Namaste.
This is the story of sage Ribhu and his disciple Nidaga.
Ribhu taught his disciple Nidaga the truth of the real self,
The vast,
Without a second.
Nidaga,
In spite of his knowledge and understanding,
Did not get sufficient conviction to adopt and follow the path of knowledge.
So he settled down in his native town to lead a life devoted to ceremonial religion.
But the sage Ribhu loved his disciple as deeply as the latter respected his master.
In spite of his age,
Ribhu would himself go to his disciple in the town just to see how far the latter had outgrown his ritualism.
At times,
The sage went in disguise so that he might observe how Nidaga would act when he did not know that he was being observed by his master.
On one such occasion,
Ribhu,
Who had put on the disguise of a rustic,
Found Nidaga intently watching a royal procession.
Unrecognized by the town dweller Nidaga,
The village rustic inquired what the vassal was all about and was told that the king was going in procession.
Oh,
It is the king!
He goes in procession?
But where is he?
Asked the rustic.
There on the elephant,
Said Nidaga.
You say the king is on the elephant?
Yes,
I see the two,
Said the rustic.
But which is the king and which is the elephant?
What?
Exclaimed Nidaga.
You see the two but you do not know that the man above is the king and the animal below is the elephant.
What is the use of talking to a man like you?
Please don't be impatient with an ignorant man like me,
Begged the rustic.
But you said above and below.
What do they mean?
Nidaga could not stand it anymore.
You see the king and the elephant,
The one above and the other below,
Yet you want to know what is meant by above and below?
Bust out,
Nidaga.
If things seen and words spoken can convey so little to you,
Action alone can teach you.
Bend forward.
You will know it all too well.
The rustic did as he was told.
Nidaga got on his shoulders and said,
Know it now.
I am above as the king.
You are below as the elephant.
Is that clear enough?
No,
Not yet,
Was the rustic's quiet reply.
You say you are above like the king and I am below like the elephant.
The king,
The elephant,
Above and below.
So far it is clear.
But please tell me,
What do you mean by I and you?
When Nidaga was thus confronted,
All of a sudden with this mighty problem of defining the you apart from the I,
Light dawned in his mind.
At once he jumped down and fell at his master's feet,
Saying,
Who else but my vulnerable master Ribhu could have thus drawn my mind from the superficialities of physical existence to the true being of the Self?
O benign master,
I crave thy blessings.
This is the central inquiry in Vedanta philosophy,
Where we try to find the real I and in doing so,
We also discover the answer to if you and I are separate from each other.
According to Vedanta,
In reality there is no separate me or separate you.
Only the Self is.
If you are interested in how we came to this conclusion,
You can do Nivritti Yoga's course,
Discover Your True Self.
In that course,
Step by step arguments are given for arriving to the real Self.
Www.
Mooji.
Org
