A young man said to a monk: ‘I would really like to become a monk, but I have learned nothing of importance in my life. My father only taught me how to play chess, and that does not lead to enlightenment. And besides, I was told that all games are sinful.’
‘They can be sinful, but they can also be a diversion, and perhaps this Ashram needs a little of both,’ came the reply.
The monk called for a chessboard and summoned a monk to play with the young man. However, before the game began, he added:
‘We may need diversion, but we cannot have everyone playing chess all the time. We will have only the best players here. If our monk loses, he will leave the Ashram, thus creating an opening for you.’
The monk was deadly serious. The young man played an aggressive game, He soon realized that he was quite superior to the monk in chess playing but then he noticed the saintly look in the monk’s eyes, and from then on, he began to play deliberately badly. He decided that he would rather lose because he felt that the monk could prove far more useful to the world than him.
Suddenly, the head monk overturned the chessboard onto the floor. ‘You learned far more than you were taught,’ he said.
‘You have the powers of concentration necessary to win and you are capable of fighting for what you want, but you also have compassion and the ability to sacrifice yourself for a noble cause. You have shown yourself capable of balancing discipline and mercy; welcome to our Ashram!’
Intentions and motives are the key. Getting them in order, positive and compassionate, is placing life on a higher plane.
It ensures that thoughts,words and deeds all line up in correct direction.
It's a single ticket to most important entities of any life. It lifts up self,it lifts up others around and perhaps is as potent a currency as prayers in God's darbaar as well.
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