A spiritual person once came to meet Saint Eknath. He began to shower praise on the saint and asked him how should he atone for his misdeeds and keep in check his tendency to commit ill deeds and sin. Saint asked him not to sing his praise and told him, "I do not know why, but I get a feeling that you have only seven more days to live."

A saint's statement could not be wrong. The person was heart broken and took ill the moment he reached home. He stayed in that ill-health for the next six days. The seventh day Saint Eknath visited  his home. The person was overwhelmed to see the saint and tears began roll down his eyes. Saint smiled at him and asked, "How many evil deeds did you commit in these six days?" The person replied, "How could I think of doing anything at all? I am so terrified of my death." The saint replied, "Nothing is going to happen to you. This was just a lesson. If you remember that this life is momentary and remember your death all the time, you would never commit any sin. Your attraction towards wrong deeds will disappear completely."

Experiences and Reality

This is an interesting story of how a king understood the basic element that spiritual seekers seek and the meaning of 'enquiry into the self'.

Kingdom of Mithila has been attacked by a cruel king with a huge army. Despite the bravery of his soldiers King Janak has been defeated. The new king of Mithila has ordered Janak, "I won't kill you, but take out all the clothes and jewellery that you wear and leave this kingdom immediately."

Janak is on the streets now with a just a small piece of cloth on him. The new king has announced that no one in the kingdom would give Janak shelter or food to eat. Anyone found trying to help Janak would be sentenced to death. Helpless Janak has walked out of his kingdom like a beggar.

He has not eaten for several days. He sees a camp in a remote place where food is distributed to poor and needy. The doors of the camp are being shut as all the food has already been distributed. Janak whines and pleads to the camp manager to give him something to eat. The manager gives him a handful of leftover rice. Janak feels that this rice is much more delicious than any delicacy he ever tasted. As he is about to put some of the rice in his mouth, an eagle swoops down to snatch the rice he has and all the rice has fallen down to the ground...

"O God!" cried King Janak aloud and woke up from his dreadful dream, his body shivering and full of sweat. This nightmare shook him up completely. All his queens and servants came running to his bed when they heard his shriek. Amazed and scared King Janak began to look around him at his beautiful palace and at the rich, luxurious bed on which he was sleeping.

This dream had such a profound effect on him that he began to question all the wise men about its meaning. He wondered, "What is real, this life or that life?" He raised the same question to Sage Ashtavakra.

Ashtavakra with his spiritual acumen found out the source of this nightmare. He asked the king, "When you were standing in that camp dressed like a beggar with rice in your hand, who was with you? Did you have the kingly attire, this whole palace, all your servants and queens with you?" The king replied he had no one with him, he was all alone facing the dreadful situation.

The sage then asked, "When you woke up, could you see the camp manager and the camp? Did you have the rice with you?" The king replied in the negative.

The sage explained that in both the situations there was only one thing constantly present, and that was the king's consciousness. What he saw in his dream was not true. What he is seeing all around now is also not absolute truth since it would not last forever. All experiences are different states of consciousness. What is true and never-changing actually is that consciousness which is the witness to these experiences. All wise spiritual seekers try to understand this consciousness which is also the source of infinite bliss.