Kolkata – Tiwari’s Story

Tiwari, a friend of the Bow Bazar community of Brothers, spent some time one Saturday morning sharing his spirituality with them. He told this story of Lord Vishnu, who was wondering who, of all his millions of devotees, was the most devout.

Vishnu sent his assistant around the world to find the most devout disciple. After strenuous searching, the assistant returned, having narrowed it down to two men. Each had spent all his adult life meditating, without deviation, under a shady tree. And each had asked one question of the assistant: “How long will it be before I see Lord Vishnu? When will he show himself to me?”

Vishnu said: “When a thousand years have passed, for each leaf on the tree above you, then I will come.” One man, when he heard the answer, stood up, rolled up his mat, and returned to his business; he said, “I will never see God.” The other, when he heard the answer, sprang up and began to dance, he was so happy.