There was a king who was very rich and had everything he wanted, but he felt that he didn’t have enough. So he asked his wise advisor to give him a ring, or give him something, a ring or a bracelet, that has a very, very special effect. Like, if he’s happy, and he wears that ring or the bracelet, then that will make him sad. And if he’s sad and he looks at the bracelet, then it makes him happy.
You want some story, you have some story. There was a king who was very rich and had everything he wanted, but he felt that he didn’t have enough. So he asked his wise advisor to give him a ring, or give him something, a ring or a bracelet, that has a very, very special effect. Like, if he’s happy, and he wears that ring or the bracelet, then that will make him sad. And if he’s sad and he looks at the bracelet, then it makes him happy. Just like the thermos flask. Keep hot things hot, and keep cold things cold. Oh, the wise man didn’t know what to do. It seemed a very difficult proposition. Or not? What would you do? What kind of bracelet to give the king? He’s the king – you don’t give, you die! So, what kind of bracelet would we give that kind of king? What do you think? Tell me! You are the wise men. No? Don’t know? Don’t read books? It’s in the book! OK, OK.
Yeah, they met each other. They went to a meeting with each other, and they decided they would make him a bracelet with an inscription on it. What kind of inscription? (You already told the story.) You heard the story? (Similar. You talked about it. He put down something like, “Everything passes.”) (“This too shall pass.”) “This too shall pass.” So, when he’s happy, he looks at it, and he knows, “Oh, it won’t last anyway.” So, he becomes sad. And when he’s sad, he looks at it, “Oh, even the sadness will go away soon.” So, he’ll be happy again. Maybe we should make these kinds of bracelet for sale. Everybody should have one. (Yes.) And we’ll know the ephemeral nature of life.
Actually, that was a similar story, but it was a different story. There was a kind of a Sufi master, or you say yogi, whatever. One name. He was doing very well, and he had a lot of money, and he had a beautiful mansion, a beautiful garden and all that. So one of his friends visited him and said, “Wow, you are doing well, sir. You have a big mansion, a beautiful garden, all kinds of people to help you, and everybody respects you so much.” And he said, “Oh, this shall pass.” And a few years later, that friend came back – oh, the Sufi master didn’t have any more money, didn’t have house anymore, no garden, no assistants, servants, helpers, no car, no horse-people, nothing! And he was living on the side of the street in a small thatched hut, a grass hut or something, living from hand to mouth. So the friend was very surprised and said, “How come you are reduced to this state?” Also, the Sufi master said the same thing again, “This shall pass.” And a few years later, the friend came back – ah, the master had a house again, a nice garden, a lot of assistants, a lot of horse-people, a lot of trees, a lot of cars, and a lot of people coming in and out, and everybody respects him again, and he was doing well again. So, the friend didn’t want to say anything anymore! What if he says something, and he (the master) says, “This too shall pass,” and then he might not have anything anymore.
So, in case you feel very miserable about the tent condition outside and the lack of a luxury bathroom, think about that. Who knows? This too really shall pass, no? In a few days you go home, you have your own bathroom. It’s not true? Yeah, OK, so… Are you OK? You complain? (No.) Anybody complains? (No.) Seriously! (No.) No? (No.) Good boys! Good boys, good women. OK, good.
We should always be prepared because life is never the same. So, like I said to the Supreme Master TV people, “You have to do well. You have to listen to what I say, and do it in this direction, train yourself. In case I die, you have to continue in the right direction.” They said, “Oh Master, You won’t die!” How do you know? If I don’t die, then it’s good – for you! But if I die, you have to continue in the right direction.
In the beginning, if you don’t listen to me, later on you will go astray from our path, and it’s no good, is it? (No.) You know, when you call somebody Master or Teacher, you should listen to what She says. If what She says is correct and right, and doesn’t harm you or anybody, then it should be OK, and you should listen. You can’t just call somebody Master, and then always do against, in the opposite direction, then it’s just empty words. It’s bad for you, even! And you won’t get anywhere with such an ego. I told you already, ego is the one that separates you from your True knowledge. The more humble, the more your Self will be revealed, the real One, the real One.
OK! There’s another story somewhere. OK. This is what it is. This is a story of one of the Arabian people. There’s a man called Mohammed, son of Isa. He was one of the very good friends of a commander of the religious order of that time. It means, big time! He was a big one, and always very wealthy and respected by everybody. And he could think very well, he could talk very well. He had eloquence. So he was above everyone else at that time.
One day, he was riding on his horse-person. The horse-person was bedecked with all kinds of beautiful cloth, beautiful carpet and gold, silver, clink, clink. And accompanying him were a lot of attendants. And everybody worshipped him, praised him, and it looked a very grand procession. So, the people were asking each other, “Who is this man, so dazzlingly bedecked, so well mounted, so rich, so magnificent?” And then one of the old women, who was hobbling along, said, “Oh no, that is a poor man. He is not rich. Because Allah has denied him the favor, that’s why he has such a vanity.” After hearing this, Mohammed, the son of Isa, dismounted at once from his gorgeous horse-person and admitted that, indeed, this was his condition. And from that moment, he abandoned all desire for outward show and wealth, and lived a humble and simple life devoted to God’s knowledge.
Ah, lucky guy. Lucky guy that he knows he has a problem. The one who knows he has a problem, will be cured of problems. The one who thinks he doesn’t have problems, dies with problems.
Did I tell you the story about the guy who was very rich and he wanted to stay a little longer on Earth, but the angel of death didn’t let him? No? (No.) OK, then we tell that story. Similar story. Today we talk about jokes, laughter, sex and money. How terrible for a subject! What a Master! Yeah, yeah, that’s all you wanted to hear – money and one of those things. No, I’m kidding.
There was a guy who was very, very rich, but he was very stingy, a miserly man. So, when he died, he had hundreds of thousands of dollars, at that time, gold pieces. He had a lot of houses, a lot of land, a lot of buildings, and he rented them out and collected more money all the time. You know, landlord. And then he was thinking to himself, “OK, now I have everything, maybe I should just relax for a year, and not think of making money anymore.” Ha! My God, if a miserly man can think like that, he’s already a little enlightened. So, he started stopping doing business to relax for a year.
But as soon as he wanted to relax like that, to live comfortably, easily, leisurely, then the angel of death came and dragged him away. Oh, he was very, very afraid and reluctant to part with life and all the money, the wealth that he had accumulated. So he said, “Oh, please, please, let me live for a little longer to enjoy a little bit of what I have been working for.” The angel of death said, “Nope!” And then later, he wanted to bribe him. He said, “OK, if you let me live one more month, I will give you one-third of my possessions then. How about that?” Do you think the angel of death would be tempted by that? Think he can make use of his money? (No.) Oh, no. You are so wise! So, the angel of death said what? What did he say then? What? (He’s got no use for this material wealth.) He just said, “Nope!” One word, “Nope!”
So, the poor miserly man tried still to bribe him and said, “OK, if you leave me maybe to live two more weeks, then I’ll give you half of my possessions. How does that sound?” The angel said what? (“Nope!”) “Nope!” He said, “Nope,” not interested. Just “nope!” And then the man still argued, “OK, OK, please, just let me live one more day, and then I will give you all my possessions.” Now he realized that even if he dies, he won’t be able to use any of this anyway, so might as well give it all to him to live one more day. And the angel of death thought a little bit, and what did he say? “Nope!” What, “yes”? Who said that? (Over here, Master.) Who’s the idiot? What for? Oh, my God! I can’t believe it! What would he say? What can the angel of death do with the money? (Nothing.) (He has nothing to do, but to continue the story like that, he might say yes, maybe.) Oh, he would say yes, so the story would continue? You’re joking! So he said “nope” again, OK? What would he say? Tell me again, what would the angel of death say in that situation? (“Nope!”) “Nope!” Right!
Now the miserly rich man realized that with all his wealth, he cannot buy anything at all at the time of death. So, he said to the angel of death, “OK, I understand now, but please let me live just a few moments longer, so I can write something down.” So, the angel of death said, “OK.” This time he said yes. So he sat down, grabbed a pen, got a notebook and wrote down something like, “Man…” He didn’t say woman. Sorry! “Man, make use of your life. I could buy not one hour for $300,000, I mean, gold pieces. So, make sure that you realize the value of your time.” You understand now? Yes or no? (Yes.) OK.
How do you understand it? Tell me. Tell me, tell me, tell me. One of you, any of you, how do you really understand this story? Don’t just “Yep, yep! Nope, nope!” You have to really understand. So, how would we make use of our time, then? (Find God. Practice spiritually.) What? (Practice. Find God. Find your true Self.) Find God and true Self. Sounds very classical! Anybody else have a brighter idea? No? All this eloquence is gone? Who cut your tongue? That’s it? (All the things like time and love are not for sale, not for buying.) Time and love? It doesn’t say love in here. It’s only about money, honey.
So, what is your meaning? (Well, that… Yes, they’re not for sale, so the more money… Even if you have so much money, you cannot buy it anyway, so if you have it, treasure it because it is priceless.) If you have money, treasure it. (No, if you have time and love,) Time! (then treasure them because they’re priceless.) Yeah, do we have time? (We don’t know how much.) Yeah, normally not. But what do you do with your time normally? (Life is a gift, and you make something out of it.) I know, but how? What? (Help others. Use the money to help others, maybe.) Talking is nice.
