Did You See A Deer?

“You cannot always oblige, but you can speak always obligingly.” (Bhagwan Baba).

A hermit was meditating in a jungle. He heard the sound of an animal running and opened his eyes to see a deer whizzing past. Moments later, a hunter followed with a bow and arrow in his hand. He saw the hermit and quickly asked him. “Did you see a deer run this way?”

Here the hermit was faced by a dilemma a Dharam Sankat! If he told the hunter that he saw a deer go by that way, the hunter would surely catch up and kill the poor animal. If he said that he did not see any deer go by, he would be telling a lie. What to do now?

So, the hermit gave a very diplomatic answer. He said, “The ones that saw, cannot speak and the one that can speak, did not see.” So saying he closed his eyes to resume his meditation. The perplexed hunter ran from here to there but was unable to find the deer, which had by then, gone off into the thickets.

Technically speaking, the hermit did not tell a lie. The eyes saw, but they could not speak and the mouth that could speak, did not see! In so doing the hermit spoke the truth; did his duty in protecting a living being; worked for the cause of peace; showed his love for God’s creation and also practiced non-violence. Here do you think the thought of any kind of gratitude from the deer would have crossed the mind of the hermit? No! He just did what he did in the pay-it-forward circle of life!

This one act afforded him the opportunity to live out each of the five human values of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa.

Bhagwan Baba says, “Once you see the world as the stage for His play, then you will no longer be misled, nor distracted, nor deceived by any tricks or stage effects.”

Many a time we too are faced with such like situations. A mind surrendered and connected to God can give birth to a brainwave that succeeds in saving the situation. “Devotion,” says Bhagwan Baba “is a way of life. It is not a uniform to be worn on special occasions.”

If a person decides to live his life such as never to hurt anyone by his thought, word or deed, God surely gives him the strength and helps him live out his resolve.