Truth and Fiction

A Buddhist monk once asked his Master, “What is the difference between Truth and fiction?” To this the master told them a similar story about a disciple who asked his Teacher ‘The First Principle of Life’. The disciple sincerely thought the answer would be “Knowledge.”

But to his utter surprise he was sent into the kitchen section of the ashram to wash utensils. He worked there with the same equanimity with all his attention to utmost detail of cleaning the utensils. All were surprised seeing the utensils as new as never before.

As for his query, the Teacher called the disciple again and asked him about it. The disciple just smiled at him and replied that he no longer needed any answer.

Having narrated the story till here, the Master asked all his disciple monks to go to the city and bring answers from different people about the conduct of the Teacher and his disciple.

A capitalist was asked why the Teacher had asked his disciple to clean the utensils. He replied, “Keep them busier than what they can think for themselves. That’s the way to buy cheap labor”

A communist said, “The question itself had no meaning. In fact such questions arise only in idle minds having no real work. Work makes a person forget trivial queries like these”

Many argued how a committed scholar could be happy and satisfied doing such a meager job. They went to the extent of seeing a plot in the Teacher’s mind to demean his disciple, as he was the brightest of them all. Some frivolously whisked the monks off with a scorn and ridiculed them for asking what they ought to learn from their Master.

Having gone through all this the monks returned to their Master with the answers they had received from so many different people. They found none addressing their query.

To this the Master replied, “The first principle cannot be learnt. It has to be experienced. That is exactly why the disciple was sent into the kitchen by the master. One’s experiences cannot be out of one’s choice and confirm to one’s ego. Having understood this there was nothing more to learn. So the disciple needed no answer.”

On being asked why he refrained from answering it himself, the Master answered, “The moment you have finished with the experience the only thing that remains is its effervescence….which can bring out different meanings to different people. So nothing is beyond it and nothing can be taught about it. I WANTED YOU TO EXPERIENCE IT”.

That is the difference between truth and fiction. Fiction is made to sound akin to the experiences of life so that it is accepted by the senses. The truth however can blow them (the senses) off, for the better or for the worse…….Depending on the taker!