'There was a handicapped man who could not move and had to depend
upon the charity of others. People were annoyed by his begging and
ridiculed him. Once a holy man came by and this poor man sought his
advice. The holy man made sure that his advice would be fully and
truthfully followed. He took that man under a tree and placed him as
comfortably as possible and instructed him not to accept any charity
for three consecutive days.
The villagers saw this holy man settling him under a tree. They
became curious and asked the handicapped man if they could help. But
he refused all help. Even when they insisted he refused, obeying the
holy man from respect. This reliance on the Self made him strong and
his face lit. Within these three days the villagers became aware of
his inner force because all his worries and frustrations had totally
disappeared. This made the ultimate change and they looked after the
man, and the man looked into the grace of the Self. He was provided
with all that a holy man would need, and he provided all that the
villagers needed to turn inward. The company of a Realised Man is
good enough to change the course of a wretched life into a holy life.
The advice that "I need nothing" transformed the situation.'
from 'Birth and Death' - Shankaracharya Shantanand Saraswati, a
disciple of Shankaracharya Brahmanand Saraswati.
Books by Shantanand Ji ('Birth and Death', 'Good Company', 'The Man
who wanted to meet God', 'Prayer' & 'The Orange Book' are all
available. They can be ordered on-line from the Study Society
http://www.studysociety.net/
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