The Bandit Saint

I will tell you a story about doubt that I heard from my mother when I was six or seven years old.

In ancient times people used to go to Satsang early in the morning, before going to their business or office. This was happening every evening too. Vedanta teaching, devotional teaching, yoga teaching and kundalini yoga — all these different teachings were there. There were discourses and stories told by a priest in the evening. People used to take their food and sit near their lane to attend the Satsang until eleven at night, and then go back home. Morning and evening Satsangs were a must for everybody, whether he wasan office boy, a business man, a worker — even people who drove hand carts used to attend.

My mother’s story was about one bandit, a robber. Banditry was also a profession. Some people go for Satsang and some go for their game in the night. One evening this robber was passing by when he heard a priest telling stories. This was the priest’s profession, to recite stories in the evenings. The priest was speaking about a young boywho had a diamond embedded cap on his head and a garland of celestial gems around his neck. That’s all the bandit heard, so he stopped, sat down near the gathering and listened.

At about ten-thirty this Satsang was over, and the priest collected whatsoever moneyand gifts were given to him and put them in a bag. Everyone was leaving for home and the priest was also leaving, his family was waiting. As the priest was going on his way, the robber approached and asked him, “Give me the address of this boy you spoke about, the one having the diamond embedded cap and the garland of gems around his neck. Give me his address.” Now this Brahmin priest was only reading a story. The robber, however, demanded, “Give me the address of this boy.”

The priest said, “You know that path going to the river Yamuna. He goes for a bath every morning at four o’clock. You go there and you will see him.” “OK,” said the bandit, “but I cannot recognize him. I’ve not seen him. You come with me.” The priest answered, “My family is waiting for me, you know.” Then the robber pulled out his pistol and insisted, “I do not know him. You come with me and you simply show me this boy, that’s all, and then you can go. Since two cannot hide behind one tree, you stay behind that tree and I behind this tree. You simply point out the boy and then that’s all. Then I will come.” With that the bandit tied up the priest with a rope so that he couldn’t run away.

The time was now eleven. The bandit had tied up the priest. He was hiding and time was passing. The priest had just told a story, but the robber took the story as fact. Now the priest was counting every minute until his death, and the robber was counting every minute of his luck. “I will have this diamond. I’ll be very rich. I’ll be very rich!”

The bandit was totally concentrated. Nothing else entered his mind. He was only concentrating on the diamonds and the boy, whom the priest described — a young boy wearing a cap embedded with diamonds, and with a garland around his neck. Time was passing. The robber’s only thought was of the boy with diamonds and a garland around his neck. The time was now four in the morning.

And now this thought itself has manifested. You can also manifest what you think. You are not separate from your thought. You are a thought itself — you become what you think. You become what you think instantly. You are thought. You have conviction, “I am the body,” and so you are. You listen every day in Satsang, “You are existence, consciousness, bliss.” This is also a thought, nothing else. Conviction of the body is stronger than the conviction that “I am consciousness. I am bliss.” So whatever is the stronger thought so you become. There’s no doubt — you are thought itself.

So at four in the morning, this manifested itself. The boy appeared in front of the robber and gave him the garland and the cap he was wearing. “So it’s very nice of you, but wait, don’t go away because I don’t have your address,” the robber said. “There is another partner [the priest] in this deed and you have something else that I did not hear about. I only heard of the cap with diamonds and the garland, but you have this ornament on your arm also. So this is a gift I will give to this priest. You come with me.”

The robber took the boy to the priest who was still tied up with rope. The priest thought, “He’s now going to kill me. He’s going to kill me.” The priest folded hands saying, “Sir, I told you a story from the book. Don’t kill me. My wife, my children are waiting for me. Don’t kill me now. I told a story. It was a story only.”

But the robber exclaimed, “No, no, no. You were right. I’m very thankful to you. Here is the boy. Here are the diamonds. I can only take the garland and the cap but there is this ornament on his arm, and I will give you that as a gift.” Still the priest didn’t believe. He said, “Don’t, don’t, don’t bluff me, please. You have to kill me now, that’s all. Kill me.” The robber said, “You don’t see?” “No, no, no, I don’t see. I don’t see,” answered the priest.

Then the robber said, “You see this — you see this hand?” With the touch of his hand he saw who this boy was. And this Brahmin, this priest, now immediately saw and said, “I am seeing him in front of me.” The robber untied the priest and this priest prostrated in front of the bandit and never returned home.

And this man is known as the Bandit Saint. This is a true story. He is still known as the Bandit Saint.

I am just speaking about doubts, you see. This doubt is the only thing that gives you trouble. Without doubt, you just listen. Anything, even if it is falsely told to you, will materialize. You simply hear the word. It will manifest.