Inspiration Corner

This story is about the great mystic, Milarepa:

When he went to his Master in Tibet, he was so humble, so pure, so authentic, that other disciples became jealous of him. It was certain that he would be the successor. And of course there was politics, so they tried to kill him.

One day they said to him, “If you really believe in the Master, can you jump from the hill? If you really believe, if the trust is there, then nothing – no harm is going to happen.” And Milarepa jumped without even hesitating for a single moment. They rushed down because it was almost a three-thousand-foot deep valley. They went down to find his scattered bones, but he was sitting there in a lotus posture, very happy, tremendously happy.

He opened his eyes and said, “You are right; trust saves.”

They thought it must be some coincidence, so when the house was on fire one day, they told him, “If you love your Master and you trust, you can go in.” He rushed in to save the woman and the child who were left inside. He came, and the fire was too great and they were hoping that he would die, but he was not burned at all. And he became more and more radiant, because the trust….

One day they were going somewhere, they were to cross a river, and they told him, “You need not go in the boat. You have such great trust; you can walk on the river” – and he walked.

That was the first time the Master saw him. He was not aware that he had been told to jump into the valley and told to go into the burning house; he was not aware. But that time he was there on the bank and he saw him walking, and he said, “What are you doing? It is impossible!”

And Milarepa said, “Not impossible at all! I am doing it by your power, sir.”

Now the Master thought, “If my name and my power can do this to this ignorant, stupid man…. I have never tried it myself”… so he tried. He drowned. Nothing has been heard about him after that.

Even an unenlightened Master, with deep trust, can revolutionize your life. And the reverse is also true: even an enlightened Master may not be of any help. It depends on you, it depends totally on you.

Osho, The Beloved, Vol 1, Ch 4, Q 2 (excerpt)