There was a great Buddhist master, Nagarjuna. Once a thief saw him and experienced his infinite grace, so the thief asked Nagarjuna, “Is there any possibility of my growth? I am a thief and I cannot leave my profession, so please don’t ask me to leave it. I will do whatsoever you ask me to do, but I cannot leave my profession. I have tried to stop it many times, but it never worked. Now, I have accepted my destiny.”
Nagarjuna said, “Why are you afraid? Who is going to talk about your being a thief?”
The thief said, “But whenever I have gone to any teacher or a priest, they always ask me first to stop stealing.”
Nagarjuna laughed and said, “Then you must have gone to thieves; otherwise, why should they be concerned?”
The thief said, “Then it is okay. You are the right master for me!”
Nagarjuna accepted him as his disciple and said, “Now you go and do whatsoever you like. Only one thing has to be followed…. Be aware! Break into houses, steal, do whatsoever you like, but do it with full awareness.”
The thief couldn’t understand that, he has already fallen into the trap. He bowed down and left.
After three weeks the thief returned saying, “Now, I am in problem. If I am aware, I just cannot steal and if I steal, my awareness disappears. I am in a fix.”
Nagarjuna said, “No more discussion about your being a thief and stealing. I am not concerned. Now you decide whether you want awareness or stealing.”
The thief said, “Now it is difficult. I have tasted the flavor of awareness and I am ready to leave anything for it.” The thief further said, “Last night, for the first time, I was able to break in to the king’s palace. But when I became aware, suddenly there was no motivation, no desire. The diamonds looked like ordinary stones. When I lost awareness again the treasure was there. This happened many times. But finally I realized that the whole treasure was not worth it…now I can never be a thief again…”
Moral of the Story ….
Friends, once one has tasted awareness, nothing is worth it ….One has known the greatest bliss of life.
In awareness, many things simply drop; they become stupid, become foolish. There is no The motivation, no desire, the dreams have been dropped. The very awareness changes one’s acts. In awareness jealousy, hatred, anger, greed, all the negativities are simply dropped, simply disappear.
Without awareness, it is like groping in the dark, stumbling, falling….All the negativities are just like groping in the dark. One’s actions can never go wrong in presence of awareness…
Friends, hence our actions don’t matter, but our awareness, consciousness, mindfulness, is that which matters….!
Have a Blissful Day Friends!
Great story, I'd never heard this one before so thanks. Sounds like Nagarjuna was a great teacher indeed, he didn't force anything on his student but instead let the student come into wisdom on his own.
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