Be Aware

There was one great master, a Buddhist master, Nagarjuna.  A thief came to him.  The

thief had fallen in love with the master because he had never seen such a beautiful person, such infinite grace.  He asked Nagarjuna, "Is there some possibility of my growth also?  But one thing I must make clear to you: I am a thief.  And another thing: I cannot leave it, so please don't make it a condition.  I will do whatsoever you say, but I cannot stop being a thief.  That I have tried many times--it never works, so I have left the whole sport.  I have accepted my destiny, that I am going to be a thief and remain a thief, so don't talk about it.  From the very beginning let it be clear."

   Nagarjuna said, "Why are you afraid?  Who is going to talk about your being a thief?

     The thief said,  "But whenever I go to a monk, to a religious priest, or to a religious saint, they always say, 'First stop stealing.'"

     Nagarjuna laughed and said, "Then you must have gone to thieves; otherwise, why? Why should they be concerned? I am not concerned!"

      The thief was very happy.  He said, "Then it is okay.  It seems that now I can become a disciple.  You are the right master."

       Nagarjuna accepted him and said, "Now you can go and do whatsoever you like.  Only one condition has to be followed: be aware!  Go, break into houses, enter, take things, steal; do whatsoever you like, that is of no concern to me, I am not a thief--but do it with full awareness."

        The thief couldn't understand that he was falling into the trap.  He said, "Then everything is okay. I will try."

         After three weeks he came back and said, "You are tricky--because if I become aware, I cannot steal.  If I steal, awareness disappears. I am in a fix."

          Nagarjuna said, "No more talk about your being a thief and stealing. I am not concerned;  I am not a thief. Now, you decide! If you want awareness, then you decide. If you don't want it, then too you decide."

          The man said, "But now it is difficult.  I have tasted it a little, and it is so beautiful--I will leave anything, whatsoever you say.  Just the other night for the first time I was able to enter the palace of the king.  I opened the treasure.  I could have become the richest man in the world--but you were following me and I had to be aware.  When I became aware, diamonds looked just like stones, ordinary stones.  When I lost awareness, the treasure was there.  And I waited and did this many times.  I would become aware and I became like a buddha, and I could not even touch it because the whole thing looked foolish, stupid--just stones, what am I doing?  Losing myself over stones?  But then I would lose awareness; they would become again beautiful, the whole illusion.  But finally I decided that they were not worth it."

Source: http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/teachingstories.html#anchor_13713