In one of his lifes, the Wanderer found himself in the body of Sanjay. 

Unappreciated

One day, somewhere underneath the burning sun in India, Sanjay lifted another box of mangoes while his cousin Jatin was sitting in the shade, barely looking up from counting the money.

“These better sell well,” Sanjay said with an angry voice. “Because I am the one doing all the hard work here while you are sitting in the shade.”

Jatin heard him. “What was that? Stop whining and keep moving those crates. Another load is coming in.”

Sanjay just starred at him with rage in his eyes. “This idiot. I am the most valuable asset on this stupid mango plantage,” he said furiously to himself. “Without my efforts, the place would have already fell apart and Jatin would only count dust. He was just lucky inheriting this business and now he acts like a prince.”

Downfall

On one hot afternoon the tensions between the cousins finally boiled over. Sanjay dropped a box of mangos and Jatin got angry with him. Sanjay got furious.

“I am keeping this place running,” he shouted. “Without me, you and this place woud be nothing!”

Sanjay was furious and his fists started flying around, seemingly out of nowhere. Workers rushed to separete them and when the dust cleared, Jatin was spitting blood.

“Enough is enough,” he yelled. “Get out! You are finished here! Leave my land now!”

Sanjay couldn’t believe what Jatin said. After all these years this was how he was repaid? He wanted to say something. He wanted to defend himself, but finally was left speechless after seeing the workers rolling their eyes towards him and his reaction. They grabbed his belongings and kicked him out from the property.

New Chance

Sanjay was jobless and homeless. Weeks turned into months. Once his home was a beautiful mango plantage, now he lived on the unforgiving streets. An unshaven beggar.

After experiencing hunger and poverty, his anger and pride slowly turned into despair.

“How could have all of this happen to me?” he asked the night sky. “I was invaluable…”

“Sanjay?” a familiar voice called out.

Sanjay looked up and saw a familiar face. It was Tarun, his childhood friend, who choose a spiritual path when they were younger. Sanjay made fun of him because of this when they were kids, but now it seemed that their situations were reversed.

“Look at you…” Tarun said sadly, embracing the broken man. “Come, let me take you somewhere safe.”

Planting Seeds

At the ashram, Sanjay received simple food and shelter. But he received also something else from Tarun. Unconditional compassion. This made his hard ego, which caused his downfall, slowly fade away.

“I made fun of you because of your detachment from pride and desire,” Sanjay one day said to Tarun. “Now, my own actions and egoistic attachments left me with nothing.”

Tarun smiled and lay his hand on Sanjay’s shoulder. “The path back to peace is through getting rid of the illusions of self-importance, my friend. Not being bound to material attachments.”

Sanjay saw pictures in his mind coming up before his pride and desire consumed him. Pictures of life’s simple beauties. Home-cooked meals appeared in his inner eye. He could hear birds singing while he enjoyed playing in his uncles mango garden.

“Maybe renouncing my ego is the way to rediscover that freedom.” he said to himself.

Awakening

Sanjay spend months in the ashram under Tarun’s guidance. This humble life facilitated a profound awakening within Sanjay. One morning he sat outside and watched the sunrise. Vibrant colors renewed the world around him and he felt a profound interconnection in this moment.

He turned over and saw his friend Tarun meditating under a tree. Sanjay was not surprised anymore seeing Tarun meditation so peacefully and silent. However, it seemed to him as if there was a divine grace flowing through his old friend. In this moment, Sanjay grasped the truth. “Material achievements are transient illusions,” he thought. “While I was chasing material things, Tarun lived a live in compassion’s eternal resonance.”

He started to cry. Not because he was sad. But because of a deep understanding. “All these years,” he said with tears of understanding running down his cheeks. “All these years I prioritized my ego over true wisdom. I’m ready to embrace a new life of higher purpose,” Sanjay said, feeling reborn. “Enough of this arrogance which has blinded me for too long.”

Service

A few weeks later, Tarun approached Sanjay. “One of the local farms need an extra hand for the spring harvest. It is simple labor, nothing special, but it should be enough to get you back on your feet while staying centered on your personal journey.”

“Being self-sufficient through honest work and helping others feels like the next step for me. Thank you for this opportunity,” he said in a grateful voice.

“Thank you,” he said and handed him a small bag with travel supplies and ceremonial items. Sanjay was overwhelmed by his emotions. “You have already given me so much… I don’t know how I can repay your kindness,” he said.

Tarun just smiled in his usual warm and calm way. “There is nothing to be repayed between souls, dear friend. We simply share our kindness with everyone who needs it on this shared cosmic path.”

Reborn

In the following months on the local farm, Sanjay became reborn. The touching of the soil and harvesting of the fruits and vegetables helped him strengthen that new bond with nature and life that he found.

Even though he did not earn much, he always managed to donate a portion of his earnings to those in need. This gave him more fulfillment than all his past wealth.

One night, after a hard day of work, he thought about the last months since his downfall. His view on life changed so drastically after that. Once, life was just a zero-sum game for his personal gain and now it was an exchange that enriched a grander whole.

When the final harvest of the season came, Sanjay felt like a new man. He was reborn from the ashes of his former self. On his journey he gave up all he had, and found the bliss of living a life in harmonious service with existence.

He shared the wisdom, the humility and the compassion for all, that life gave him, with others whenever he could. This journey of redemption finally led him home.