Scene 1
(The home of a great Master. Enter his disciple, who is also a Guru.)DISCIPLE: Master, Master, I need your blessing.
MASTER: Blessing? What for?
DISCIPLE: O Master, you know that the King has been bothering me for a long time. He wants me to initiate him. He says he is an old man and may die at any moment, so he needs initiation. Yesterday I finally agreed to do it. I told him that I would this evening initiate him. Now I have come here for your blessing, Master.
MASTER: You fool! How can you initiate the King? Don’t you know that he has been wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance all his life? He has led an absolutely corrupt life, and you want to initiate him? Does he have one iota of purity or sincerity, not to speak of spirituality? How can you dare to initiate him? I can’t bless you. Go and initiate him. It is your problem.
DISCIPLE: Master, he pleaded with me on so many occasions that this time I could not refuse. What shall I do now?
MASTER: Do whatever you like. You have to pay the penalty for your foolishness. And it is not only foolishness. There is also a subtle ego, an unconscious ego involved, which you have not noticed.
DISCIPLE: Master, I didn’t know anything about that ego. How has it attacked me?
MASTER: My son, you won’t like to hear this, but I know you will understand. When you initiate the King, everybody will come to learn about it and they will think, “What a great spiritual Master he is.” You will become famous overnight, and there, I tell you, your spiritual progress will end.
DISCIPLE: Master, Master, save me, save me! If I don’t initiate him, the King will punish me; and if I do initiate him, my spiritual life will be ruined. What am I going to do, Master? Please help me. I am at your feet.
MASTER: Go and initiate the King and then come back to me. Let me see what I can do for you.
(The disciple touches the Master’s feet with deepest gratitude and leaves.)
