The Hermit Who Gave Up: A Folktale Retold

The Hermit Who Gave Up ...

Originally written on Friday, May 07, 2010, 8:23 PM 
I wrote this as the Editorial for Rewind 2010 but changed my mind about publishing it there. It comes from my "experiments with detachment"! 

When the hermit returned after many years to the home of his guru, he was sure for a few moments that he had reached the wrong place. Perhaps he had taken a wrong turn somewhere. For, he had left his guru in deep meditation in a basic structure of mud bricks, and here before him stood an edifice worthy of a rich businessman, lush fruit trees.... The hermit was disappointed. Perhaps his guru had moved away, he thought, making a move to go. Perhaps, oh dear god, perhaps this rich businessman had usurped his property and sent him packing. At this awful thought, he turned and strode up to the impressive door and rapped on it imperiously with his knuckles. He would find out where his poor old guru had gone and bring him back...

When the door opened, the hermit’s jaw dropped. There, framed by the polished teakwood doorway, stood his guru. The years had been kind to him and he didn’t look a day older; he still sported a beard and long hair, neat and tidy, glowing with the effect of cosmetic care. He was bare-chested, as in the old days, and all he wore was a loincloth made of beautiful, soft silk, tied in a very fashionable manner.

The guru looked his disciple up and down, grinned and held out his hand. “My child,” he rumbled in much the same old way, “I’ve waited for you to come back all these years. What an opportune time! I’m looking for someone... But what am I about? Come in, my son, come in.” He stood aside and waited for the hermit to enter the house.

The hermit, quite overcome, could only stutter, “But what...? How....? When I left you were....” He backed away from the door quite certain that maya, an illusion, had him in its grip, that his senses were playing tricks on him, or that this was some great and final test he was meant to pass in order to reach the ultimate truth. He stared as his guru whistled softly, bent down and picked up a brown, furry creature, and moved towards him.

“I know, my son; you must be completely disoriented by all this. But after you left, I made the greatest discovery of all, thanks to this little chap,” he held up the little brown mouse nestling in his large hands. “This guy taught me that this world is all about attachment, about connecting with other people and creatures; he showed me that the challenge does not lie in moving away from other people, from civilization, in order to discover the ultimate truth. It has to be found right here, right now, as we live in the challenge.”

His disciple stared at the mouse. “And how did he do that, Guruji?”

“By chewing up my loincloth, of course! He not only showed me how attached I was to my loincloth – that detachment was an illusion – but he also showed me that he was not chewing my loincloth to spite me, but because he had needs equal to mine. So I decided to give up the old life, which appears now to have been incredibly self-absorbed and selfish, to take on a new life in which I look after other people and creatures – there is purpose, meaning, and most importantly, a lot of joy!”

The hermit turned to watch as several children emerged from the house, accompanied by various animals of different sizes, tumbling, laughing, giggling. They ran past Guruji, some of them giving him high fives, and one of them called over her shoulder, “We are learning about area, Guruji, and Ma’am says that we are to find the largest leaves in the forest and bring them back!”

“What have you done, Guruji,” the hermit asked. “What is this place?”

“Why, it’s still a school, of course; only now we help children to enjoy every moment of the learning process."