When argument ceases, illumination dawns²

Kamal said, “Father, why do you want flowers and why do you want milk? Flowers are polluted.”

Kavir could not believe his ears. “What, flowers are polluted?”

“Yes,” said Kamal, “flowers are polluted because the bees sit on the flowers and drink their honey. So they are polluted.”

“And what about milk?” Kavir asked.

“Milk is also polluted,” said Kamal, “because the calf has already tasted and drunk some milk from the mother before we get it.”

Kavir became angry. “Son, this is what you have learned from your studies? You find fault with your father’s request, and you argue with your father.”

“No, father,” said Kamal, “I am not arguing, I am just telling you a mere fact. You are asking me for flowers and milk. I am saying that you have to give God something that is totally fresh. I will go and bring flowers whose honey has been tasted by bees, and I will bring milk which has already been drunk by the calf. But if you really want to please God, you have to give Him something that is absolutely pure.”

“Stop!” said Kavir. “Stop, stop your philosophy. O God, you have cursed me with such an argumentative son. He does not know who I am. The whole world worships me, and here my son gives me his proud wisdom.”

“No, father, I am not offering you my wisdom. I am only telling you a mere fact.”

Kavir said, “Enough of your insolence. In this world, when God creates something, everybody may not be able to eat it at the same time. In God’s own Vision, somebody will have it first and others will have it afterwards. But that doesn’t mean that the first one who tastes a particular thing is polluting it for others. A flower has been seen or touched or used a little by a bee, and milk has been touched by the calf, who is dearer than the dearest to the mother cow. Do you think that just because of that I won’t be able to worship my Lord Supreme with flowers and milk? No, God created the flower, and before it was time for me to use the flower, it was time for the bee to taste its honey. And the time came for the calf to taste the cow’s milk before the time came for me to use the milk.

“It is like two people going towards the same destination. I saw the Goal, the eternal Goal, long before you and I have already reached it whereas you are still traveling towards it. But does that mean you will say, ‘What is the use of going to the Goal which has been seen and touched by somebody else?’ No! In the spiritual world, when someone uses something for the first time, that doesn’t mean that this particular thing cannot be touched or utilised by somebody else. You are traveling along the same path that I traveled, and going to the same Goal which I have already reached. Similarly, the flower that has been appreciated by the bee can and should be appreciated by those who see the flower later on. And milk that has been appreciated by the little calf should also be appreciated by others. So, my son, never argue with me.”

“Father,” said Kamal, “I shall never, never argue with you. Today you have illumined me. No other teacher has ever taught me in this way and nobody else will ever be able to teach me in this way. You are my father. You asked me to go to other teachers, and I went and studied. But now I see that the possessor of all real knowledge is nobody other than you yourself. Therefore, I ask you to make me, shape me and guide me into your own, very own. Already in the physical world I am your own. In the spiritual world also I wish you to make me your worthy son, your own, very own.”

“Son,” said Kavir, “I shall. In fact, I am doing that very thing which you are now crying for. When the noise of argument ceases, the voice of illumination dawns.”

“Father,” said Kamal, “I wish to add something. When Compassion-Light dawns, the darkness of centuries in no time immediately disappears.”

“Son, I also wish to add something: Compassion-Light dawns only when the heart is ready to receive Light from Above, from the Beyond, from the Eternal Source.”