“A desiring mind is a beggar’s mind. You may be an emperor, it makes no difference.”
You are poor, a beggar, because you are always desiring, always asking to be given more. Desire is begging, and a desiring mind is a beggar’s mind. You may be an emperor, it makes no difference – you just become a big beggar, that’s all, a great beggar, that’s all. But you go on demanding.
It happened that a Mohammedan mystic, Farid, lived near Delhi in a small village. The emperor Akbar was one of Farid’s followers. Akbar used to come to him, and Farid was a poor fakir. Once, when the town came to know that Akbar comes to Farid, the villagers gathered and said to Farid, “Akbar comes to you, so ask for something for us. At least a school is needed, a hospital is needed. And just by your saying it will be fulfilled, because the emperor himself comes to you.”
The village was poor, uneducated, and there was no hospital, so Farid said, “Okay, but I am not very efficient at asking for anything because I have not asked for so long. But if you say so, I will go.” So he went.
In the morning he reached the palace. Everybody knew that Akbar was his follower, so he was allowed to enter immediately. Akbar was in his shrine – he had made a small shrine where he used to pray – and he was praying, he was in prayer, so Farid stood just at the back. When the prayer was finished he would ask.
Akbar was not aware that Farid was standing behind him. He said the prayer, and at the end he said, “God almighty, make my empire still greater, give me more wealth.”
Farid listened and he turned away. When Akbar had finished his prayer, he looked behind – Farid was going down the stairs. He called, “How did you come? And why are you leaving?”
Farid said, “I had come to meet an emperor, but I find here also a beggar. So it’s useless! And if you are asking God, why shouldn’t I ask him directly? Why an in-between? And Akbar, I thought you were an emperor, but I was wrong.”
Akbar has related the story in his autobiography, and he says, “At that moment I understood: whatsoever one gets makes no difference, because the mind goes on asking for more and more.”
Osho, The Mustard Seed: My Most Loved Gospel on Jesus, Ch 3 (excerpt)
“What a joke! What a game!
Emperors go on begging
and fish are thirsty in the ocean!”
Osho, A Cup of Tea (100) – read whole letter: Earth and heaven are laughing!
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
Featured image: Praying Hands by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) – commons.wikimedia.org
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