Once a fakir lived in ancient India. He used to beg using a bowl made of clay. One day, the queen called him in the palace and said, "You are such a great soul. If possible, please give your bowl to me. I shall pray the bowl." The fakir gave the bowl, which was all he had; to the queen. The queen was impressed with his selflessness and gave a golden bowl studded with diamonds to the fakir. The fakir accepted the golden bowl and went from the palace.
The fakir had no attachment even with such a precious bowl. He took the bowl and started begging for alms. One thief also saw the bowl and started following the fakir. The fakir went to his hut after begging. The thief followed him and started waiting for an appropriate time to steal the golden bowl outside his hut. The fakir saw the thief waiting around his hut and understood his intentions. Fakir thought that he should not make the thief suffer and threw the bowl out of his hut.
The thief saw the fakir throwing the bowl. He took the bowl and stood at the hut's entrance and said, "Oh Fakir! If you allow, can I come inside?" The fakir said, "You don't need to ask for coming inside. You can come whenever you want." The thief came inside and said, "You are a great soul. You threw such a precious bowl outside." The fakir said, "It is a bowl, does not matter what is made of. I am not attached with the elements."
Seeing such a person, even thief started feeling respect for him. The thief asked, "How can I become a person like you? How many births will I need to take to become as pure as you?" The fakir said, "Whenever you want, you can become pure. Even right now, at this very moment." The thief was surprised and said, "How is this possible? I am such a priced criminal who has stolen even from royal treasuries. Nobody can even catch me till now." The fakir said, "It does not matter what you did. Only thing that matters is what you want to do in this very moment.
It does not matter how long the darkness has remained. Whenever the light will come, the darkness disappears automatically."
The thief was still puzzled and asked, "Please tell me a simple method of entering the light you are referring." The fakir said, "The method is very simple. Be watchful of your breathes. See your breathes coming inside and going outside. Whatever you do, be very watchful of your breathes. Even if you steal, just do not lose the focus on observing your breathes."
The thief said, "It is very simple. I can easily follow this method." Saying this he went.
However, the thief came back after a week. Worried, he said to the fakir, "Focusing on my breathes is undoubtedly very peaceful and I can feel pure bliss within myself. But, I could not steal with this method. Whenever I tried to steal, I got conscious if someone is looking at me or not. I could not focus on the breathes in such a situation."
The fakir smiled and said, "Then try to do only those tasks which you can perform without bothering if someone is watching you or not. You can easily focus on your breathes in this way." The thief understood the message as he could only do the tasks which are not harmful to anyone, if he keep his focus on breathes. The thief left all the unsocial activities and started working for his own and society welfare.
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