The ascent and descent of the disciples

In ancient times there lived a great Yogi, This particular Yogi had thousands of disciples, but he had only twenty disciples whom he considered his first class disciples. Aside from them, he had second class, third class, fourth class, fifth class, sixth class and seventh class disciples. But, unfortunately, even the first class disciples did not always remain first class, Some days they would drop to second, third or fourth class disciples.

One day some of his former first class disciples, who had fallen to fourth class, went to the Yogi and most fervently asked him a few questions. Their first question was, “How is it possible for us to descend from the peak? Is it due to our mistakes or are you just sick of us since you always seem to favour new life and new inspiration?”

The Yogi said, “No, I am not sick of you people. Had I been sick of you, I would have asked you to leave my ashram. And I am not fonder of the new. I am fond of the eternal, which is everlastingly new."

Then the fallen disciples asked the Yogi, “Is it true in your case that familiarity breeds contempt? Since we have been close to you for a long time, is it possible that you no longer find us charming, inspiring or encouraging?”

The Yogi said, “No, you are wrong. In the ordinary human way, familiarity breeds contempt. But in the case of a spiritual Master and his disciples, it is through familiarity that the Master carries his disciples to the highest height. It is through familiarity, the Master feels, that one day the chosen disciples will become totally part and parcel of his realisation and manifestation.”

Then the disciples asked another question. “Is it possible for the Master to smile outwardly at a disciple but inwardly to have no feeling for him?”

The Master said, “No! If the Master smiles that means he still has compassion for the particular disciple.”

“Is it possible,” they asked, “for a sixth class disciple to come up to first class?” The Master said, “It is quite possible. As with a ladder or a tree, you can climb up and you can fall down. But you must remember that climbing up the tree or the ladder is infinitely more difficult than falling down. ”

Then the disciples asked, “Will this always happen in the same way? Now we are washed away by other disciples. Will those disciples one day be washed away too?”

The Master said, “Why not? If they misbehave, if they disappoint me as you have done, naturally they will also be washed away. I am walking along the eternal path. People who become tired on the way leave me. We walk together for a while, and when they are tired either they leave me or they begin to descend the ladder. Then they travel very slowly.”

“What compels us,” asked the disciples, “to descend?”

“Insecurity, jealousy, fear, doubt and self-indulgence,” the Yogi replied.

“And what can take us back to our original status?” they asked “What will enable us to travel with you again at the fastest speed?”

The Yogi said, “Constant gratitude to the Master for having accepted you as his disciples and for allowing you to remain his disciples will give you this capacity. Even if the Master does not give you anything — not even an iota of Peace, Light or Bliss — even then his very acceptance of you is something vast, infinite and fulfilling. If you take it in this way then you can come back to your previous standard.”

The disciples asked another question: “Master, you had some very close disciples who have left you. How is it that they now seem quite happy? When they were close to you they were unhappy. Why were they unhappy?”

The Master said, “Although they were my close disciples, jealousy did not leave them. Fear, doubt, insecurity, anxieties, worries did not leave them. That is why they were unhappy.”

“Then why did you make them first class disciples in the first place?” asked the fallen disciples.

The Master said, “It is a matter of standard. First class disciples have insecurity, jealousy, fear and doubt, but in comparison to other disciples it is much less. In spite of their imperfections, they are wholeheartedly and implicitly ready to follow my path. Whereas others who have these imperfections are not fully ready to follow the path. The first class disciples are fully aware of their imperfections, but they know that these difficulties must one day be overcome. But in the case of the disciples who left me, their undivine qualities overcame them before they could overcome these qualities.”

“Do you consider it a failure, an utter failure for you, that people who have received so much concern, blessing, love and attention from you have now deserted you?” the disciples continued.

The Master said, “Who has deserted whom? If you say that they have deserted me, on the physical plane you are right. But on the spiritual plane I am sorry to tell you that peace has deserted them, divine fulfilment has deserted them. What you call their happiness or what you take to be their happiness is only a sham. It is not real happiness. When their soul’s come to the fore, they feel a barren dessert in their hearts. Inwardly they burst into tears at every moment, feeling what they were and what they are now, what they had and what they have now. Previously they tried to play the role of sincerity, but now they are playing the role of self-deception.”

Then the disciples asked their last question: “Do these close disciples who leave you hurt your mission in any way?”

The Yogi said, “To a very limited extent. Nobody can destroy the divine manifestation of a spiritual Master, but if some close disciples who have been with the Master for many, many years leave him, then they delay his manifestation. When they were like a tiny seed, the Master sowed them. When the seed germinated, the Master nourished them and cared for them until the tiny plant began to grow into a tree which could nourish and shelter others. But if then the tree collapses through ignorance, or if the tree is struck down before it can fully mature, naturally it is a loss. But luckily the Master has the capacity to sow another seed and hopefully this new seed will germinate well and finally grow into a giant banyan tree.

“The divine mission can never be destroyed. If the chosen instruments fail, if they disappoint the Master, this only delays the victory. But the ultimate victory is bound to come. And who knows but that the new instruments will perhaps offer more shelter, more peace, more love, more consolation, more light to the world at large than the others would have. There is no defeat, no failure; only temporary setbacks. The ultimate victory is bound to dawn.”