The Cats and the Disciples

There was once a teacher who lived in a house full of rats. They bothered him a lot by running over his body and even occasionally biting him. So, he brought in a cat to live in the room with him. With the cat installed in the room, the rats never bothered him again

After some time this teacher died, leaving two disciples. They were rivals who each wanted to prove that he was the more worthy successor.

One of them thought, “My Master had a cat in his room. I must live like him. I must show that I am following in his ways, so I will also have a cat. In fact, in order to show how much I am adhering to his lifestyle, I will have two cats.” He sat in a room with two cats and started to meditate. 

The other disciple saw him and thought, “He is trying to show that he is a better disciple than I by having this extra cat. I will have three cats to accompany me while I meditate.”

The first one retaliated by tying one cat to each leg and one cat to each arm while he meditated. This disciple eventually became famous and started having students of his own. When they saw their teacher meditating with four cats tied to his body, they followed his example. They all thought that this was the way to follow the example of the founder of the lineage.

This is how traditions start. These traditions don’t originate from the Masters, they come from the disciples who don’t have the capacity to spend a single moment in true silence and who then invent useless techniques and methods which they think will help them be quiet.