The Touchstone
In the
Middle Ages there weren't so many laws about what people
could make and sell. Governments hadn't set standards
for the amount of silver or gold contained in precious
objects offered for sale. People had peculiar ways
of testing things. One was to take a certain kind of
black stone and rub the metal on it, just a bit; if there was
a fair amount of silver in it, for instance, a streak of
that should show up on the stone. Such stones were
called touchstones, "testers."
There
is another kind of "touchstone," however,
found in some Oriental countries. They were magic ones,
sometimes called "philosopher's stones." Magic,
because any metal which touched them would immediately be
turned to gold.
You remember the tale of King Midas, who had
an even greater power and went around touching a lot
of things --tree branches, stones-- everything he touched
turned to gold! Very inconvenient. When he wanted to
drink water or eat his breakfast, that became gold. King
Midas was soon cured of his greed for gold and asked to have
his magic power taken away.
Our
story today is about a woman in India who was tired
of trying to live on the little bit her husband earned.
Chandramani was her name, and she could rarely
buy anything nice; it was difficult enough just to
live from day to day.
Chandramani, however, had a religious bent of mind.
She went to the edge of the village near the forest,
where she had heard a sadhu (holy man) lived,
and she found and approached him. This man seemed to
know all the scriptures, and yet he was very simple and
sweet of heart. Chandramani felt that he was everything she
was not. She noticed something else: everything this teacher
needed came to him automatically --food, blanket, well
water, fuel, flowers-- all arrived at the hut as if
by magic.
Chandramani
began to serve the sadhu almost daily. Her regard for
him was mixed, however. Along with all the admiration
there was just a bit of envy, for all his good luck.
Whenever she could be free from housework she would
go out to the hut, some distance away, and find ways
to serve the saint.
She asked him if she could be his disciple. Sometimes
she would just sit and listen to his words. This teacher
spoke of unselfishness, calming the mind, making the
heart still....
Her
husband put up with this behavior for a while and then
lost his patience. "Look," he said, "you
have been going to this guru of yours for quite a while.
You like his company better than mine, " he grumbled.
"You spend the money I earn on giving things to
him. What has he done for you? Show me one single way
that our fortune has improved since you started going to him!"
The
strain between husband and wife went on for several
days. Finally her husband said to Chandramani, "I
have heard people say that that man has a touchstone.
All he has to do is rub it and he gets whatever he
wants. He even has more than one, they say, because
once he gave one to somebody and they got rich. So if you
really love me, go to that man tomorrow and ask for a touchstone
for us. Why not?"
"Oh,
no," Chandramani protested. "How can I ask
such a man for a thing like that? He deserves everything
that has come to him; and what do we deserve?"
But in the end, to keep peace in the house, she agreed.
After all, she too had once felt envy of the holy man.
The next day when she went to the hut she said to her
teacher, "The gossip is that you have touchstones,
wishing stones, to bring you what you wish; won't you
give me one of those?"
"Oh,"
the sadhu said, "there is this much truth in it:
I did get a touchstone, a week or so ago; it was turned
over to me by a traveller who came from afar. But I
threw it away. I think if you look over that way, along
the fence, you may still find it there." And he
described for her the shape and color of the stone.
As
Chandramani began eagerly to walk toward that spot,
a deep wonder began to stir in her. "He threw
it away!" she said to herself. "What can
that mean? Has he no want of it, no need of it, no
use for it?" She thought deeply. "Ah, yes. That
is what he has been teaching us all along: desire cannot
be satisfied by satisfying desires." The truth
spread through her mind. She realized that the guru's
peace of mind, the sweetness of his smile, his simple
mode of life, his constant cheerfulness, none of these
had anything to do with touchstones. The saint was exactly
what he told others to be --free from desire. He had found
the Source, the Fountain-head of all power. He had
touched the Self within, and with that touch all doubts
had been destroyed, all vanities ended, all wishes
were fulfilled.
Because
he wanted nothing, the whole world was at his doorstep.
Going
home, all she told her husband was that the sadhu had
thrown the stone away.
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