The Egg and the Chick (a parable)

The young aspirants were full of enthusiasm to spread the gospel of their Master. Was it not the best way for them to express their gratitude to Him who had shown them the Light? But the Master generally discouraged this. He would often say that Truth needs no advertisements and the sun needs none to announce its coming to the world. He would tell them jocularly that the crow and the cock remain the same even though they are among the first ones to feel the coming of the sun and wake up the entire neighbourhood by their shouts and cries.

‘But is it not our duty to announce to the world the truth that we have known?’ asked a few.

‘Yes, you must share the joy of your discovery. But reading of it or even hearing of it is not enough’, said the Master, and added, ‘first hear, then think and meditate till you can see and realize it in yourself. That is knowing.’

A few persisted. The Master left them free to discover the truth of His words their own way. For this was His method. He would suggest but never impose, counsel but never order. He left each one free to follow his own nature and led each according to their law of inner growth.

Some felt confused at this. Their small minds wanted a narrow rigid doctrine applicable to all. The Master would explain how such a thing would soon turn the truth of His words into a narrow sect and a religion. For the Divine does not act according to a fixed principle or dogma but in infinite freedom and liberty. His is not a dictatorial kingdom where all be compelled to obey Him. That would make a truly mechanical world of men who are more like robots than living and thinking creatures. God lives in freedom and gives this freedom to all as the first condition of growth.

‘But is this freedom not dangerous when we do not know what is good and what is bad for us’, asked someone who was a strict disciplinarian by nature. But the Master simply smiled and said, ‘Perhaps, but how else can there be authentic growth without the direct experience of things. And as of danger, did I not create them for man to overcome them and grow stronger through the difficulties! Man fears danger and is afraid of error and thereby man also limits his perfection. But God dallies with evil and sin to bring light and good and makes our errors the stepping stones upon the heavenward way.’

One among them who felt himself holier than others lamented as he observed how this freedom had spoilt the disciples. He mused under his breath if there was any difference at all between the life of the aspirants here and the life of ordinary men.

And the Master heard his unspoken thought and felt the disciple’s ego of holiness heave under his holy breast even as He spoke: ‘Be not deceived by appearances. Some sticks that seem straight outside are crooked below the water. Others that appear twisted and kinked at several places are so because they have entwined their life around the vast and complex body of the tree of Truth. Unable to clasp it they have thus entwined themselves around It and thereby appear crooked. Yet are they centered around Truth in their inner being!’

‘But sometimes we find no difference between some of us here and those who are outside leading an ordinary life. Is this too a deception of the eyes or is there a difference?’ Asked another, unable to fathom the diverse ways of the Master who dealt differently with each one, often defying a simple understanding based on standard norms and conventions.

‘Of course there is a difference. It is like the difference between the fertilized and the unfertilized egg. To all outer appearances they may look alike for a long time with common virtues and vices. But to an inward eye they are different. The aspirant however is like a fertilized egg in whom the seed of divinity has been cast. His inner being begins to get shaped by the power within it even though the outer nature may appear the same as anyone else. Then a time comes when all is ripe and something breaks free from within the fertilized egg and the chick is born. The soul-force is released and the resistances and barriers of the outer nature break under its growing pressure. But the unfertilized egg has been delivered prematurely. It remains the same until it is swallowed by the cosmic powers and dies to itself.’

And as a word of caution to their premature enthusiasm he added: ‘While the highest possibility of an unfertilized egg is to provide nourishment to another by its own destruction, the fertilized egg must avoid this. Its destiny is fulfilled by going under the brooding wings of the Divine Grace and wait with patience letting the new thing develop within. The heat of the Divine Tapas then prepares the chick and one day sets it free to grow into the likeness of its creator. Only then are they ready to go into the world and mingle amidst ordinary life and yet carry the seeds of Fire and Light that the Divine has put in them to places far and wide.’