Life is One : 1. Sri Swami Chidananda

16/04/2019
1.

There was a poet who once wrote:

"You cannot pluck a little flower
Without the shaking of a star."

All life is one. There is one common consciousness which links the life of all beings into one great cosmic unity.

There was once a Sufi mystic who was established in this state of cosmic consciousness. He was a gardener. One day a friend of his came to visit him. In the conversation that they were having he was distracted and the sharp gardening tool which he was using hit his leg. His friend was startled, for he saw, oozing out of the wound in his leg, not red blood but a thin, pale fluid. It was the sap of plants. This Sufi mystic was in an absolute rapport, a perfect harmony with all life. He was at one with the plants, He had entered into their very consciousness. His life and their life was entirely one.

Many other stories could be told about mystics who have attained this state of absolute consciousness with all life. One such cosmic being was sitting in that state one day in the courtyard of a great temple situated on the bank of a river. A ferryboat was carrying passengers across the river. One disembarking passenger queried the ferryman regarding the cost of the fare. First there was a discussion. Then hot words. Then a lively argument. Suddenly the passenger lunged forward and hit the ferryman. And this mystic sitting nearby was so sensitive that the blow caused him to fall over unconscious. It was as though the passenger has delivered the blow on him.

To be continued ..