Fruit of Obedience

One day, a spiritual elder and his disciple were walking through the desert. As they walked, the elder picked up a stick that was lying on the ground. He walked a few paces and then thrust the stick into the ground. Turning to his disciple, he told him to water the stick every morning and report to him if anything happened.

Given the location where the stick was planted, the disciple had to travel for many hours in the hot sun to fulfil this task. But he followed this routine for two years, until one day he saw the stick sprouting a small green leaf.

After another two years of following the same routine, he finally saw fruit growing.

So he went to the elder and invited him to come and look at how the sapling had grown up. The elder walked to the tree and saw the fruit. Smiling, he began to collect the fruit of the tree into a basket. The elder then went to the church of the community and offered the basket of fruit to the monks. The monks asked the elder, “What kind of fruit is this?” To which the elder replied, “This is the fruit of obedience.”

The teacher whom you have met by the power of your past actions, and whose kindness you have received, is the most important of all.… Obey him in all things and disregard all hardships, heat, cold, hunger, thirst and so on. Pray to him with faith and devotion. Ask his advice on whatever you may be doing. Whatever he tells you, put it into practice, relying on him totally.
_{Patrul Rinpoche, as quoted in Buddhism, Path to Nirvana}