October 7

It Didn’t Matter Who Said What,
It All Came From Ram

There was a great saint by the name of Swami Ramdas. Some of you might have heard of him. Ramdas was an example of total surrender to God in the form of Ram. His name was fitting: Ramdas, the servant of Ram. He saw Ram in every face. Somebody once said to him, “Why don’t you go to Benares?” “Ah, okay. Maybe Ram told me. All right. Well, how should I go?” “Go to the railway station and take the train.” He went to the railway station, and when the train came, he got on. The ticket collector said, “Where is your ticket?” “Oh, Ram didn’t tell me about that.” “Well, you can’t continue.” “Okay, what do you want me to do?” “You have to get off at the next station.” “Fine.” He got off at the next station, “Because Ram asked me to get out, I got out; that’s all.”

So he just sat there on the platform until somebody came and said, “Why are you sitting here?” “Ram wanted me to sit here.” “How did you come here?” “Oh, Ram said I should go to Benares on the train, and again Ram came and asked me to get off.” “Oh, that’s not right. You are simply listening to every Tom, Dick, and Harry.” “No, it’s Ram. Ram as Dick. Ram as Harry. The same Ram.” “So who am I?” “You are also Ram.” “Okay, all right, stand up.” “Okay.” “Sit down.” He sat. “Stand up.” That fellow made him stand up and sit down fifteen times. Still, he felt, “Ram said so; all right, I’ll do it.” Finally, the fellow realized the greatness of this person; he felt terrible and fell at Ramdas’ feet saying, “I’m so sorry.” “Oh, Ram, you shouldn’t do that.” “Come on, come on, the next train is bound for Benares, you get on.” “All right.”

It didn’t matter who said what; to him it all came from Ram.