There was one great master, a sage, Nagarjuna. A thief came to him. The thief had fallen in love with the master because he had never seen such a beautiful person, such infinite grace.
The thief asked Nagarjuna, âIs there some possibility of my growth also? But one thing I must make clear to you: I am a thief. And another thing: I cannot leave it, so please donât make it a condition. I will do whatsoever you say, but I cannot stop being a thief. That I have tried many timesâit never works, so I have left the whole sport. I have accepted my destiny, that I am going to be a thief and remain a thief, so donât talk about it. From the very beginning let it be clear.â
Nagarjuna said, âWhy are you afraid? Who is going to talk about your being a thief?â
The thief said, âBut whenever I go to a monk, to a religious priest, or to a religious saint, they always say, âFirst stop stealing.’â
Nagarjuna laughed and said, âThen you must have gone to thieves; otherwise, why? Why should they be concerned? I am not concerned!â
The thief was very happy. He said, âThen it is okay. It seems that now I can become a disciple. You are the right master.â
Nagarjuna accepted him and said, âNow you can go and do whatsoever you like. Only one condition has to be followed: be aware! Go, break into houses, enter, take things, steal; do whatsoever you like, that is of no concern to me, I am not a thiefâbut do it with full awareness.â
The thief couldnât understand that he was falling into the trap. He said, âThen everything is okay. I will try.â After three weeks he came back and said, âYou are trickyâbecause if I become aware, I cannot steal. If I steal, awareness disappears. I am in a fix.â
Nagarjuna said, âNo more talk about your being a thief and stealing. I am not concerned; I am not a thief. Now, you decide! If you want awareness, then you decide. If you donât want it, then too you decide.â
The man said, âBut now it is difficult. I have tasted it a little, and it is so beautifulâI will leave anything, whatsoever you say. Just the other night for the first time I was able to enter the palace of the king. I opened the treasure. I could have become the richest man in the worldâbut you were following me and I had to be aware. When I became aware, diamonds looked just like stones, ordinary stones. When I lost awareness, the treasure was there. And I waited and did this many times. I would become aware and I became like a buddha, and I could not even touch it because the whole thing looked foolish, stupidâjust stones, what am I doing? Losing myself over stones? But then I would lose awareness; they would become again beautiful, the whole illusion. But finally I decided that they were not worth it.â
INSIGHTS
Self Awareness the First Pathway to Growth