The Parable of the Three Questions

The Parable of the Three Questions

Once upon a time, there lived an Enlightened Sage. He lived in seclusion, but many wanted to see him and speak with him. Whenever anyone came and knocked at his door, the Sage would ask three questions, “Who are you?” The person would say, “I am so-and-so, related to such-and-such a person.” (They came with connections!) “Where are you from?” The Sage would ask. “I am from such-and-such a place,” came the usual reply. “Why have you come?” “I have come to receive your blessings for peace and prosperity in my life.” Such were the usual answers. The Sage would not open his door. Many came and went away disappointed.

Then one day came a true Enquirer who knocked on the Sage’s door as the others had done, and in reply to the Sage’s three questions, answered thus, “I do not know who I am.” “I have come to find out where I came from.” “Please enlighten me why I came into this world. Teach me, O Sage, so that I may attain the Goal of my Life.”

The Sage was pleased and opened his door. He had found a true aspirant, humble and thirsting for knowledge in the quest of Truth. He initiated him and imparted spiritual teachings, whereby the aspirant attained Self-Realization.

When a person becomes integrated by cultivating the qualifications of Jnana Yoga, a curiosity about one’s existence arises within one’s heart. Upon deep reflection, guided by a Spiritual Preceptor, one realizes, “I am one with the Absolute Self.”

From the book Integral Yoga: The Secret to Enlightenment by Swami Jyotirmayananda, published by the Yoga Research Foundation. © Swami Jyotirmayananda. All rights reserved.

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