‘Who am I?’ A young man asked his spiritual teacher.
‘You are what you think,’ the wise man replied.
I will explain all this to you with a story.
One day, from the city walls at sunset two people appeared to be embracing each other.
It’s a father and a mother, a little girl thought.
They are two lovers, a gentle man thought.
They are two friends who are meeting after many years, a lonely person thought.
They are two merchants who just agreed on a deal, a greedy person thought.
It’s a man embracing his son who returned from war, a kind-hearted woman thought.
It’s a daughter embracing her father who just came back from a journey,’ a grieving father who had lost his daughter thought.
They are two lovers, a girl who dreamt about love thought.
They are two people fighting to the death, a murderer thought.
Who knows why they are hugging each other, a cruel man thought.
Every thought, the wise teacher concluded, reveals who you are.
You should often pay attention to your thoughts. They can reveal to you more things about yourself that any other teacher could!
