There is a story about an old lady, perhaps from China. It is said that in those times each devotee of Buddha in China used to worship their own form of Buddha. The protagonist in our story, that old lady was also a great, great devotee of Buddha. Obviously, she too had her own Buddha, in the form of a small beautiful statue. Like any other devotee, she was also very possessive of her Buddha. Once she was traveling through a jungle. On the way, she had to stay in a Buddhist temple. There were hundreds of statues of Buddha in that temple. The lady slept there peacefully. When dawn broke, being a very religious person, she started her morning rituals. All was going well till she burnt an incense to please her OWN Buddha. Suddenly she realized….what a shame….all other Buddhas were enjoying the fragrance of the incense meant for HER Buddha. She tried to fan away the fragrant air from the direction of OTHER Buddhas. But nothing worked. All other Buddhas were having a jolly good time, enjoying the fragrance meant for HER Buddha. She tried everything, but all in vain. Then an idea struck her. She took a sheet of paper and made a cone out of it. Then she covered the face of HER Buddha with that cone and inserted the burning incense from the other end. Viola!!! Now, all the divine and sweet smelling smoke was going directly into the nose of HER Buddha. Satisfied, she finished her remaining rituals peacefully. But when she finished all that worship business and removed the cone from Buddha’s face, she was shocked. The face of her Buddha was blackened. There was a wise Buddhist monk in that temple. When he came to know about this incident, he nodded solemnly and said,” This is the destiny of all great masters; their followers blacken their face with their foolishness.”

This is not just the story of that old lady. This is a story that narrates   a fact, which is beyond the realm of time and location. Since time immemorial, we have been behaving like her, some of us in direct and crude ways and some of us in a subtle, sophisticated, and intellectual manner. Spreading hatred and violence in the name of God, we are doing nothing other than blackening the face of our God, faces of our masters. Is it not enough? Has the time not come when we should start behaving in a more mature way?

Once Narad muni went out for an evening walk with Lord Vishnu. Suddenly, he asked Vishnuji,”Prabhu, can you please explain to me the secret of Maya?”The Lord hesitated, then he thought,”Is there anybody more deserving than Narad to understand Maya?” Then he made up his mind and told Narad to take bath before recieving the knowledge of Maya, as it is a highly sacred act. The weather was very hot and the river was far away. Soon, Narad started feeling unbearably hot and his throat became parched too. He located a village and ran to the nearest house. He knocked the door. The door opened..and there stood the most beautiful girl he could ever imgine….
Narad was totally flabbergasted. He felt what he had never felt before. He did what he had never done before. He proposed her instantaneously. There was another surprise waiting for him. She accepted his proposal without any hesitation or inquiry. Soon, the family of Narad Muni started to expand. They had several kids. He was blissfully engrossed in his conjugal life. Time flew; kids grew up, got married, and had their own children. There was no limit to his satisfaction and joy. Then there came a great flood. The immensity of the flood was unimaginable. Narad couldn’t save a thing or a soul he loved and longed for. Every one and everything was immersed in water before his eyes. Narad couldn’t bear the loss and agony and cried like a helpless child. He called the name of his Prabhu,Vishnu. At once there was nothing - no flood, no river, no village. It  was the same place where he had left Prabhu before going for his bath. Prabhu was asking smilingly,”have you taken your bath?”
Now Narad understood very well, what Maya is!!!!!

The other day, someone asked me why spiritual people are always supposed to be so serious, or we should say, gloomy. Some childhood memories came rushing in. I remember very vividly that whenever there would be any religious occasion at home, the extended family would gather, and we kids would be elated at the prospect of all of us being together. We would be playing around, laughing, talking, exchanging news…but very soon the grown-ups would come and inquire if we thought the whole occasion to be some kind of a joke. And we would be told to keep quiet, and keep our faces straight.

Anyhow, after this short digression, let’s come back to the subject. Why are spiritual people so gloomy? Or rather, as I would like to put it, are spiritual people gloomy at all? For a truly spiritual person resides in Sat-chit-ananda (truth-eternal-bliss). Now, indeed, how can one residing in bliss be gloomy? Is there even room for gloominess when one resides in sheer bliss? Gloominess is caused by frustration, jealousy and suppressed desires. A truly spiritual person would have none of these. So we are compelled to conclude that truly spiritual people are never gloomy; they are forever brimming with bliss, joy. Acharya Shankar has in fact said ‘childlikeness’ to be an important attribute of the true spiritual people.