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A devout religious man completed a sadhana spanning forty days. At the end of his spiritual practice, he was supposed to feed someone. He tried to get the local temple priest who had already committed elsewhere and turned down the offer. Just as this man was returning home, he saw an old beggar. I could invite him, he thought, after all, the same Divine dwells in all. The idea was that feeding a living soul was like feeding God and that he would earn many spiritual brownie points from such a meritorious act. The beggar too readily accepted the invite.
The man took him home and welcomed the guest with great fervor and respect. The beggar was dumbfounded at this extraordinary display of affection and reverence. It didn’t just stop there; a plate full of the finest delicacies with yogurt, pickles, mangoes, sherbet, papadums and chutney was presented. In his seventy years of age, no one had treated him like this.
No sooner did the host put the plate in front of him than the beggar pounced on it and began devouring his meal. Indeed, it was the most delicious food he had ever tasted. The religious man, however, stood there in disbelief and confusion for a few minutes.
He then stopped the beggar from eating by holding his wrist and said, “What are you doing?”
“Why?” the beggar asked. “What happened?”
“What…
