One Story That Keeps Me Grounded

This is a story shared by my teacher, It is about how an ordinary man became a great saint.

There was a simple man who did a small job. He didn’t have big dreams or special interests. He only wanted enough money to eat two meals a day. One day, he went for a walk near his house and reached a garden. At the end of the garden, there was a pond. He sat near the pond, looking at the water, lost in thought.

Suddenly, the water in the middle of the pond moved, and a face appeared. The face spoke to him, “You have no direction or goal in life. If you follow what I say, you will become a great person.” The man was confused but said, “Okay, tell me what to do.”

The face said, “This Sunday morning, come to the riverbank. I will tell you what to do next.” The man believed the face and went to the riverbank on Sunday. The face appeared again and said, “Take off all your clothes and jump into the river. Don’t worry, someone will save you.”

The man saw that the river was deep and had strong currents, but he trusted the face. He removed his clothes and jumped in. The water pulled him far, and he got caught in a fisherman’s net. The fisherman pulled him out and asked, “Why did you jump into the river?” The man replied, “I don’t know. I just had to do it.“

The fisherman took him home, and the man worked for him as a helper. He worked honestly for six months and gained the fisherman’s trust.

One night, in his room, the same face appeared again. It said, “Leave this place before sunrise. On the road, you will meet someone waiting for you.“

The man believed the face and left early in the morning. As he walked, he saw a farmer traveling on a donkey. The farmer said, “Come with me, I will give you good wages.” The man remembered the face’s words and agreed.

He worked with the farmer for a year and learned everything about farming. Earlier, he had learned about fishing, and now he understood farming.

One night, the face appeared again. It said, “A year has passed. Now, take all the money you have saved and go to the city. Start a leather business there.”

The man obeyed. He went to the city, bought leather, processed it well, colored it, and started selling it. His business became successful. He kept reinvesting and, in four years, became a famous businessman and very rich.

One night, the face appeared again and said, “Now that you are wealthy, sell everything you own. Take the money and donate it to the temple. Then, go north to a town where a shopkeeper runs a small grocery store. Work for him.”

The man didn’t question the face. The next day, he sold all his wealth, donated the money to the temple, and left for the new town. He found the shopkeeper and started working for him.

The shopkeeper was a deeply spiritual man. He was not interested in business; he only thought about spirituality. Living with him, the man also became spiritually inclined. Slowly, he started sharing his thoughts with people. There was something special about his words. People started listening to him. His words felt true, and everything he said seemed to come true.

More and more people came to hear him speak. They began calling him a great saint. Some wise men became curious about his past. They investigated and found that he had once worked with a fisherman, then a farmer, then a leather trader. They wrote books about him, and soon, people from faraway places started visiting him.

His fame grew, and wealth began flowing in. Disciples surrounded him. It became difficult to even see him. He was now a great spiritual leader.

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Over time, as people respected him and he gained many followers, his ego started to swell. The admiration and devotion he received changed him completely. Years passed, and his entire character transformed.

Then one day, he suddenly realized that the mysterious face had not appeared in a long time. He wondered why.

That night, the face appeared one last time and said, “You don’t need me anymore. As long as you had humility and faith, I guided you. But now, you believe you are supreme. The moment you let ego take over and started thinking of yourself as a saint, the real saint inside you died. When people bow to you, place your hand on your heart and ask yourself—do I truly deserve their faith and love? Am I being real or just acting? Only then will divine guidance continue. But if you ever think, ‘I have done this myself,’ that is the moment you start falling.”

The story teaches us that as long as we stay humble and sincere, divine grace supports us. But the moment ego enters, we lose that guidance.

As my teacher always says, EGO means “Edging God Out” of life.

It is essential to check our ego every single day.