copyright Suresh gundappa 2010
Travel Sufi fable:
Mr.Tourist checked into finest beach resort in the world. they have been planning this trip for a while now but Mr. tourist was so busy last year, he barely managed to take time off from his office work. He came on this trip with one condition that he should be allowed to do some of his business work on this trip. Family badly wanted time off and they reluctantly agreed.
He and his family have managed to get the penthouse reserved for few. Once they settled in, everyone wanted to rush to beach to get a glimpse of sea.
As soon as they reached the beach, shabbily dressed Beggar approached them and announced himself – ” good day to to all , loved ones! I am the richest beggar in town… I am here to ask you few pennies.
Mr Tourist couldn’t help himself a nice smile and he said to Beggar- ” mmmmm… I see Mr. Richest beggar ….here are few dollars for you!”
Immediately, Beggar replied ‘ Hold on. I take money only from rich people, just to maintain my level, Are you rich Mr. tourist?
Mr.Tourist stopped smiling …” I thought beggars can’t be choosers! ….Well since you asked , I am rich and I have millions in bank and great estate for living and wealthy investments in my name, and now what makes your rich beggar or bastard – whatever that may be?
Beggar replied ” I am rich because I can smell sea at this moment, I am rich because I can feel sunshine on my body, I can feel sea touching my feet. Every morning birds play me music, and rain gives me bath!, flowers spray fragrance on me! I am rich because every moment I live as if there is no another moment. Now I can see that you have not tasted this kind of luxury in your life, You seems to be poor.
Now you have come to this beautiful place ,…it’s a great opportunity to become rich before you go back. May be I will come back ask you few pennies once you become rich”.
Mr. Tourist took back his dollars and stood still and the beggar walked away singing a cuckoo song…
end of the fable.
Love
Suresh
Ain’t that the truth!
We win a “super-lotto every day.
When we awaken, we can see, we can walk to the toilet, we can do the toilet on our own, we can make cofee, we can eat breafast and get ready for work, we can do some productive activity for civilzation etc, etc.
And its all etc. We are blessed by all our etc. activities we take for granted. Namaste!
very true…maybe we all know that somewhere deep down, but too engrossed in achieving our materialist goals and missing out on the finer things of life
It wouldn’t be surprising if our DNA gets molded in future accordingly
I think many people will recognize themselves as the poor and will envy the beggar after reading your article. It opens the eyes and enables us to re-evaluate our plans for the future. You wrote not about the money, but the spiritual attitude. The beggars on a street would envy the Rich beggar too. Your post deals with our approach to life and thus urges to choose. It is impossible to enjoy the Beggar’s freedom and the rich’ comfort at the same time. Yet is the above not a destiny?
Suresh,
It’s amazing how year after year you have weaved stories beyond imagination to reind us where we belong. Over last five years I always cherished your stories and loved the way you came back to drive meditation home.
Infact, I read this post while I was holidaying! I guess instead of enjoying my holiday i was still living in office. Thank you so much for the love.
Great post, the pictures are truly amazing. Your blog is just a breath of fresh air.
Very enlightening fable! A quote by Benjamin Franklin, “Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.” Maybe the moral here is not so much about being content or discontent but more on being grateful and thankful for what we have. Then indeed we can be the richest beggar in the world.
great story and you are truly giving great great things and they are to be linked to our day to day life wonderful and really enjoyed readng after a long time your post. keep up and we r enriched
pranesh
What an insightful fable! so much needed to drive the importance of living this moment…
thankyou for sharing such an insight!
Great story, great picture. Just what I needed on this rainy Tuesday morning.
Greetings !
Very nice image…soothing to the soul.
Was reminded of a portion of Paulo Coelho’s – Zahir – where the beggars exhibit a similar attitude and approach to life!.
Cheers
Autre
An amazing picture and a deep story for me on this cold day in February. Thanks a lot! Draupadi.
What an amazing picture! If this is what I get to see everyday, then I would really be the richest beggar not only in town but in the world.
A very enchanting picture. All we have to do is to appreciate the simple things we see everyday.