Banyan Tree

Banyan Tree

May 2023
TEACHING STORY 

THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS 

There once was a great rishi who was always happy.  One day, a vain and selfish young man came to  visit him. After talking for a few minutes, the  young man rudely asked, “Are you truly happy,  or are you just pretending to be happy?”  

The rishi chose not to answer that question.  Instead, he said, “My young friend, I could not  help but notice the lines on your hand. I am very  sorry to tell you that your lifeline is extremely  short; in fact, in seven days you will die.”  

The young man’s heart was filled with terror.  “In seven days, I will die?” he slowly repeated  in disbelief. Then he quickly excused himself  and hurried out of the door. With the picture of  death firmly fixed in his mind, he approached  each person he had ever mistreated and asked for  forgiveness. Later that evening, he took his wife’s  hand, and with tears in his eyes, he told her he  was sorry for not being a better husband; then  he sat on the floor and began playing with his  children. For six days, he spent his time helping  his friends and family and feeling grateful for all  the love he had been given. On the seventh day,  the day he was supposed to die, he remained in  bed, thinking of God and his impending death.  

Suddenly, he heard someone walk into the room.  He saw the rishi standing by his bed. The rishi  touched his face and told him to get up. Then he  smiled and said, “Young man, today is not the day  you are going to die.” 

He then asked, “My friend, during the past seven  days, did you become angry with anyone?” 

The young man answered, “No, my heart was  filled with love.” 

“Did you become annoyed with your wife and  children?”  

“Every moment with them was filled with joy. When I thought I had only a short time to live,  how could I think of myself or be angry and upset  with anybody?”  

The rishi said, “So, now you know why I am so  happy.

THIS, I KNOW 

SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ •  Shift your attention from words to silence and  you will hear. 

•  We miss the real by lack of attention and create  the unreal by an excess of imagination. •  Everybody does the same mistake: refusing the  means, but wanting the ends. You want peace  and harmony in the world but refuse to have  them in yourself. 

•  Pain is physical; suffering is mental. Beyond the  mind there is no suffering. Pain is essential for  the survival of the body, but none compels you  to suffer. Suffering is due entirely to clinging  or resisting; it is a sign of our unwillingness to  move on, to flow with life. 

•  To know that you are a prisoner of your mind is  the dawn of wisdom. 

•  When you demand nothing of the world, nor  of God, when you want nothing, seek nothing,  expect nothing, then the supreme state will  come to you uninvited and unexpected. 

•  The ultimate point of view is that there is nothing  to understand, so when we try to understand,  we are only indulging in acrobatics of the mind.  Whatever you have understood, you are not.  Why are you getting lost in concepts? You are  not what you know; you are the knower. 

Banyan Tree 65 

INSPIRATION 

THE INVITATION 

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.  I want to know what you ache for and if you dare  to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are.  I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool  for love, for your dream, for the adventure of  being alive. 

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring  your moon. 

I want to know if you have touched the centre of  your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s  betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed  from fear of further pain. 

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling  me is true 

I want to know if you can disappoint another to  be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation  of betrayal and not betray your own soul. I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it  is not pretty every day. And if you can source your  

own life from its presence. 

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom  you have studied. 

I want to know what sustains you from the inside  when all else falls away. 

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself  and if you truly like the company you keep in the  empty moments. 

— Oriah Mountain Dreamer

ONE-MINUTE WISDOM IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDSHIP Buddha’s cousin Ananda once said to Buddha, “I  think friendship (Maitreyi) is half the spiritual  path. It is so important to our journey.” 

Buddha replied, “You are incorrect Ananda.  Friendship is not half the path—it’s the whole  thing. Good friends and mentors are so important  to our healing, growth, and awakening. They  influence how we think, how we behave, and how  we show up in the world.” 

QUOTE 

“It's better to see God in everything than to try to figure it out.” —Neem Karoli Baba 

JUST FOR LAUGHS 

SPIRITUAL SHOPPING 

Wife: I’m going shopping; do you need anything? 

Husband: I’m looking for inner peace and happiness, an answer to my doubts, a  sense of fulfilment, a medium through which I can transcend consciousness and  reach true spirituality, calmness and... 

Wife: Be specific; Smirnoff or Absolute?