There was once a thief. He decided to rob a wealthy merchant’s home. Thinking the merchant was on vacation during a holiday weekend, the thief climbed over the boundary wall of the merchant’s estate and began to approach his house when he tripped a security alarm which alerted everyone in the house that someone had penetrated inside the property. The thief was shocked. He quickly took off his clothes
and rolled them up in a ball and hid them. He then ran toward the merchant’s pond and slipped into the water in the pose of a yogi. He cropped his hair up like a yogi and began to meditate in the pond standing on one leg.

The merchant’s security guards searched the grounds. They noticed the yogi meditating in the pond and were puzzled. The merchant was notified of the yogi’s presence. He quickly came to examine him. The thief impersonating a yogi remained deeply silent and meditated with half closed eyes. The merchant was impressed by his concentration. For a long time the merchant keep silent in the presence of the yogi. He felt peace and calm. He became convinced that the yogi was a great saint who came to bless him.

The merchant gave his guards instructions to inform him when the yogi stopped his meditation. He returned to his home and took rest. Early the next day, the guards informed the merchant that the yogi opened his eyes and smiled at them. He came quickly and bowed respectfully at the yogi’s feet and begged him to bless him and his family. The yogi smiled and said “May you and your family be blessed.” The merchant was overwhelmed and grateful. He invited the yogi to stay with him and become his guru. The thief was not sure what to do. He was amazed that the merchant accepted him as a true yogi and was ready to honor him as his guru.

The thief said, “My dear son, our paths have crossed by providence. Yet, my journey has a way to go before I can stay in one place. I must go now as my destiny has dictated that I continue on the path of seeking more teaching from my master.”

The merchant was impressed by the yogi’s sincerity. He fell at the feet of the yogi and begged him to reconsider. The yogi was tempted to say yes. Knowing well he could not sustain the charade for an extended period of time before he would be discovered to be a common thief, he insisted he could not stay.

He encouraged the merchant to continue to meditate in silence and pray for the welfare of all. He instructed him to be charitable to the poor and kind to his family. The merchant was truly overwhelmed by the yogi’s simplicity and purity. He begged him not to go. He offered him many valuable gifts. The thief was tempted by the gifts and the invitation. He was prudent. However, because he understood he could not go much longer without being discovered by someone.

He insisted that his journey was yet incomplete and that he was obliged to continue his normal course. But he promised to return in the future if the merchant and his family members followed his instructions. The thief asked the merchant for a clean new cloth and one piece of fruit as a gift. The merchant wanted to lavish many clothes and fruits on him, but the yogi only accepted one of each. The yogi then walked out of the merchant’s estate grounds and quickly disappeared into the surrounding forests.

The thief was stunned by the experience. He decided to think deeply about what had just transpired. He was convinced that it was not possible to return to his village and continue as a thief. He felt he had a discovered a new direction in his life. But how was he to continue on a path that was unknown to him? He had never received a formal education. His only contact with holy people occurred when itinerant yogis who would pass through his village and stop to beg for alms. They were always kind and friendly. He never paid much attention to them nor listened to their stories. He had given charity to one. He could still remember the smiling face of that yogi. The yogi held his arm and looked into his eyes penetratingly and said, “When your clothes come off, your eyes will open.”

At the time, the thief thought that the yogi was a crazy fellow. Now he reflected deeply about the smiling yogi’s words spoken in a long forgotten past. Could the yogi have known what would happen in his future? He was not able to walk any further. He sat down and just thought about what had happened to him and the prophetic words of the yogi.

A very powerful yearning welled up in his heart to find that yogi. He felt a mysterious bond and magnetic pull guiding him to look for the yogi. He decided that there are certain events in life that
are indicators or wake up calls that are meant to bring us out of the haze of ordinary life. The routine of life is an habitual method of thoughts and desires conditioning or limiting our actions.
We can live an entire life restricted by these accepted norms which may be good or bad. The probing question that is dramatized by the wake up call is whether the “conditioning” we are subjected to is good or bad?

The thief remained motionless pondering these thoughts. He left his village and “routine life” so that he could think this issue over without the pressure of “obligations” detracting his attention and pulling him back to the routine that would completely obscure his attempt to understand. He was certain of one thing. He needed to find the yogi. He needed the help of such a special person who can be a catalyst for continual self inspection to question his assumptions(inclination to want things) and motives(the psychological feature that arouses an person to action toward a desired goal or that which gives purpose and direction to behavior).

The thief felt like he was drowning in a turbulent and freezing ocean with little or no hope of escaping. By some amazing coincidence he had a glimpse of what it would be like to be a genuine holy man. The remarkable experience was predicted by a total stranger. He needed the help of that stranger as much as he needed to breathe or needed someone to lift him out of the freezing ocean before losing his life.

These thoughts strengthened the thief’s resolve that he should concentrate all his efforts to find the yogi. He felt that if he searched sincerely, the yogi would understand his need and desire and might appear before him. The thief was determined to not commit any theft but to completely trust that somehow he would survive and reach his goal.

He began to walk along a country road that was traveled by caravans. He met a caravan of pilgrims who invited him to accompany them. They shared their food with him and settled down for the night. Late at night, the thief woke up with an impulse to rob the pilgrims and make off with the spoils. Since thievery was second nature for him, he carefully pilfered valuables from the sleeping pilgrims but felt pangs of guilt and shame. He decided to not run away but rather to replace the stolen items scrambling them amongst the pilgrims so that something that belonged to one would be with the belongings of another. The next morning when everyone woke up, they were shocked to discover their personal belongings missing and replaced with the belonging of another person. They soon discovered that everything was scrambled. What was the meaning of this and who did it? After a short time of suspense and questioning, the thief admitted that he scrambled the belongings. When asked why he did such a thing, he confessed he was a thief by profession. He woke up late at night and could not resist stealing, but he was also overcome by feelings of shame that he was stealing from honest pilgrims that extended him such hospitality and kindness. He decided to only scramble the belongings and not to make off with them into the night.

Everyone was shocked by the revelation. They were not sure how to proceed. Some argued that the thief only acted out of custom and habit, but exhibited that he now had a sense of social responsibility and remorse. Therefore, he should be excused and permitted to stay on the caravan as a guest. Others countered that he was still a thief. If anything happened that might anger him, he could easily resort to his old habits and make off with their belongings. The discussion went back and forth until a stranger approached them. It was the same yogi the thief was longing to meet.

The yogi listened to the discussion and smiled. Due to respect, the pilgrims asked his advice. After all, they were on a pilgrimage to holy places to meet holy men and here was a yogi in their midst. The yogi told a story.

One day Nasreddin Hodja’s (hodja means a teacher) wife went to the local bath house for women which had three bath stalls. She entered one and was about to bathe when one of the attendants asked her to move because the wife of a merchant named Yasir aga had just arrived and had priority. She moved to another stall.

As she prepared to bath, another attendant came and asked her to move because the wife of the merchant Ziyad aga just arrived and had priority to bathe. She moved again to the third stall.

As she started to bath, she was asked by still another attendant to move because the wife of the merchant Jamal aga arrived to bathe. Each one of the women was the wife of a prominent businessman. Because they tipped the attendants, they were given preference. The poor wife of the Hodja put her clothes back on and left the bathhouse.

The Hodja’s wife was upset. When Hodja arrived home, he noticed right away that his wife was visibly upset about something. He tried to cheer her up with some pleasantries but she remained silent. After a while, she said, “I want you to become a businessman right away.”

The Hodja was shocked. It was easier to say than to do. “How can I be a merchant. I have no money to start a business,” he said. This statement made her more angry. She replied, “If you cannot become a businessman, then I will divorce you right away.”

Hodja was shaken by this strange request of his wife. He asked for a grace period to find a way to become a merchant businessman. She gave him 24 hours or else. Hodja couldn’t sleep or eat. He stayed up all night trying to find a way to become a merchant. His only hope was to sell something he possessed to raise enough money to rent a shop. His only dispensable belonging was a good donkey. The next day he took his donkey to the town bazaar. He hawked the animal with words of praise and exaggeration, “Look at the length of his ears, look at his teeth that shine like pearls, his tail is like the hair of an empress, and so on.” A crowd assembled around the donkey to hear the bravado of the Hodja. Finally, one man stepped forward and bought the donkey for a good amount.

The Hodja had just enough money to rent a shop for one month but not enough to buy any merchandise. He went ahead and rented a shop, put up a sign, “Hodja aga – merchant of precious wares.” He went to his shop everyday and sat in the empty space until closing time. He had nothing to sell and no one ventured even to enter the empty shop. The Hodja’s wife was very pleased with him. She was given the respect by the bathhouse attendants that she needed to get a stall and bathe.

Hodja continued to open and close the shop. He knew it would not last long unless some extraordinary event happened, but he couldn’t imagine what that would be. One day the king, Tamerlane, came to the Aksehir town mosque for Friday prayers. On finishing his prayers, he decided to take a stroll through the town bazaar. Walking through the bazaar, he noticed the empty shop with Hodja aga sitting inside. He looked at the sign and wondered what were the precious wares he was offering the public. Intrigued, he entered the shop.

“What are the precious wares you are selling and where are they,” said the king.

“I’m selling wisdom, your majesty,” answered Hodja. “I have a clay pot in the back room full of wisdom. It will cost you only one gold coin.”

“I’ll take it,” said the king.

“Your wisdom for today is “Before doing something, consider what will happen to you after you do it.”

Tamerlane seemed dissatisfied. “Hodja, this wisdom is overpriced. I don’t think it is worth one gold coin.”

“Your Majesty, I have given you a wonderful bargain today because you are my first customer. This wisdom is worth more than you realize now. You will understand in the future its actual value,” said the Hodja with such confidence that the king gave the coin and left.

The king was impressed with the claims of the Hodja. He ordered a ornate frame and had his court calligrapher write the wisdom on a large parchment and placed the wisdom on the wall of his public hall where he received guests for all to see.

For some time, Tamerlane’s viziers plotted to kill him. They decided to bribe the king’s barber to cut his throat while he shaved him. They offered the barber such a sum of money that he couldn’t say no.

The same day that Tamerlane had the Hodja’s wisdom hung in a prominent wall space of his public hall, he summoned the barber for his weekly haircut and trim for his beard. The king sat on a chair, the barber covered his chest with a clean cloth and prepared to shave the king. Tamerlane relaxed as he looked up at the newly framed wisdom of the Hodja and read it out loud.

Your wisdom for today is “Before doing something, consider what will happen to you after you do it.”

The barber had just put his sharp blade on the neck of the king when he heard these prophetic words spoken with such strength and assurance. His hand began to shake. He became terrified thinking the king knew exactly what he was about to do. Overwhelmed with fear, the barber dropped the razor and fell to the floor at the feet of the king and began to beg for his mercy. He was hysterical with fright. H e repeated over and over again, “Please spare me. It is not my fault. Please spare me.” Tamerlane calmed the barber and insisted he explain himself or else be beaten and jailed for life.

The barber explained the sinister plot while whimpering and begging for mercy. He said, “Your Majesty knew of this plan all along which is evident by your grave warning to me. Please forgive and spare me, a poor barber and father of six children.”

Tamerlane had the barber and the treacherous viziers punished appropriately. The barber was beaten and thrown into a horrible prison for five years. The viziers were tortured and hung to death.

They summoned Hodja agha to his palace.

“My dear Hodja agha, the wisdom that you sold me seemed to be very expensive at the time of purchase. I tried to talk down the price, but you very astutely told me it was a good bargain and I would realize it in the future. I must tell you that your wisdom saved my life today.” Tamerlane ordered his treasurer to give the Hodja a pot of gold coin. He appointed him to an administrative post in his town.

The yogi remained silent while looking at all the people assembled there. He said, “Now you decide what to do with this fellow traveler, but remember the Hodja’s wisdom, “Before doing something, consider what will happen to you after you do it.”

The pilgrims looked at each other and made a few hand signs that they should discuss the issue of the thief privately. The yogi and the thief were left together while the pilgrims went off to discuss the matter. After a short time, they returned and a pilgrim respectfully addressed the yogi. Reverend Sir, we have decided that you should decide what we should do with this thief.

“We realize that we are not spiritually astute enough to make the right decision. We believe, however, that you are much more capable than we are to make the right decision for the welfare of this man and us.”

The yogi was pleased with their humility and deference to his judgment. He said, “I shall take this thief with me because my only possession is love for God and I pray he steals this from me as there is an unlimited ocean of it available in the hearts of the sincere seekers.”

All the pilgrims were pleased by this pronouncement of the yogi. They asked the yogi to accompany them on their pilgrimage. He declined. Bid them farewell and went off with the thief.

The yogi and the thief walked a long distance without a word. The thief broke the silence by asking permission to ask the yogi a question. The yogi gave a nod of approval. The thief asked, “Reverend Sir, When we met for the first time you held my arm and said, ‘When your clothes come off, your eyes will open.’ How did you know what was going to happen to me in the future?”

“Yes, your eyes were open. But, you still have not understood.”