After a long climb, just after dawn, a young man reached the top of a holy mountain, where, he had been told, a holy man lived. Sure enough, when he was able to catch his breath, he saw a small cave, and at the mouth of the cave, sat a very old man.
The young man approached this wizened guru, and said, "Teacher, I have traveled far, and have braved harsh conditions to meet you. Please, tell me what wisdom you have for me, as I continue my spiritual path.
At first, the teacher said nothing. Then, clearing his throat, he said, "My son, lean in closer. I have a great wisdom to share with you, and only with you. It is this...Watch out for donkeys. They'll steal your toothpaste, when you're not looking."
The young man was speechless. Was this wisdom? Was this all? Had he struggled through it all, to hear this? He asked, "Master, surely...I mean...well, is that it? What does it mean? Is that wisdom?"
The teacher simply looked at him, and said, "Let me ask you a question, my son. Does it feel like wisdom, to you?" Before he could catch himself, the young man blurted, "No! No it does not! It sound like nonsense. I feel like I've wasted my time."
At this, the old man perked up, and smiled. "Is it nonsense?" he asked, and the young man, again, found himself speaking without thinking. "Yes! It is nonsense. I could have come up with something better than that. I know it. You're a fake, and I am fool!"
The old man, still smiling, said, "Right, on the first account, and maybe right on the last. Let me ask you, since you said you could come up with something better, what is it? What is more wise than what I have shared with you?"
Again, as before, he found himself speaking, before he could think, and he heard himself say, "Anything. Anything is wiser than that. Like 'Save the struggle and your time. Don't climb mountains, looking for gurus. They've got nothing you don't have."
He looked at the guru, wrapped in amber robes, and he fumed. Still, the old man smiled at him, but said nothing. For almost a minute, there was silence, until he he thought it was going to drive him crazy.
Then the old man laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed. He was doubled over, in laughter. At first, this made the young man angrier, and then he found he could not help himself. Soon, he was laughing too...and then he got it. He got it!
It came to him, in the middle of the laughing, and when he realized it, he looked over at the old man, who was no longer laughing...only smiling, with great delight. Now, he was smiling too. He felt such peace and such well-being.
He sat down, in that moment, and for a long time, they simply smiled at each other. Then, as the Sun climbed to the middle of the sky, the young man got up, smiled a deep smile, and without a sound, made his way back down the mountain.
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