TESTING LIMITLESS FAITH
Milarepa, the great Tibetan yogi! Whose name has run around the globe. There is a touching incident. One day, Milarepa comes to his Guru and begs to be accepted as a disciple. The Guru, Marpa, says to him: "Do you have sufficient faith?"
Milarepa answers: "Master, my faith in you is beyond words."
"How much faith do you possess?" asks the Guru.
"As much as the limitless skies," is the answer.
The Guru hears the words but wants to put the disciple to a test!
"Here are some bricks," he says to Milarepa, "with them build a platform at this spot."
Milarepa sets to work immediately. He builds a beautiful platform which he feels should please his Guru. When the Guru arrives, he exclaims: "What a fool you are, Milarepa! You have wasted all your time and energy. I did not want a platform here, at this corner, but at the other corner."
Milarepa says to himself: "I clearly remember the Guru pointing to this spot; bet let not my faith be shaken. I must be wrong. The Guru is always right!" He dismantles the platform and starts building a new one at the other corner.
After a few days, the second platform is ready and Milarepa approaches his Guru.
Once again, the Guru is dissatisfied and says: "What a silly fellow you are! I never wanted the platform here."
Milarepa feels irritated, but controls himself and says: "Let me not doubt the Guru!" He builds a third platform.
The process is repeated several times. And now Milarepa can take it no longer. He loses his patience. His faith is completely shaken. He wants to run away from the Guru. The Guru’s wife learns of it: she comes to his rescue.
"The Guru is only testing you!" she says to him. "It was you who told him that your faith was limitless as the skies. Where is your faith gone?"
Milarepa’s faith renewed. He builds yet one more platform. When it was ready, the Guru embraces him, saying: "You are truly my child. Let me share with you the secret which I have shared with none else."
Milarepa sits at the feet of the Guru and receives from him what only a Guru can pass on to his disciple. He is enlightened. He is emancipated from the seemingly endless cycle of birth and death which is, inevitably, a cycle of suffering and pain, but from which, alas, many of us do not yet wish to be liberated.
May some of us be inspired to cultivate this great quality of faith. The Guru is too loving to punish and too wise to make a mistake. Therefore, let us learn to accept all that comes out of his hands as Prasadam. In sun and rain, in pleasure and pain, in loss and gain, let our trusting heart learn to pray: "Give me a place at Your Lotus Feet!"
