The Silent Side Of The Mahanta – Phil Morimitsu
Even though it was late, it was a weekend evening, and I decided to go for a walk before retiring for the night. I'm not too sure how long I was gone, maybe half an hour or so, but on my way back to my apartment, I had the feeling that something special was waiting for me. I had had the presence of the Inner Master with me as I walked, but somehow I knew Wah Z would be waiting with something or someone when I got back.
As I walked into my flat and turned on the light, I could see two figures in my study. It didn't alarm me, as I immediately recognized one as Wah Z.
"I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine. You may have read about him in one of the ECK books — Sri Hari Tita," Wah Z said to me as I entered the study.
I was a little surprised to see this fellow in a white knit shirt with an alligator emblem on it and a pair of white slacks and sneakers. He looked as if he might have been sailing that afternoon. He was built like a sailor, too — about six feet tall and rather solid; not fat but muscular. He was about sixty years old, had a receding hairline, white hair, as well as a white beard about three or four inches long. He was deeply tanned and looked to be Greek. He was rather jovial too. He stood up, as Wah Z introduced him, and gripped my hand solidly and warmly with both of his.
"Very glad to meet you," he said. He spoke as if he were right off the street in America — no Greek accent or anything. I was curious, but didn't want to be rude by asking, Why don't you dress like an ancient Greek or talk like one? Why are you wearing white sneakers and an alligator shirt?
But before I could think of anything further, he chuckled to himself and started talking. "Wah Z and I were just conferring about how much easier it is to communicate with men when you talk to them in a language and attire they understand and accept. So this is why I've forsaken the traditional bare feet and tunic in favor of these knits, sneakers and English! They're rather comfortable once you get used to them," he explained.
"Oh," I said, still amazed that two ECK Masters were standing in my apartment at one a.m. "Won't you have a seat? Can I get you something to eat or drink?" I offered.
Both declined. Then Hari Tita spoke up, "I've come to tell you a story of a trip I took in Greece when I served as the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master."
"Uh…should I write this down or something? Maybe get a tape recorder?" I asked.
He smiled and said, "Well, why don't you just relax and listen. Maybe you can write it down later. I don't think you'll have too much trouble remembering anything. Besides, I don't think tape recorders would work very well for this sort of thing."
"Oh yeah," I said.
He took a seat on the edge of the couch while Wah Z pulled up a chair next to him. I sat in the easy chair by my desk facing the two ECK Masters. Sri Hari Tita crossed one knee over the other and clasped it with both hands. Taking a deep breath, he looked up, as if seeing the past unravel before him, and said, "Let's see now. This goes back a few years. I think it may have been about 1246 B.C. — by your calendar, of course."
He seemed to be picking up on my thoughts. I thought to myself, I'd better be careful what I think; he's picking up everything!
He just smiled at me and went on with his tale. "I was enroute to the city of Ilios, also known as Troy. I was residing in Athens at the time and had a small school where I taught the mysteries of Eckankar. I had about a dozen or so students; I didn't want to make too much of a fuss, drawing a lot of unnecessary attention. Publicly, my trade was fisherman — a pretty good one, too."
"I was on the ship to Troy because I'd gotten a secret message from King Priam of Troy. He wanted me to come to his city and give counsel on some spiritual matters. You see, this was just a few years before the great siege of Troy by Agamemnon. It lasted ten years and ended with te famous Trojan horse episode. King Priam sensed trouble coming up. You know how people in power are — always watching out for their positions. Well, he could sense that there was a lot of trouble heading his way, and he was consulting with all kinds of soothsayers, dream readers, oracle readers — you name it. Somehow he'd heard of me. He'd heard that I'd inherited some kind of spiritual power from a Mycenean in Athens. That, of course, was Sri Yaubl Sacabi. The king sent a courier asking me to come and give council to him and to his young sons, Hector and Paris,whose exploits were the last straw that gave the Greeks an excuse to invade. But it really wasn't just because Paris stole Helen; it was mostly economics and power, but that's another story. Then there was Priam's youngest son, Deiphobus — a teenager when I met him; he was the most introspective of the family. Anyway, King Priam offered me a handsome fee and safe passage back if I would come. So I decided to go.
"I took three of my students with me: Anetor, the young, ambitious son of an architect; Domedes, the carousing son of a wealth merchant; and Vesios, a quiet, clever, vagrant outcast. Each had his own special qualities and talents that I knew would help on the journey, and I knew they would benefit the most. But there was another reason I chose these three students: none of them could stand the sight of the others! I figured if they didn't kill each other off, they might learn something by the end of the journey.
"A couple of days before our ship was to leave for Ilios, I gathered the three students together and said, 'I'd like to bring a gift to King Priam. I'll leave the task of choosing the gift to you.'
"In those days, it was good manners to bring a king a gift, even if he had invited you. Otherwise, he might chop off your head or something like that; something only a king could get away with.
"The day we were to leave, I asked them, 'Well, did you get a gift for us to bring to King Priam?' They all looked at each other, then at the ground, shuffled their feet, and mumbled in a disjointed manner that they hadn't. But no one seemed sure. I let the matter go.
" 'Then let's board the ship," I said. They said hardly a word to each other during the whole cruise. I knew they didn't get along with one another, but this was strange. It was as if they felt guilty about something. But I didn't worry about it; I knew the ECK would take care of things. I just thought it interesting the way It would take care of things.
"Now Ilios is an inland city on the banks of a river,and you have to go a short distance from the river by land. The city was built this way so it couldn't be easily invaded from the ocean. While on a riverboat after our ocean voyage, the helmsman overloaded the cargo hold and capsized the boat, soaking us all and losing the cargo. Luckily, I had the funds needed for the return trip on my person, but all of our other belongings were lost to the rapid currents of the river. This included our gift — or gifts, as it turned out — to the king.
" ' There goes our gift to King Priam,' I said, as we swam to the upturned belly of the riverboat. 'By the way, what did you get him?'
" At first there was silence; then it was as if the dunking had woken everyone up. Domedes was the first to speak. 'Master, I don't know what the others did, but I purchased him a very expensive gift in the exclusive markets of Athens, which one could only attain through connections — in my case, through my father, who is a merchant. You see, at first we tried to come up with a solution collectively, but each of us had his own idea. Each wanted his idea to be the one chosen, until in total disagreement, we split up and got separate gifts.'
"I looked at the other two, they nodded.
"Vesios, the outcast street dweller spoke up, 'We all knew the importance of presenting a worthy gift to King Priam and thus wanted to win your favor by being the one whose gift pleased him, for we knew it would be a direct reflection on yourself. Not being able to agree, we decided to give three gifts and let King Priam be the judge of whose gift he liked the best.'
"I nodded my head. It was actually quite comical, the truth coming out after a big dunking like that. As we were helped back to the boat dock and waited to board another riverboat, I considered the situation.
"Then to no one in particular, I said, 'So it turns out that in trying to serve the Outer Master, you've ignored the presence of the silent side of the Master — the Mahanta.'
"Anetor spoke up, 'I'm not sure I understand, Sri Hari. Were we not serving the Mahanta in trying to present the greatest gift?'
"I answered, 'Yes, but what is the Mahanta?'
"Anetor again spoke, 'The Mahanta is that which resides in our hearts — as you have taught us.'
"And I added, 'Yes, but let me ask you; when you went your separate ways in choosing a gift for King Priam, how did you each feel you were treating the Inner Master? Did you have anger and competition to better your brothers in spirit? The only way to serve the Inner Master is with a pure and open heart, because the Inner Master is the pure and open heart!'
"I looked at the faces of the three students. For the first time since I announced the journey, they were open. The tautness of competition was gone. 'Well, it would be good etiquette to find something for the king, don't you think?I'd sure hate to offend him and have him lop off our heads!' And we all had a good laugh.
"Anetor spoke up, 'What do you think of finding out from the city dwellers what the king likes, since time and funds are limited?'
"Vesios added, 'Street dwellers are the same in any city — they have knowledge of all that goes on, even in the highest courts. They would accept me, and I could find out the king's favor.'
"Domedes chimed in,'I have some funds on my person, spared from our bath in the river. Enough to purchase whatever it is we need.'
"And so it went. They quit trying to do things to impress me, and in doing so, each put aside his ego for the common goal and came up with a solution collectively. The consultation with Priam went fine, and we returned to Athens after a brief stay."
I spoke for the first time since Hari Tita started his tale. "So what happened when you presented King Priam with the gift?"
Hari Tita replied, "Oh, he was so worried about impending crises, he didn't;t think twice about the gift. He was only interested in what I had to say to him. But that's another story. Well, I think that's enough for tonite." He looked over to Wah Z who was beginning to stand up.
I stood too and thanked him and Wah Z, shaking their hands. "Thanks for the story, Sri Hari, and thanks for introducing us, Wah Z." But before I could say any more, they were disappearing into the dark recesses of my little apartment, leaving me wondering if what had just happened were really possible.
From In The Company Of ECK Masters – Phil Morimitsu © 1987 Phil Morimitsu
http://www.eckbooks.org/items/In_the_Company_of_ECK_Masters-129-12.html
