This game of life is really a very paradoxical game.

A Sufi story...

A man went to seek and search. He asked the first man outside the town, sitting under a tree ’How
to find a master?’ The man described him, saying ’These are the signs. he will be sitting under suchand-
such-a tree, he will have certain eyes, such-and-such-a vibe’... and all that. The man was very
happy – now he had a criterion – and for thirty years he searched. He came across many masters,
many people, and he became tired, disillusioned and frustrated – so much so that he turned back
home; he said ’It is all nonsense.’

He met that old man – now he was very old – when he was entering the town. Suddenly he was
surprised:’This is the tree that he described, this is the vibe.’ He looked into the eyes of the old man
and the old man started laughing.. This was the laughter and these were the eyes! He said ’But why
didn’t you tell me before? Why did I have to go into such suffering and a nightmare for thirty years?’
The old man said ’I told you, I described everything, but you didn’t even look at the tree! You were
not ready. The tree was here, I was here. When I was describing the eyes, I was looking into your
eyes, but you were not there.

When I was talking about the vibe, you were not ready to feel it; you were dead. These thirty years
have not been a wastage; they have prepared you. Now you can see the tree, you can look into my
eyes and you can feel the vibe. I am your master. You have come home! And don’t be angry with all
those people; they all have helped in their own ways. The good and the bad, the false and the true
– they all help.’

This game of life is really a very paradoxical game.