by Donna Quesada: One of my spiritual teachers once told a story that I always remembered. It was about a thief who wanted to become enlightened.
So, he went to the great Buddhist master, Nagarjuna for council. Here is the story:
Nagarjuna and The Thief—
In the year 151 CE, there was a sly thief that was well known throughout the whole kingdom. He was so clever and so intelligent that he had never been caught. He had even stolen from the king’s jewel box, many times — but they were unable to catch him. He was a master of his craft.
One day he asked for a personal meeting with the Buddhist master and teacher, Nagarjuna. Upon arriving at his personal quarters, Nagarjuna gestured to him, “Come in!”
As the thief entered, he looked at Nagarjuna — his silence, his peace, his bliss… and he was overwhelmed.
Nagarjuna asked the thief what was on his mind.
The thief got right to it and asked Nagarjuna “Can you help me to become enlightened?” And after a moment, added…“Can I also become as blissful as you are?”
Nagarjuna said, “It is possible. It is everybody’s potential.”
The thief then said, “Wait! I have to tell you one thing… I have been many times to many saints and they all know me and they say, ‘First you have to stop stealing… if you can do that, then anything else is possible. But if you don’t stop stealing, you cannot grow spiritually.’ So, please don’t put that condition on me because I cannot do it. It is impossible. I have tried and failed many times. It seems that stealing is my nature.”
Nagarjuna then said, “That simply shows that you have never seen a real saint before. Go on stealing and do everything as skillfully as possible. It is good to be a master of any art.”
The thief was shocked even more… he was thinking to himself What kind of man is this?
Nagarjuna continued, “If you want to steal, steal — but steal consciously. Go tonight, enter into your chosen house…but do it very consciously. Do it with full awareness. And report back to me in one week.”
After counting seven days, the thief came back, bowed down, touched Nagarjuna’s feet and said, “I would now like to be officially initiated as your student.”
Nagarjuna said, “But what about your stealing?”
The thief said, “You are a cunning fellow! I tried my best. But what I found was that if I am conscious, I cannot steal. And conversely, if I steal, then I immediately become unconscious. In short, I can steal only when I am unconscious. When I am conscious, the whole thing seems so stupid and so meaningless. I start asking myself, What am I doing? For what? Tomorrow I may die. Why do I go on accumulating wealth? What is it all for? To impress others? No one cares! Everyone is absorbed with their own problems. I’m not taking any of this with me when I die and I have more than I need for as long as I live; even for generations it would be enough!”
Nagarjuna remained silent, so the thief continued… “The diamonds I was about to take suddenly appeared as ordinary stones. It all became so clear… the real treasure is inside of us. So, I stopped immediately. For seven days this went on… I entered into houses and came out empty-handed, each time! But to become totally conscious is so beautiful! Now I know that you are a true teacher. Now I know that you have the real gold and we are all playing with false gold.”
The thief had realized a deeper yearning and let go of his mundane desires. He was no longer capable of being seduced by illusions. On that day, he became a disciple of Nagarjuna and soon after realized the state of Buddhahood.
