Oil and water do not mix. This is why if we add a drop of oil on a wide surface of water, it spreads all over, coating it with a very thin film. The volume of the tiny drop of oil may be millions of times less that the volume of water, but it still manages to covers its entire surface.
Most saints tell us that this vast universe is but like a thin film of oil covering the entire body of reality. Saints who have experienced deeper aspects of reality say that most of it is beyond both space and time, and the reality that we directly experience is but a vanishingly small fraction of the sum total of all that is. But our obsession with what we can see and experience prevents us from directly experiencing the deeper and much more substantial aspects of reality.
Since everything around us participates in the play of space and time, everything we see around us is temporary and subject to constant change. That is why most saints tell us that the reality we directly experience through our senses is “unreal” and illusory. While the deeper reality that is experienced through mystical states of consciousness is considered to be “real” as it is beyond space and time and is permanent.
One day an atheist happened to see a saint meditating under a tree. On a whim he decided to pay his respects. He approached the saint and bowed before him. The saint opened his eyes and asked why he was bowing.
“You are a renunciate and have sacrificed all worldly pleasures.” The atheist explained. “While I am immersed in this world and I am enjoying it thoroughly. Because of your great sacrifice, I feel like bowing before you.”
On hearing this, the saint immediately got up and bowed deeply before the atheist. The astonished atheist was surprised. “Why are you doing this?” He asked.
“Your sacrifice is much bigger than mine!” Exclaimed the saint. “That is why I bow before you.”
He continued, “You have chosen to renounce the “real” and permanent. At the same time you have embraced what is ephemeral and temporary. On the other hand I have embraced the permanent and blissful, while giving up this painful and illusory world. I believe your sacrifice is much bigger than mine!”
This reply left the atheist stunned and speechless. He felt his world had just turned upside down. From that day onwards he became a disciple of the saint in the quest to go from the unreal to the real.
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Credits:This has been written by Raj Shah and edited by Ketna Shah. The story of the encounter of the atheist and a saint is a fictionalized account of a true story.