A story from the book: Tales and Stories from the Mystical Orient, will enlighten us.
Here’s the story. (Become as curious as little children by reading or listening to this story, but most importantly, Let the truth liberate you, you savvy adults.)
Two good friends, Peter and Paul in search of truth, often met to discuss the Holy Scriptures, philosophy and above all morality in human existence, which is tainted by misunderstandings, not to say mysteries.
While they agreed on several points in their quests, Pierre was very diligent in attending weekly meetings that took place somewhere, a kind of assembly held by a true Spiritual Guide.
Paul always promised to Peter that he would go to this meeting with him, because the debriefing that Peter made to him were very convincing.
But for one reason or another, Paul always found fallacious excuses for not attending to any of these meetings; A relative was in the hospital, an errand to do for her mom, a friend he had to meet coming out of a trip etc. At the end of the day, he never managed to attend the meeting himself. Jesus said: Who saw me have seen the Father. That means a lot; seeing the Master (Darshan) is like going to the laundromat to wash the soul by feeding on the love that comes out of The Master. (Tandé ak wè sé dé) Creole proverb which means ‘’ to hear and to see are not the same.’ ‘Or, seeing, is believing.
One day when Pierre came out of his Satsang meeting (Association to the Truth) by the little road he regularly took, a big nail pierced his foot so deeply that he almost fainted, as the nail exceeded the tolerable level of pain, and he could stand only on one foot. Leaning on a stick, he was able to return to his house, not without pain.
Paul who walk the same pathway, about in the same place as Peter had wounded himself, was attracted by a shimmer from a mountain not too far away. Although he knows that “all that shines is not gold,” he could not help but to climb the mountain to discover that at the entrance of a cave, he was waiting for a gold ingot on a jar. He got over it without asking why this fortune. (You see, I have not used the word chance) since we are talking about fate, Luck has no place if even it existed.
But when he came to Pierre to show him his finding, he was astonished at how his friend was, who explained how it happened.
Vexed at the fact that he was the one who had the privilege of being rewarded by such a fortune and not his friend who is more deserving of it, intrigued him.
According to their spiritual understanding, this required an explanation. So, by mutual agreement, they resolved to go and see the Master for some clarification.
Arriving at the Master who is always available and willing for the sincere seekers, they explained to him the circumstances of what brought them to see him, while mentioning the difference in the attendance of Peter to assist the Satsang and apologies That Paul always found in order to evade it.
The Master in all his compassion lamented Peter’s misfortune and complimented Paul for his most gratifying finding. He offered to start by explaining the misfortune first: Peter, He said, had a very heavy destiny in consequences that required him to meet a lot of inconvenience throughout his short
existence.