the holy man
here is an amusing story
from a great little book
from "The Holy Man"
by Susan Trott*
"There was a holy
man who lived in a hermitage on a mountain. Although solitary, it
was not strictly a hermitage because some monks lived there with
him. Even before the world began to seek him out, he was rarely
alone.
When word got out about him, people came to see him during the
summer months when the hermitage was accessible, first a few
people, then more and more until there was a long line climbing
the steep mountain path single file - tens, hundreds, and then
thousands, some of whom never made it to his door before the snows
forced their return..........
When the door opened wide, the next pilgrim in line, waiting
beyond the gate, would be summoned forth by a man in a wheat
colored robe, a small, non-descript-looking person.
"Yes?" he would ask when the pilgrim reached the
threshold.
"I have come to see the holy man."
"Follow me, please."
He or she would follow the small man through the house, along a
hallway with doorways open to various rooms into which the pilgrim
would peek hastily, but the monk ahead was already moving so very
quickly through the house that the pilgrim couldn't linger but
literally had to rush after him.
In no time at all they had passed through the entire first floor
of the house and were at a large door similar to the one the
pilgrim had entered. It was the back door. The monk opened it wide
and said "Goodbye".
"But I have come to see the holy man!" said the visitor
plaintively.
"You have seen me," he gently replied.
And the next thing the pilgrim knew he would be outside, the door
solidly closed behind him.
This is why the line moved so rapidly and how the holy man got to
see so many people - or so many people got to see him. The trip
through the house was twenty seconds, add another twenty for
greetings and partings, another twenty for returning to the front
door, and what you have is a person a minute.
Most times the holy man would add, "If you look on everyone
you meet as a holy person, you will be happy," which added
seven seconds.......
Rarely, but sometimes, which were happy times for him, he sat down
and talked to a pilgrim. ...........
What did pilgrims feel
about being given such short shrift after their long inchworm
trudge up the mountain? .....
.....even the nicest amongst them, when the door shut on their
departure, felt some of these feelings: wronged, hurt, cheated,
disappointed, betrayed, ill-used, angry.
But it was amazing how fleeting this letdown was, because, as they
stood outside the door, somewhat dazed, feeling any or all of the
above, they began to review their visit to the holy man and to
understand.
The door had been opened to them.
How many places would this happen in a world of peepholes, locks,
bolts, and bars?
The door had been opened wide and the one-man reception committee
had stood there, eyes alight, a small smile, saying,
"Yes?" -a "how may I help you?" sort of yes.
Whereas the pilgrim had not greeted him at all, had not introduced
himself, said hello, how are you, may I please come in, but,
instead, full of his own importance, his own mission, had treated
the door-opener as the lowliest servant, saying, "I've come
to see the holy man."
And the door-opener, realizing the visitor's mission had already
been accomplished, showed him out.
Thinking this, the pilgrim felt very sorry about his behavior and
vowed that he would come again next summer and do differently.
He tried to remember what the holy man looked like and couldn't,
because he hadn't looked at him. He wouldn't recognize him if the
same man opened the door next year. But no matter. He would be
courteous and respectful to whoever opened the door. In fact, he
would be gracious to everyone from now on, imagining that everyone
was the holy man, that everyone indeed had holiness in him. This
would be very hard. Still he would try. Because that was what he
had learned from the holy man, and it was a huge, wonderful,
staggering lesson. And it meant .....yes it meant that even he
himself was a holy person somewhat.
* Excerpts from a delightful
little book by Susan Trott "The Holy Man".
This, and her "Holy Man 2" are published by Penguin.
Both are highly recommended!
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