A conqueror king, but also a knowledge-loving, goes to an ascetic that lives simple a solitary and quiet life into a cave.
The king said to him firmly:
- I came to conquer these lands and I heard that in these mountains there are saints and ascetics full of wisdom. Because I'm a great lover of Divine knowledge, I want to put you five questions, if you'll answer without being contradicted, I will let these places as they are, in peace with everyone here.
The wise looked at him gentle and indifferently, responding:
- Okay, as you wish, it doesn't matter anyway.
The king, delighted by the way of being of the ascetic, by the peace that radiates from his presence, asks:
1. - Who are the most, those who died or those who live?
- Those who live, because the dead are not.
2. - Where is the largest creature living, on earth or in water?
- On earth, because the water is also on Earth?
3. - How can a man become a god?
- By doing what no other man can do.
4. - There is this cycle of night and day passing continuously one after another. I wanna know which of them, darkness or light, was first and which will be the last?
- Light is the first and last; darkness is only the light which is not seen.
The king, pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and wisdom from his responses, put the last question:
5. - Who are you and who am I?
The wise ascetic answers simple and humble:
- I am the knower; You it's the observer.
The king left contented, illuminated by the last response.
Shortly after, he entrusted the kingdom to his son and he left happily to live in that quiet land, as a disciple of the wise ascetic.
The king said to him firmly:
- I came to conquer these lands and I heard that in these mountains there are saints and ascetics full of wisdom. Because I'm a great lover of Divine knowledge, I want to put you five questions, if you'll answer without being contradicted, I will let these places as they are, in peace with everyone here.
The wise looked at him gentle and indifferently, responding:
- Okay, as you wish, it doesn't matter anyway.
The king, delighted by the way of being of the ascetic, by the peace that radiates from his presence, asks:
1. - Who are the most, those who died or those who live?
- Those who live, because the dead are not.
2. - Where is the largest creature living, on earth or in water?
- On earth, because the water is also on Earth?
3. - How can a man become a god?
- By doing what no other man can do.
4. - There is this cycle of night and day passing continuously one after another. I wanna know which of them, darkness or light, was first and which will be the last?
- Light is the first and last; darkness is only the light which is not seen.
The king, pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and wisdom from his responses, put the last question:
5. - Who are you and who am I?
The wise ascetic answers simple and humble:
- I am the knower; You it's the observer.
The king left contented, illuminated by the last response.
Shortly after, he entrusted the kingdom to his son and he left happily to live in that quiet land, as a disciple of the wise ascetic.