Three Hermits
A Bishop was sailing from Archangel to the Slovetsky Monastry, when he overheard a group of pilgrims, pointing towards an island in the distance and talking. On enquiring, they told him about the three hermits , who lived on the small island for the salvation of their souls. Intrigued, the Bishop decided to visit them and was rowed to the island. As they neared the shore, the Bishop saw three old men: a tall one with only a mat tied around his waist, a shorter one in a tattered peasant coat, and a very old one, bent with age and wearing an old cassock -- all three standing hand in hand.
When the Bishop got down from the boat, the three men bowed. He gave them benediction and they bowed still lower. He asked them about their methods of seeking salvation, the prayers they used and the tallest one replied that they knew only one prayer, "Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us." The Bishop smiled and said that that was not the right way to pray. He would teach them the way in which God, in His holy scriptures, has commanded all men to pray to Him. He then began teaching them the Lord's prayer "Our Father, Which art in heaven."
The Bishop spent the whole day, teaching them the prayer, making them repeat it again and again till they finally got it right. It was evening, when he took leave of the men and they all bowed down to the ground before him. As he left in the boat, he could hear the voices of the three hermits, loudly repeating the Lord's prayer. After some time , the island disappeared from sight, and only the water, shimmering in the moonlight could be seen all around.
As the Bishop sat on the deck, looking out at the sea, he saw something radiant moving towards the ship, at great speed. When the apparition came closer, he saw to his amazement, the three hermits coming along, hand in hand, gliding on the water.When they reached the ship, they began speaking in one voice, "O servant of God, we have forgotten the prayer you taught us and have hastened to ask you to repeat it."
The awed Bishop shook his head,"Dear ones,"he said humbly,"continue to live with your old prayer. It is not for me to teach you."
And the Bishop bowed low before the old men. They turned and went back across the sea and a light shone till daybreak at the spot where they were lost to sight.
That was like a blast from the past ! The lovely parable was narrated to us in moral science class in high school. It is a scathing comment against bigotry, chauvinism and what we call vidya-garvam i.e. the assumption that only high education in esoteric scriptures brings one closer to god and that a simple person's simple faith has no value at all. Many people have this arrogance inspite of chanting the "Bhaja Govindam" in which Shankara clearly remarks that mere grammatical purity in the repeating of mindless mantras will not help in the moment of final reckoning.
ReplyDeleteBut one thing that really tickled me in school was that the very Nuns who told us this story would also make fun of hindu beliefs and keep hammering in that only the path of Jesus can bring salvation !
Yesterday, I was ranting against someone,when my maid calmly said to me-"Uska adrisht hai, amma."(her adrisht(unseen future) is there for her).I was surprised once again by the depth of philosophy/spirituality possessed by common, uneducated people in our country.It is not mere bookish knowledge, they practise it too.Maybe,they are educated in the harsh crucible of life and need this spiritual bedrock in order to survive the difficulties and humiliation they face on a day to day basis.Some months back, she experienced some trouble with her husband, who was spending her hard earned money on temple hopping.She wept and said to me "God is not only in temples.He is inside us too."She solved this problem by using a civil disobedience type approach, which brought her husband to his senses.Vivekananda said to Sister Nivedita,more than a hundred years ago that in India,you will find a man in tattered clothes but he will be able to talk philosophy with you.This still holds true.
ReplyDeleteI have met many Christians too,who think nothing of deriding Hindu beliefs in the presence of Hindus.One can only subscribe it to ignorance.
Would love to meet your maid. I remember, you have spoken of her spiritual elevation once before too.
ReplyDeleteMost outsiders get very confused about India because they cannot digest the fact that people living in such poverty and illiteracy can be so happy and wise.
The maid I had written about earlier, was a different one.In my experience, this spiritual richness is quite common amongst the havenots.It is the havemores who seem to lack it!Remember what Jesus said - 'It is easier for a camel to pass thrugh the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.'Rabindranath also lamented that his obeisance did not reach the lotus feet of the Lord, who dwelt amongst the poorest of the poor,the havenots.You are most welcome to visit my home and meet the maid !
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