Let me tell you a story today. I read it sometime ago in a book called ‘Super Coach’, by Michael Neil.
The story goes like this….
Many thousands of years ago, the word of God was transcribed into written form. The monks would painstakingly copy each original text by hand. It could easily take a year or so to complete just one document.
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A young monk, very disciplined and sincere to his work, thought of seeing the ancient texts for himself and take a dip directly into the source of all wisdom. Like all of his fellow monks, he volunteered to help copy them, but soon realized that he was in fact not copying the ancient texts at all. He was copying copies made by other monks, who no doubt had also spent their lives copying copies of the word of God.
Out of curiosity, he asked the head monk if it would be possible to check the original texts, which were stored deep in the vaults of the monastery. He also reasoned, if any mistakes had been made in the copies, they were now being spread from generation to generation.
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The head monk declined his request. He told the young monk not to worry about such things, and the young monk dutifully obeyed.
As years passed by, the young monk had been chosen as the new head monk when the old one died. Now, instead of filling his days copying ancient wisdom by rote, he found himself with time for contemplation and reflection. Soon his old curiosity and thirst for truth returned, and he decided to take it upon himself to go down into the vaults at the heart of the monastery.
He got completely engrossed into studying the ancient scriptures, by staying in the vault for months together. He took pause only to pray, to sleep, and to eat the meals that were left outside the door of the vault every morning.
One day when a young monk assigned to care for him came by to collect the empty dishes, he heard what sounded like distant crying. Although going down the vaults was strictly prohibited, he opened the door, and gathered courage to go there. There he found his beloved new head monk sobbing uncontrollably.
The young monk asked the head monk, ‘What is the matter, brother?’ The worried head monk looked hopelessly up into the eyes of the young monk. ‘We have made a terrible mistake,’ he said. The original word was “celebrate” …
“Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.”
___ Paramahansa Yogananda.