A Sufi story
Once a Sufi Master told his audience that even if help is provided to man, something in him could make the help totally useless. When some people objected to this theory, the Sufi Master smiled and said, “Okay we will see.”
When everyone had forgotten the incident, the Sufi Master ordered one man to lay a sack of gold in the middle of a bridge. Another man was asked to bring some unfortunate debtor to one end of the bridge and tell him to cross it.
The Sufi Master and his audience waited at the other side of the bridge.
When the man got to the other side, the Sufi Master asked him: “What did you see in the middle of the bridge?”
The man replied: “Nothing.”
The Sufi master said, “How was that possible?”
The man casually replied, “As soon as I started to cross the bridge, the thought occurred to me that it might be amusing to cross it with my eyes shut. And I did so.”
This story tells us that only by being fully aware will we be able to recognize the opportunities that our life situations bring to us. In Indian tradition, “dhyana” is this awareness (but has been misinterpreted as “sitting for meditation”). This “dhyana” or awareness is not for a limited period when one is on a yoga mat. This awareness is a way one lives one’s life.
When one stops running after experiences (be it material or spiritual), one finds the stillness within to enhance awareness. The awareness that each moment is enriched with innumerable possibilities, that there is nothing meaningless, that the “reality” is what we create in our mind. Then life is not lived under the control of our random desires (as the man wanting to amuse himself while crossing the bridge in the story). Then life can become a receptacle of a higher consciousness. Thus, when we cross the bridge of life with our eyes open, we do not miss the bag of gold that might be lying on our way.