Fairy Tales # 5: Himself

A man in a certain town wanted to become a doctor. And he did. He treated a few people and thought:

– Something isn’t right.

Then he became a masseur and an acupuncturist. He poked people with needles. People screamed, but got well. And he thought:

– No, something still isn’t right.

Then he became an athlete and set off round the world on a bicycle. He rode and rode and arrived back where he had started. He got off the bicycle and thought:

– Well. Again, something isn’t right.

Then he became a painter. He painted a few pictures and enjoyed it. That put him on his guard. And he began to draw labels for tin cans.

After the cans he began to draw business cards for rich people, on cheap paper. The rich liked it very much, because they already had expensive paper.

There got to be so many cards that he started printing them all together, as a newspaper. The whole newspaper consisted of the business cards of the town’s residents. Every week he printed it anew, with a new design. The residents bought the newspaper, found themselves in it and calmed down.

Twenty years went by like that.

Between jobs he became a traveller and went off to discover new countries, continents and islands. From every trip he brought back some discovery. Once he brought back an island. A small one.

But the television show “Travellers’ Club” never invited him. Because they invited people who travel, and he discovered. That is a different department.

So he decided to invite travellers to himself. He opened a travel agency and became its director. And travellers from all over the world started to come not to the show but to him. The show went empty, and they showed a chair instead. And Senkevich died and didn’t come either.

Then he got tired of being a director. He became a tour guide and took people to the most secret places. He would show a secret place and say:

– Tell no one.

People told no one. But the next day twice as many people came. And the day after, four times as many.

Soon in the most secret places there was a queue, and they were selling ice cream.

Then the man looked at all this and thought:

– Time to change profession. I’ve been a doctor. A masseur. An athlete, a painter, a director and a guide. What haven’t I been yet?

He thought, and remembered.

And became himself.

The work turned out to be easy. Only no days off.

That’s all.

---

The subtext. Vedanta thought: the seeker is the one being sought. Ramana Maharshi taught that the way to oneself begins not with “what shall I become” but with “who am I?” The man tries profession after profession, while what he is looking for already looks out from behind them. Spend a few minutes today as none of your roles.