Chapter 26 → Inner Cause & Effect

Abbey declared that a person who constantly needs help from others, regardless of whether people help him or not, will inevitably lead to his utter defeat. Some objected to his statement, so Abbey promised to prove it with examples. When everyone had forgotten about the incident, Abbey had someone place a bag of gold in the middle of the bridge. He then sent another person to find a poor debtor and ask him to cross the bridge from the other side. Abbey and the other witnesses waited on this side of the bridge. When the debtor approached Abbey, Abbey asked him, "Did you see anything in the middle of the bridge?" "No," the man said. "How could that be?" Abbey asked. The man replied, "When I started to cross the bridge, I suddenly had a thought: it might be interesting if I crossed it with my eyes closed, so I did it..."

This happened under certain circumstances. A poor man, heavily indebted, came to Abesi for help. Even the king frequently sought Abesi's assistance, and with just a slight hint from Abesi, the king would surely grant the poor man anything . This was the reason the man pleaded with Abesi. He said he had a wife and children to support, his family lived in misery, and if he didn't repay his debts, he would have to work like a slave to pay them off. But Abesi said, "Impossible, I will not say a word to the king." That's how this happened. Some people objected to his words… Abesi believed, "Even if I help him, it won't be true help for him. Something within him will ultimately lead to his downfall." Abesi saw deeply; he must have seen through this man, knowing he would inevitably plunge himself back into poverty, perhaps even deeper. But well-meaning people disagreed with his assessment.

You might have the same thoughts and actions. I've seen many people who are almost there, but then a thought pops into their head—sometimes a ridiculous one, you simply can't believe anyone would think that way—and they immediately change course and decide to stop everything. Your mind is a very complex phenomenon; it constantly projects. Just like this poor man, whose bag of gold would have been more than enough to pay off his debts, but he suddenly decided to cross the bridge with his eyes closed. If one day you have the same thought, remember to look around—there might be a bag of gold waiting for you.

People carry the seeds of their fortune and misfortune, bearing both heaven and dust with them. Whatever happens to you happens because of you. External influences are secondary; internal causes are primary. Unless you understand this, you cannot transform. Because your reason will continue to deceive you, attributing your happiness or unhappiness to external factors. If all causes are external, you have no possibility of freedom, no possibility of true liberation. How can you change all external factors? Change one, and a million more will follow.

This is the difference between religious and non-religious minds. Communists only see the external. Marx believed that everything was caused by external factors, that external factors created people's poverty, and that if everything external were overthrown, people would be happy, therefore revolution was necessary. His judgment was wrong; Muhammad, Jesus, Mahavir, and Krishna would not have thought so. The cause is internal; the external is merely an excuse. You can change the external, but if the internal remains unchanged, nothing external will change. Because people live from the inside out; the internal creates and governs everything.

It's like watching a movie. Your eyes are on the screen, but the real images reside in the projector behind you. The screen is empty; only light and shadow play. Your projector is inside, projecting your joys and sorrows, heaven and hell. God and the devil both exist within you. Everything external is merely a screen; they reveal your reactions to reality, but not the true cause. Furthermore, you must pay attention: when you feel miserable, look inward; the reason lies within yourself. When you feel happy, also look inward; the reason is there. Looking outward will only reveal fabricated reasons.

One night, Mura Nasrudin dreamed he was in heaven. It was so beautiful—the sun shone on the silent valley, birds sang, and he sat alone under a tree. Suddenly he felt hungry, and though there was no one around, he asked, "Is anyone here?" As he said this, a handsome man appeared and asked him, "What do you need? I will do anything for you." So he asked for food, and food appeared immediately. He ate his fill and then wanted to sleep. He asked for beautiful women, and beautiful women appeared; he asked for a bed, and a bed was there. Several days passed, and he became very bored. Although everything was wonderful, even wonderful, he couldn't bear it, so he wanted to suffer. He began searching for things that could make him anxious, irritable, and depressed, and everything became unpleasant again. So he called the handsome man over again: "I've had enough! I need a job, I'm fed up with eating and drinking for free!" The man said, "I can do anything for you, but I can't give you a job. You have everything, why do you need a job? You don't need a job at all!" Nasruddin said, "I'm fed up! If you don't give me a job, I'm going to hell!" The man laughed: "Where do you think you are now?" The man laughed, and he woke up.

He came to me in the morning, asking, "What does this dream mean?" I told him, "First of all, you shouldn't have waited so long to wake up. When you dream that you're in heaven, you should have opened your eyes. How can you believe you're in heaven?" Wherever you go, you create hell around you. In fact, heaven and hell are not different; they are not two different places, but two different mindsets. They exist in your heart, not in external space. You cannot go to heaven, nor can you go to hell. You carry heaven and hell within yourself, like a spider's web. There's a beautiful parable in the Upanishads: everyone is like a spider, carrying a web in their heart, spreading it wherever the spider goes. You are like that spider.