Stories for Inspiration

[neti neti]

excerpt from "Sadhanas from RIBHU GITA", ~Swami Shantananda Puri Maharaj

 

Quote

 

Ribhu was a great saint well versed in Vedanta philosophy. Nidagha was his disciple who studied under Ribhu for 15 years in their Ujjain Ashram.

Nidagha was feeling bored as he felt that he had already learned what all he was to study.

 

One day Ribhu left Nidagha to stay and take care of the Ashram and departed on a long pilgrimage. After twenty years, Ribhu came back to Ujjain. By that time he had become quite old with his beard and mustache gray. His eyes were sagging and his face had a withered look. He was dressed like a village farmer and wore a turban on his head.

 

While proceeding towards the Ashram, he saw his disciple  Nidagha standing near a shop at the market. Nidagha was unable to recognise his Guru. He thought that the person approaching him was an illiterate villager. 

 

Ribhu asked Nidagha,  ‘‘Why are you standing here, sir?’’

N – ‘‘See the king standing yonder with his retinue and coming in this direction. After his procession passes through, I shall be proceeding to my Ashram.’’

 

R – ‘‘Holy sir, I see so many people standing yonder. Who is the king among them?’’
N – ‘‘The one who is sitting above the elephant is the king. The elephant is below the king. Is it clear?’’

R – ‘‘What is called ‘ABOVE’ and what is called ‘BELOW’?’’

Nidagha felt the old man was an illiterate fool, and contemptuously bent the back of his Guru so that he was touching the earth on all fours and nimbly jumped over him.

N – ‘‘See, now I am above You. You are below. Is it clear?’’

R – ‘‘Oh, thank you so much. I am not bothered about the terms above and below. I do not understand what is ‘I’, and what is ‘You’ as mentioned by you. 

Now I call myself ‘I’. Just now you called yourself ‘I’. Who is the real ‘I’ ?"

 

Hearing this, Nidagha realized the old man appearing as a farmer was none other than his revered Master, and prostrated before him. Nidagha said, ‘‘Who else but my Guru can ask such a question? Please teach me the Ultimate Learning. Who are you?"

 

R --"I am the Supreme Brahman. I am the Supreme Bliss. I am what I am. I am Consciousness. I am the Supreme Divine Truth. I am Brahman alone.

 

I am always pure, awakened, eternal and blemishless. I am the perennial bliss. I have no name or form. I have no attachment. I am the Brahman alone.

 

I am bereft of all actions and all differences. I have no doubts. I have no ego, nor do I have the ego that I am ego-less..."

 

 

Edited November 20, 2017 by neti neti

[neti neti]

Quote

"A rich man, fully drunk and in a state of thorough intoxication sat in the drawing room of his own house. He called his car driver at 3pm and ordered him to bring out the car from the garage and to take him to his house as it was quite late. 

 

The driver was perplexed and diffidently told his master, “Sir, this is your own house where you are sitting. Where else should I take you?” The master rebuked him saying “I do not want drivers who argue with me. I want unquestioning implicit obedience. Do what I told you”. 

 

The driver adopted a ruse. He drove his master through various distant parts and brought him back to the same house by 10pm. The master felt happy and having come out of his inebriation exclaimed, “Ah, now we have arrived!”

~Jivanmukti, Liberation Here and Now

Edited November 22, 2017 by neti neti

[dwai]

31 minutes ago, neti neti said:

~Jivanmukti, Liberation Here and Now

 

[dwai]

I thought i'd add a story (oldie but I love re-reading it) --

 

Quote

Raja Janaka ruled over the country of Videha. He was once reclining on a sofa. It was the middle of the day in the hot month of June. He had a short nap for a few seconds. He dreamt that a rival king with a large army had invaded his country and slew his soldiers and ministers. He was driven out of his palace barefooted and without any clothes covering him.

Janaka found himself roaming about in a jungle. He was thirsty and hungry. He reached a small town where he begged for food. No one paid any attention to his entreaties. He reached a place where some people were distributing food to the beggars. Each beggar had an earthen bowl to receive rice water. Janaka had no bowl and so they turned him out to bring a bowl. He went in search of a vessel. He requested other beggars to lend him a bowl, but none would part with his bowl. At last Janaka found a broken piece of a bowl. Now he ran to the spot where rice water was distributed. All the foodstuff had been already distributed.

Raja Janaka was very much tired on account of long travelling, hunger and thirst and heat of the summer. He stretched himself near a fireplace where foodstuff was cooked.

Here some one took pity over Janaka. He gave him some rice water which was found at the bottom of a vessel. Janaka took it with intense joy and just as he put it to his lips, two large bulls tumbled fighting over him. The bowl was broken to pieces. The Raja woke up with great fear.

 

Janaka was trembling violently. He was in a great dilemma as to which of his two states was real. All the time he was in dream, he never thought that it was an illusion and that the misery of hunger and thirst and his other troubles were unreal.

The queen asked Janaka, “O Lord! What is the matter with you?” The only words which Janaka spoke were, “Which is real, this or that?” From that time he left all his work and became silent. He uttered nothing but the above words.

The ministers thought that Janaka was suffering from some disease. It was announced by them that anyone who cured the Raja will be richly rewarded and those who fail to cure the Raja will be made life prisoners. Great physicians and specialists began to pour in and tried their luck, but no one could answer the query of the Raja. Hundreds of Brahmins well versed in the science of curing diseases were put in the state prison.

Among the prisoners was also the father of the great sage Ashtavakra. When Ashtavakra was a boy of only ten years of age, he was told by his mother that his father was a state prisoner because he failed to cure Raja Janaka. He at once started to see Janaka. He asked the Raja if he desired to hear the solution of his questions in a brief and few words as the question itself is put or full details of his dream experience may be recited. Janaka did not like to have his humiliating dream repeated in presence of a big gathering. He consented to receive a brief answer.

Ashtavakra then whispered into the ear of Janaka, “Neither this nor that is real.” Raja Janaka at once became joyful. His confusion was removed.

 

[neti neti]

1 hour ago, dwai said:

I thought i'd add a story (oldie but I love re-reading it)

 

Yes! I hoped it would become contagious!

[dwai]

Adding another powerful one (The english translation is spotty in places) --

 

Quote

Once Narada Muni who is a very intimate devotee of the Lord met Krishna. 

And while they were walking, Narada Muni asked Lord Krishna, “My dear Krishna, can you please show me power of your maya, your illusiory energy? Please explain to me the secret of this magic called maya and how she act?”

Sri Krishna hesitated to do it. So Krishna asked his dear devotee:

My dear Narada are you sure you want to see power of my maya!? 

Narada was very detirmened so he said: Yes, Krishna i am sure. I want to see power of your maya!

Lord Krishna replied : Ok Narada i will show you. Let’s lie down here in the shade and I shall tell you everything. But first, Narada, it’s terribly hot; would you get me a cool glass of water?”

“Right away,” Narada promised happy to do some serviceto his beloved Lord krishna. He set out across the fields. The sun beat down and though he was a good walker, the little line of thatched cottages on the horizon that marked the nearest village seemed no closer as he strode along. The heat grew unbearable. Narada’s throat became parched too; he began to think that he would ask for two glasses of water, and drink the second himself.

Finally he reached the village and ran to the nearest house. The door opened – and there stood the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She smiled up at Narada through long, dark lashes and something happened to him that had never happened before. All he could do was to look at her beatiful face. Finally he spoke out, “Will you marry me?” That is the Indian way; you cannot just say, “What are you doing on Saturday night?”

The couple settled down to a life of family bliss. After a while, children began to arrive. Narada’s became a very animated household. 

Somebody was always being bathed or dressed; there were meals to get and people to be provided for. And all these things were filling up their lives. Narada and his wife became engrossed in their private little world, quietly building their dreams. Years passed. The children grew up, went to school, got married; in time, grandchildren arrived. Narada became the patriarch of a great family, respected by the whole village; his lands stretched to the horizon. He and his wife would look at each other fondly and say, “Don’t you think being grandparents is the greatest thing on earth?”

Then a flood came. The village fields became a raging river, and before Narada’s helpless eyes, everything that he loved and lived for – his lands, his cattle, his house, but especially his beloved wife and all their children and grandchildren – were swept away. Of all the village, only he remained.

He was trying to save them from all this calamities but was not successful.

Unable to watch the destruction, Narada fell to his knees and cried for help from the very depths of his heart. 

“Krishna! Krishna!”

At once, the raging floods disappeared and there was Sri Krishna, standing casually on the fields where they had walked what seemed to be so many years before. 

“Narada,” the Lord asked gently, “where is my glass of water?”

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by dwai

[dwai]

Here's another story

Quote

One day ten friends went on a pilgrimage. They traveled far and wide, by various means. Bullock carts, boats and walking. As they reached the Himalayas they found that it is hard for boats to cross the mountain rivers and while the rivers aren't that wide, it would still be risky. They would have to cross on foot/swim across. 

In order to be safe, the friends decided they do a head count after they crossed the river. Now mind you, these weren't the brightest of intellects you could find in the land.

After crossing, one of the friends stood in the middle and the others formed a circle around him. He started counting off.."one...two..three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine..."??

Where is the tenth one? One of the other friends said..."your math has always been bad...let me try!"

And he switched spots with the first friend and counted off..."one...two..three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine..."??

Where is the tenth friend?!!?

After a few more attempts at this the men were deeply anguished and loudly lamenting the demise of one of the 10, when a  sage who lived nearby was walking past. He asked gently "My friends...why are you crying?" 

They said in a chaotic chorus "Sir...we were 10 when we started, and after crossing the river we are only 9 now. We lost one friend..."

The venerable sage, looking at them figured out what the problem was. But he wanted to show them where their mistake was. He said..."can you demonstrate how you counted?"

So immediately, the friends formed a circle and one stepped in and started counting off..."one...two..three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine..."??

Grief-stricken, he looked at the old master and said "See...we are missing one..."

So the sage smiled and said "lets count again..this time I will show and count with you...one...two..three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...and now you yourself...ten!!"

The friends were greatly relieved. They rejoiced and cheered and thanked the sage. The sage gently shook his head to himself and walked away smiling. 

 

This story is often used as a tool to show how in course of meditation and self inquiry, we become the observer -- the witness and see phenomena arise and fall away in the mind, in the body and the effects in form of emotions and fears and feelings. However, many of us forget, we really are that one...who is witnessing everything and not the witnessed. We forget to "count our Self". 

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by dwai

[Jainarayan]

OK, I'm in...    Here are a couple I love.

 

Once, a poor little boy could not get even a morsel of food to appease his hunger, and stole a banana from a nearby fruit shop. Being a devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan (Krishna), he dropped half the banana into the 'hundi' and he ate the other half. The shopkeeper caught hold of the boy and accused him of the theft. The boy admitted his guilt. The shopkeeper did not have the heart to punish this innocent boy, but to teach him a lesson, he ordered him to walk around the temple a certain number of times. The shop-keeper was aghast when he saw Lord Guruvayurappan follow the little boy around the temple. That night the Lord came to the shopkeeper in a dream and explained, "Since I have also had a share in the stolen banana I am bound to share the punishment, too. So, I followed the boy around the temple."

 

 

Once a Nenmini Namboodiri, the priest at the Guruvayur temple, instructed his twelve-year-old son to offer the Nivedyam [food] to the Lord. There was only one priest in those days and the Nenmini Namboodiri had to go out on an urgent engagement. The son, Unni, offered a Nivedyam of cooked rice to the Lord; in his simplicity, he believed that the deity would eat the food, but the deity did not move. Unni bought some salted mangoes and curd from a neighborhood vendor, thinking that the Lord would prefer this, mixed the curd with rice and offered it again. The deity again remained unmoved. Unni cajoled, requested, coaxed and in the end threatened, but the deity remained unmoved. He wept because he believed he had failed and shouted at the Lord, exclaiming that his father would beat him. The Lord could not bear it any more, and made the Nivedyam disappear. The boy left the temple satisfied. Unni did not know that the Nivedyam offered to the Lord was the Variyar's prerequisite. When Variyar returned to the temple, he saw the empty plate and became very angry with Unni, but Unni insisted that God had, in fact, eaten the offering. Unni's innocent words made Variyar furious, as he believed the boy had eaten the offering himself and was lying. His father was about to beat Unni, but just then an Asareeri (celestial voice) was heard saying, "I am guilty. Unni is innocent. I ate all the food that he had offered me. There's no need to punish him."

 

 

There was a man who worshipped Lord Krishna, Lord Hanuman, Maa Durga, and Lord Shiva and other deities. However he was always confused over who was the most powerful and whom to call when in distress. It so happened that he went to take a bath in a river and he started drowning. He started calling Lord Krishna but due to his fear of death he soon thought that "maybe Hanuman can come sooner" and he called "Hanuman" ... but he was not so sure about that too and started calling "Lord Shiva" ... and soon after "Maa Durga" ... and in the process, there was no help coming through and he was swept away by the strong current of the river.

 

When he reached heaven on death, he was in front of Chitragupta who was taking stock of his Karrma but he was looking for God to complain over this injustice. God appeared there in front of him in the form of Krishna (which was this person's first favorite form). God asked him smiling, "My dear son, you appear quite sore. What happened?". This man was pretty angry with God. He said, "Hey, I kept on worshipping you day and night and you didn't come to rescue me from getting drowned when I called you again and again? You just don't take care of your Bhakta when the entire world considers you as the "lover of the devotees".

 

God smiled and said, "You were changing your mind so fast that I could not make it, though I was trying to come to save you! ... and you are blaming me ... that's not fair. See, first you called me in "Krishna's form". As soon as I was getting ready in Krishna's form to come to you, you called Me in Hanuman form. I threw off my form of Krishna and immediately arranged for a monkey face and tail. When I was about to leave to rescue you, you called me in the form of Shiva. So immediately, I threw off my monkey's body, tail, and mace, and took the form of Shiva ... but by that time you had called me in form "Durga”! Now, you know, it takes time to wear a Sari and by the time I was ready wearing Sari and My jewelry and make-up and all, it was too late! So, how can you blame me? "

 

The moral of the story is: You can worship God in any form. It doesn't matter. All forms of God are Supreme. You choose whatever suits you. Please note that in the above story, the fellow did no mistake by worshipping various forms of God but he failed because he didn't have complete faith in any of the forms.

 

[Jainarayan]

On 11/22/2017 at 1:30 PM, dwai said:

“Narada,” the Lord asked gently, “where is my glass of water?”

 

Yep, dat would be him.  

[Jainarayan]

Sage Narada was devoted to Lord Vishnu. He would go around the world reciting the Lord’s name — Narayana, Narayana.

One day, Narada met Lord Vishnu. “Lord, I have a question. Who is your greatest devotee in this world?” Narada asked.

Lord Vishnu pointed to a farmer ploughing the field. “He is my greatest devotee.”

 

Narada was surprised to hear this. The farmer was a good fellow, working hard for a living. But he took the name of the Lord only two or three times a day, whereas Narada recited the Lord’s name thousands of times a day. Lord Vishnu could see that the sage was not convinced with the answer he had given. So, he gave Narada a pot filled with oil filled to the brim. “Narada,” said Lord Vishnu pointing out a hill, “I want you to go around that hill, carrying this pot of oil on your head. Take care not to spill oil, not even a drop.”

Narada placed the pot filled with oil on his head and started going around the hill. He took measured steps, walked slowly, and kept himself steady all the time so that the pot on his head stayed still. It took him the whole day to complete one round. He returned to Vishnu and gave the pot of oil back to the Lord. “You can see that the pot is still filled with oil to its brim. Not a drop has been spilled,” said Narada.

 

“Yes, I can see that. Now tell me, how many times did you remember to take my name?” “Oh Lord!” Narada cried out. “Not even once. My entire attention was on the pot on my head. I forgot everything except the oil. I’m sorry, Lord, I could not remember you even once,” confessed Narada. “And that farmer remembers me, amidst all his work, at least twice a day,” said the Lord.

Narada agreed that the farmer was a greater devotee than him!

[Jainarayan]

The translation of this one leaves a little bit to be desired.  

 

Arjuna was regularly performing pooja for Athma lingam, but his brothers were not doing the same. He felt very proud of his devotional worship to God. As Sri Krishna wanted to control his ego, He took him to Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. There Arjuna saw large numbers of baskets of flowers being carried by the Boothaganas, Lord Shiva's attendants.

 

When Arjuna asked Sri Krishna about it, He asked Arjuna to ask those carrying the flowers. He stopped one of them asked about it. He got the reply that one of the Pancha Pandavas named Bheema has been offering these flowers in a pure heart to the Lord which they are carrying. Arjuna asked Sri Krishna that if the pure heart flowers of Bheema who does not ever sit down to worship is this much, how much will it be for his own Athmalinga pooja which is performed every day.

 

Sri Krishna asked the Bhoothagana to show Arjuna his portion of the flowers offered. They showed a small mound of flowers lying in one corner. Arjuna asked Sri Krishna to explain this disparity. Sri Krishna explained that Bheema is thinking of God at all times. Whenever he sees a flower garden, he mentally offers all the flowers to Shiva as his offering and so it reaches Shiva the very next moment. Thus, Sri Krishna explains the inner self pooja called antharyagam. 

[neti neti]

Uddalaka had a son called Shvetaketu. 

When he was twelve, his father said to him, ‘It is time for you to find a spiritual teacher. Everyone in this family has studied the holy scriptures and the spiritual way.’

 

So Shvetaketu went to a teacher and studied the scriptures for twelve years. He returned home very proud of his intellectual knowledge. 

His father observed him and said, ‘My boy, you seem to have a high opinion of yourself; you are proud of your learning. But did you ask your teacher for the spiritual knowledge that enables you to hear the unheard, think the unthought and know the unknown?’

‘What is that knowledge, Father?’ asked Shvetaketu.

 

‘Just as by knowing a lump of clay, everything that is made of clay can be known, since any differences are only words, and the essential reality is clay. In the same way by knowing a piece of gold, all that is made of gold can be known, since any differences are only words, and the reality is only gold.'

Shvetaketu responded, ‘My teachers must not have known this or they would have taught it to me. Father, please teach me this knowledge.’ ‘I will,’ replied his father.

 

‘In the beginning there was only Being. Some people claim that in the beginning there was nothing at all and that everything has come out of nothing. But how can this be true? How can that which is, come from that which is not? In the beginning there was only one Being, and that Being thought, “I want to be many so I will create.” Out of this creation came the cosmos. There is nothing in the cosmos that doesn’t come from that one Being. Of everything that exists, this Being is the innermost Self. He is the truth, the Self Supreme. And you, Shvetaketu, you – are that!’ 

 

Shvetaketu asked, ‘Please teach me more about the Self, Father.’

 

‘Let’s start with sleep. What happens when we sleep? When a person is absorbed in dreamless sleep, he is one with the Self although he doesn’t know it. We say he sleeps but we mean he sleeps in the Self.

‘A tethered bird grows tired from flying in every direction, finding no rest anywhere, and settles down at last on the very same perch on which it is tied. In the same way the mind, tired of wandering around here and there settles down at last in the Self, its life and breath, to which it is bound. All creatures have their source in that Being. He is their home; He is their strength.

‘When a man is dying, speech folds into mind, mind folds into life, life dissolves into light, and his light merges into that one Being. That Being is the seed, the truth, the Self, and you, Shvetaketu, you – are that!’

 

‘Please tell me more, Father.’

 

‘My son, bees make honey by gathering nectar from many flowers to make their honey, so no one drop of honey can say that it came exactly from one specific flower. You can’t identify the juice of one particular flower in the honey. And so it is with creatures like us who merge in that Being, whether in sleep or death.

‘And as the rivers that flow from the east to the west merge in the sea and become one with it, forgetting that they were ever separate rivers, so all creatures lose their separateness when they merge into pure Being. Whatever creature it may be – tiger, lion, wolf, boar, mosquito, worm – it only becomes aware of a particular life when it is born into it or is awake.

‘If you strike at the root of a tree, it bleeds but still lives. If you strike at the trunk, the sap oozes, but the tree lives on. The Self as life fills the tree and supports it; it flourishes in happiness gathering food through its roots. However, if life departs from one branch, that branch withers, and when life leaves the whole tree, the entire tree withers. Remember my son, your body dies, but your Self does not.’

Uddalaka told Shvetaketu to bring him a fruit from a nearby banyan tree and to break it open. Shvetaketu did and said, ‘There are seeds inside, all very small.’

‘Now break one of the seeds and tell me what you see.’ ‘Nothing, Father.’ 

Uddalaka said, ‘My son, this great banyan tree has grown from a seed so small that you cannot see it. Believe me, an invisible and subtle essence is the Spirit of the whole universe.

‘Now, take this salt and put it in some water and bring it to me tomorrow morning.’ The next morning Shvetaketu looked for the salt but couldn’t find it because it had dissolved. Uddalaka asked his son to taste the water. ‘Salty,’ he said, adding, ‘the salt will always remain in the water.’

“That’s right. The salt permeates the water, just like the Self. Even though we cannot see it, the Self is within all things and there is nothing that doesn’t come from Him.

 

“This invisible and subtle essence is the Spirit of the whole universe. That is reality. That is truth. And you, Shvetaketu, you – are that!’ 

 

Chandogya Upanishad

Edited January 26, 2018 by neti neti

[Taoist Texts]

6 hours ago, neti neti said:

Uddalaka had a son called Shvetaketu. 

When he was twelve, his father said to him, ‘It is time for you to find a spiritual teacher. Everyone in this family has studied the holy scriptures and the spiritual way.’

 

So Shvetaketu went to a teacher and studied the scriptures for twelve years. He returned home very proud of his intellectual knowledge. 

His father observed him and said, ‘My boy, you seem to have a high opinion of yourself; you are proud of your learning. But did you ask your teacher for the spiritual knowledge that enables you to hear the unheard, think the unthought and know the unknown?’

‘What is that knowledge, Father?’ asked Shvetaketu.

why the dad made his son to waste 12 years?

[neti neti]

5 hours ago, Taoist Texts said:

why the dad made his son to waste 12 years?

 

We could say tradition, but dare I say...

 

One is made to test the reigns of their experience such that they discover all of which they are not. In so doing, they finally settle into who they've subtly known themselves to be all along.

 

Or perhaps, experiencing the journey of realizing oneself... is reason enough.

 

Quote

'A tethered bird grows tired from flying in every direction, finding no rest anywhere, and settles down at last on the very same perch on which it is tied. In the same way the mind, tired of wandering around here and there settles down at last in the Self, its life and breath, to which it is bound...'

 

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by neti neti

[neti neti]

A stranger once entered a marriage-house and posed before the bride’s party as the bridegroom’s best friend; and with the bridegroom’s party he posed as if he were a member of the bride’s family.

 

Thus for five days he passed his time happily, eating well and bossing the servants, but on the last day when inquiries began to be made about him, he disappeared.

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by neti neti

[Jeff]

20 minutes ago, neti neti said:

A stranger once entered a marriage-house and posed before the bride’s party as the bridegroom’s best friend; and with the bridegroom’s party he posed as if he were a member of the bride’s family.

 

Thus for five days he passed his time happily, eating well and bossing the servants, but on the last day when inquiries began to be made about him, he disappeared.

 

 

Interesting story of inspiration... If you don’t mind, the inspirational meaning for you?

[Marblehead]

Five days of being fed and feeling important?

 

[dwai]

The Ego is like that unwanted guest, who bosses around until it's identity is inquired into...then it just disappears  

[Jeff]

4 minutes ago, dwai said:

The Ego is like that unwanted guest, who bosses around until it's identity is inquired into...then it just disappears  

 

So just randomly disappears? Don’t think there is more to it? Especially when the parable describes the bride and bridegroom “Family sides”.  

[Rishi Das]

44 minutes ago, Jeff said:

So just randomly disappears? Don’t think there is more to it? Especially when the parable describes the bride and bridegroom “Family sides”.  

 

What's it mean to you, Jeff? 

[Jeff]

10 minutes ago, Rishi Das said:

 

What's it mean to you, Jeff? 

 

The thief had to leave, because the two sides of the “family” got to know each other. Similarly, a divided nation cannot stand against attackers. 

 

Or, when the two become one, the mind is quiet and the Dao can be realised.  

[dwai]

1 hour ago, Jeff said:

 

So just randomly disappears? Don’t think there is more to it? Especially when the parable describes the bride and bridegroom “Family sides”.  

When we try to find out what the ego is, there is nothing to be found. Just like trying find out “who am I?” only to find emptiness and silence. 

[七星門]

2 hours ago, neti neti said:

A stranger once entered a marriage-house and posed before the bride’s party as the bridegroom’s best friend; and with the bridegroom’s party he posed as if he were a member of the bride’s family.

 

Thus for five days he passed his time happily, eating well and bossing the servants, but on the last day when inquiries began to be made about him, he disappeared.

 

 

I'm struggling  a bit with this one, too. Ostensibly, a wedding crasher.  

 

Why doesn't the bride & her family know who the groom's best friend is? Arranged marriage?  

 

How does he differentiate between the bride's party & the groom's party? Are they marked in some way? Are they segregated? If so, why can he pass between the two parties without being clearly identified as either?  

 

Are the bride & groom symbolic, two polarities brought to union? Then who/what is the interloper?  

 

Why five days? Five is symbolic of earth, the material in eastern & western traditions. In Hinduism it can specifically be linked to the physical body (annamaya-kosa, lit. "food sheath") that is nourished & created by food.  

 

In Taoism/Chinese Esotericism there's a clear link between the center/earth with five, it appears in the center of both the Lo-Shu & the Ho-t'u, interestingly Earth is the intermediary agent that links the pairs, said to be "mute, silent, unified, impossible to locate."  

 

If we then consider the Three Primes--Heaven, Man, & Earth--perhaps we can apply the three-fold division to the characters. Heaven, groom; Man, stranger; Earth (distinct from the agent, xing), bride.  

 

We can take it a step further, 3x5=15, the sum of any row/column/diagonal in the Lo-Shu, which itself signifies completion, earth, unity.  

 

We might also consider that "5" (五, wu) is a homophone for "Not" (無, wu), & after five days the stranger disappears. It is not too fantastic to imagine that there is connection to the intermediary agent, earth, described as "mute, silent, unified, impossible to locate." 
 

Edited March 10, 2018 by 七星門
formatting

[Jonesboy]

26 minutes ago, dwai said:

When we try to find out what the ego is, there is nothing to be found. Just like trying find out “who am I?” only to find emptiness and silence. 

 

That would be like only finding the groom without the bride.

[dwai]

50 minutes ago, Jonesboy said:

 

That would be like only finding the groom without the bride.

That is stretching the analogy beyond my meager mental capacities