Buddhist monk Bodhidharma went to China, and
was welcomed by the king. Seeing Bodhidharma limping, the king found that this was because
the monk had footwear on one foot, but not on the other. He had the other sandal in his hands!
The king asked why he was doing so. Bodhidharma immediately put the slipper on his head. The king could not understand the reason. The monk then
asked the king why he was wearing a crown when no one else was. The king replied that it was to show that he was superior to everyone. Bodhidharma then
said he had a slipper on his head to show the world that he was inferior to everyone! The king was shaken by the reply. A true guru is one who breaks down the fortifications we build to defend our weaknesses and flaws, said Suki Sivam.
The king wondered what he would be his reward for feeding monks like Bodhidharma. The monk said the king would get nothing. “We can eat anywhere.
So, you should be grateful that we eat food you give us,” he said. A gnani never tries to please those in power; he never resorts to flattery. He is never impressed by wealth or power. Though Bodhidharma was in China to impart gnana to the people there, he initially sat in silence facing a wall, for he felt
the people who had gathered around him were not yet ready to receive instruction. One of the men asked him whether Bodhidharma would teach him Buddha’s philosophy from a book. He replied that if the man could get such knowledge from a book, he
did not need Bodhidharma. If he needed Bodhidharma’s instruction, he did not need any book.
Philosophical knowledge is not something we can get out of a book. Spirituality is an experience.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was walking one day near
a field. He saw a stork fly up, and he experienced spiritual ecstasy just by looking at the grace with
which the bird took off. Ramakrishna used simple examples to drive home important spiritual
truths. Gnanis have sympathy and kindness ingrained in them.
If not for their concern for humanity, no one would be able to acquire any spiritual knowledge. They want everyone to experience the spiritual joy that they themselves experience.
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