The girlfriend who illumined the whole world

There was a seeker who was unimaginably curious. His great desire was to have occult power so that he would be able to show off. He used to pray to God only for occult power — not for peace, not for joy, not for any spiritual quality — only for occult power. He did not care for spiritual power at all.

God eventually came to him and asked, “What kind of occult power do you need?”

The seeker replied, “The occult power that people will be astonished by. Jesus Christ came back in three days’ time, but Jesus Christ was dead. In my case, I will be happy if I can be buried alive so I can prove that I have more occult power than Jesus Christ. I would like to be buried under the ground for quite a few hours.”

Because he had been praying to God for occult power, God said, “All right. I am giving you occult power.”

The seeker immediately wanted to demonstrate his newly acquired power. He arranged to be buried alive for twelve hours. After twelve hours, the villagers were supposed to dig him out and he would emerge alive. The police were present to record that nobody would be responsible for him if anything unfortunate happened. Many, many villagers went to see the spectacle. Some people stayed and watched. They were curious to know whether he would come out alive. The seeker’s mother, father, brother and other relatives and dear ones were also watching. Since they could not stay for the entire twelve hours, they would go back home for a short while and then they would come back again. They were also extremely curious as to whether he would come out alive.

After twelve hours had passed, people dug up the ground and uncovered the young man. To everybody’s amazement, he was quite all right. Everybody shook his hand. Absolutely hundreds of villagers were applauding and admiring him. But he was looking and looking for someone in the crowd. His poor mother, who had been worrying and worrying for hours, was so happy, delighted and excited to see her son alive. She was absolutely sure that he was searching for her, so she came running to him and cried, “I know that you are looking for me, my son.”

Then she embraced her son with such love and affection. The son said, “No, no, I am looking for somebody else.”

The mother was shocked. She asked, “For whom?”

He said, “I am looking for my girlfriend.”

The mother was sad and mad when she found out that her son was not looking for her. She said, “What is this? I have given my whole life for you. I am the one who gave birth to you, and you are so ungrateful! You love her more than you love me. I have sacrificed my whole life for you, and you love your girlfriend more!” She was so disgusted that she went home.

The young man continued looking, but his girlfriend was not to be found. She had been there earlier in the day, but she thought that this fellow was not going to come out alive. She was absolutely convinced that he would die there, and who wants to see a dead body carried out? She was afraid that if anything happened to him, then people would express pity for her. They would say, “Poor girl, she has lost her boyfriend.” She did not want to be embarrassed, so she left the scene after only an hour or two.

This is what happens when we pray to God only for occult power. God may give us occult power to use to show off. There were so many people there, but the young man was not satisfied. He was not interested in those others. He was only thinking that if so many people came, his girlfriend would see his performance and she would be deeply moved. Then she would be more willing to marry him.

Alas, alas, he did not see his girlfriend. When he found her at home, she told him that she did not want to marry him. He said, “But I showed this performance of occult power! Were you not impressed?”

The girlfriend said, “No, I do not want to marry you. I want to marry either someone who is very rich, to make me happy here on earth, or someone who has renounced everything for God.”

In the course of time, the girlfriend met someone very, very rich, and she married him. Alas, alas, she discovered that marriage-life was full of quarrelling, fighting and misunderstanding. It was a most unfortunate experience. She said, “I have made such a serious mistake by marrying this wealthy man!”

So she left her husband. Then she wanted to marry someone who had renounced the world. Now, if somebody has renounced the world, why should he marry her? Most probably, he has renounced the world after going through this kind of suffering, where the husband and wife quarrel and fight.

The girl went to someone who had renounced everything and asked him, “Are you happy?”

The renunciate said, “Yes, I am truly happy because I have renounced the world. Before this, I went through married life. Truth to tell, my wife made my life miserable. Every day we were quarrelling and fighting. The fighting never ended. I was miserable, so I renounced the whole world. Now I am absolutely happy.”

The young girl said, “I also want to be happy. My experience of married life is the same as yours. It brought me only misery. Now I want to renounce the world.”

The renunciate said, “Do not make the same mistake again. Renounce the world and pray and pray. You will find true happiness.”

So the young girl did not look any more for a husband. Since she did not know anybody who was sincerely interested in the spiritual life and had renounced the world who would marry her, she herself gave up the world of desire. She no longer wanted to have a boyfriend or a husband. She only wanted to pray to God to realise Him. She made a firm resolution: no boyfriend, no husband, only God.

When she renounced the world, she became so happy. That same night, God came to her in a dream and said, “I am your Boyfriend. I am your Husband. I am your Father. I am your Mother. I am your All.”

In one day she received realisation. God came to her in a dream and became a reality in her life.

The occultist’s nature was not transformed in the slightest by his experience. It was his girlfriend who became divine. In the course of time, the occultist’s mother came to know that her son’s former girlfriend had now received illumination, so the mother came to her and saw that she was indeed totally changed. The mother knew her son was useless; he cared only for occult power. But when she saw the spiritual light radiating from the girl who was supposed to have married her son, she was so moved. Then she started praying and meditating with her son’s former girlfriend. The mother became very spiritual, and the girl was able to help the mother make inner progress.

When the occultist observed so many changes in his mother, he also wanted to become a disciple of his former girlfriend. His girlfriend said, “I cannot take responsibility for anyone. God is my Husband, my Father, my Mother — my Everything.”

The young man said, “I do not want to be your husband. I want you to be my Guru. You have received illumination. Now no more occult power for me! I am giving up this kind of display. I want you to be my Guru.”

She said, “No, I cannot be your Guru. My Guru is your Guru. If you accept God as your Guru, I will accept you. But if you take me as your Guru, I cannot accept you. Once upon a time we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Now my Boyfriend is my Guru — God. If you accept God as your Beloved, then I will accept you.”

The young man agreed to accept God as his only Beloved, and all three began to lead most spiritual lives.

So the girlfriend realised God first. Then her boyfriend realised God. Finally the mother realised God. All three realised God. It was the former girlfriend who gave the son and his mother God-realisation. So the girlfriend illumined the whole world.