In India, in a certain temple, a man was seen distributing sweets. Somebody came and asked what the cause of this rejoicing was. The man said that he had lost his horse. They said, "Well, you have lost a horse and you are rejoicing?" He said, "Misunderstand me not. I have lost a horse but saved the rider. My horse was stolen by a band of robbers. I was not riding the horse at the time the horse was taken. Had I been mounted on the horse, I might also have been stolen. I am thankful that I was not stolen with the horse and that it was only the horse that was stolen." That man has a valid reason to rejoice, for he has discovered the truth that what is actually being lost is the rider (his soul as horseman) and he must raise a hue and cry to save it.

1. 1
Foolish Rejoicing
Foolish Rejoicing
(A Man distributing Sweets)
In India, in a certain temple, a man was seen
distributing sweets. The way with Indians is that on
occasions of great joy and prosperity, they distribute
sweets or other things among the poor.
Somebody came and asked what the cause of this
rejoicing was. The man said that he had lost his horse.
That was the cause of his rejoicing. The people were
astonished and surprised.
They said, "Well, you have lost a horse and you are
rejoicing?"
He said, "Misunderstand me not. I have lost a horse
but saved the rider. My horse was stolen by a band of
robbers. I was not riding the horse at the time the
horse was taken. Had I been mounted on the horse, I
might also have been stolen. I am thankful that I was
not stolen with the horse and that it was only the
horse that was stolen."
The story seems to be ridiculous. But everyone has to
apply it to himself and examine, whether he or she is
not behaving worse than that man. He lost the horse
but saved himself, the rider.

2. 2
Foolish Rejoicing
But millions, nay, billions of people are trying to save
the horse and loose the rider. That is the worst of it.
So, he had high occasion to rejoice when he saved the
rider and lost the horse.
We learn from scriptures that the real spirit, or the
real Self, soul, is riding on the causal, astral and finally
the physical body as a rider as horseman is related to
the horse in this simile.
The horse as physical body of which we are aware is
experiencing this world at the cost of consciousness
of the soul which is the real rider.
But the horse is being stolen at every moment of time
by five main robbers – lust, anger, greed, ignorance
(attachment) and conceit along with a host of their
subsidiaries which make us forget about the real
rider, our soul.
Is it not that we are taking the horse to be the rider?
The horse (actually the horseman) is being lost; it is
high time to raise the cry. The thing being lost is the
rider, the soul, the spirit, the Atman, the true Self.
That man has a valid reason to rejoice, for he has
discovered the truth that what is actually being lost is
the rider and he must raise a hue and cry to save it.

3. 3
Foolish Rejoicing
MORAL:—People rejoice in caring and providing for
the body, while they are losing the soul, or Self at
every point of time. This is ridiculous and foolish.
[We must pause and reflect that it is the rider that needs to
be saved at all cost. It is high time that we learn to stop the
Wheel of Time and the Way is wonderfully explained
hereunder:
देदा दे लैदे थͩक पाǑह ॥ जुगा जुगंतǐर खाहȣ खाǑह ॥ हुकमी हुकमु
चलाए राहु ॥ नानक ͪवगसै वेपरवाहु ॥३॥
Adi Granth: Page 2 – Lines 2, 3
Japji
God is the most gracious giver and He goes on giving while
the recipients grow weary of receiving, even as, age after
age; they continue to live on His bounty. By his own
command, O Nanak, the Commander sets the universe on
course, and the Carefree One rejoices in bliss. [3]
God goes on giving from his inexhaustible storehouse as
long as the recipients continue to crave worldly gifts and
seek pleasure from them. In order to receive his gifts, they
must keep returning to the creation, life after life, in form
best suited for the fulfilment of their cravings.
Only when they tire of worldly gifts, which, instead of
providing lasting happiness, keep them tied down to the
creation, do they turn away from materialism and seek
eternal happiness in God.

4. 4
Foolish Rejoicing
And those who get weary of change will be able to free
themselves from the clutches of Time because God is
always on the lookout for such souls that sincerely yearn for
Him rather than His gifts.
The Book of Mirdad, Chapter 19 on ‘How to arrest the
Wheel of Time’, Mirdad says:
“Man shall so weary of change that everything in him shall
yearn, and yearn with unabated passion, for that which is
mightier than change. And surely he shall find it in himself.
Happy are they that yearn, for they are already upon the
threshold of Freedom. Them do I seek, and for them do I
preach. Have I not chosen you because I heard your
yearnings?”
And again in Chapter 20 on ‘Where do We Go after We Die’,
Micaster, one of Mirdad’s disciple, enquires: Do we return
to this Earth as we journey from change to change?
Mirdad replies: “The law of Time is repetition. What once
occurred in Time is bound to re-occur again and again; the
intervals, in the case of Man, may be long or brief
depending upon the intensity of each man’s desire and will
for repetition.
When you pass out of the cycle known as life into the cycle
known as death, and carry with you thirsts unquenched for
the Earth and hungers unappeased for her passions, then
will the magnet of the Earth draw you again to her bosom.

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Foolish Rejoicing
And the Earth shall suckle you, and Time shall wean you, life
after life and death after death until you wean yourself,
once and for all, of your own will and accord.”
Abimar, another disciple enquires: Has our Earth power
over you, too, Master? For you appear as one of us?
Mirdad: “I come when I will, and I go when I will, I come to
free the tenants of the Earth from bondage to the Earth.”
So, those of you who are experiencing the feeling of
loneliness and weary of change must unabatedly yearn for
Freedom.
And if you are sincere in your yearning, rest assure, God will
guide you to His chosen one, a true living Guru of our time,
fully liberated, who has His authority to liberate others.
But the first step has to be yours, of your own will and
accord, to know your Creator.
And for the rest who are not yet weary of change (cycle of
birth, death and re-birth) and those who yearn only for
things created (God’s gifts and bounties) and associated
pleasures; there is no need to despair.
Your time will also come because as of now the teachings of
saints will not appeal to you and you must wait for the
proper time. Meanwhile try to gain spiritual knowledge by
reading good spiritual literature to dispel ignorance.]
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