The Parable of the Ballroom
In With a Great Master in India, Dr Julian Johnson creates an extended metaphor to illustrate the fleeting nature of life, and how easily we fall prey to its allure before waking to grim reality. There is an alternative, he tells us. This descriptive piece of writing was first published more than eighty years ago and in some places uses a style of language which may seem a little outmoded to the modern mind, but the point is that the truth it conveys never changes. We can all appreciate the deep meaning given within a simple tale.In the book, the whole story stretches over several pages but, for the purposes of this magazine, here it is compressed to convey the essence only:
“The dance is in full swing,” says Dr Johnson, “Costly gowns and sparkling jewels, bare skin, powder and rouge, light and music and wine, beauty and laughter and love, all mingle in one gorgeous night. During a pause in the music, a couple slip away into the garden. They hold each other in close embrace and murmur endearing words. In a whirl of blissful frenzy, intoxication of passion, and throwing all caution to the wind, they float away in the ecstasy of sweet delirium. …
“Time passes. The sleeper stirs and mutters some words of endearment. He is now an old man, full of disease and pain. What could have happened to him? Only a few hours ago, he was young, full of joy and the sweet intoxication of love. And where is his beloved? Why isn’t she at his side? He struggles to his feet and looks at the garden, which had once been so exquisite, but now the chill autumn winds whistle through the dead limbs of the bare trees. And then, as the old man reaches for a cup, his hand drops and his body thuds to the floor. Another soul has passed under the Wheel.”
Master enters the dance hall
Dr Johnson follows this picture of life’s illusion and sorrow, by rewinding the story and inviting us to imagine how the couple’s life might have taken a different course:
“Going back to the dance hall, let us follow another scene. In the midst of the whirl, an elderly man enters. He wears a tall white turban and has a long white beard. His bearing is noble, his countenance is like the rays of the morning sun, and his voice is full of tenderness. He spreads about him an atmosphere of holy peace. Even the dance hall seems sacred in his presence.”
We can guess that this loving portrait is that of Julian Johnson’s own Master, Maharaj Sawan Singh. Dr Johnson tells us that most of the people in the ballroom seem to be unaware of the Master, but that one couple (that same couple that in the previous version were in love with illusion) eagerly come forward to meet him.
To suggest the inward and upward nature of the relationship with the Master, Dr Johnson paints a picture in which the Master, “greets them with a smile and leadsthem away from the crowd to a flight of stairs.”
At the top of the stairs they become more than ever aware of the power and light emanating from the Master, together with “a stream of divine melody that was itself the very essence of life, truth and wisdom and love.” The Master is there to draw them into this new world but also to make them realize what they must overcome in order to remain in it: “He took their hands and bade them to look behind them. Much to the couple’s amazement, they saw that five others, with extremely uninviting aspects, had also entered the room. They were humanity’s five deadly enemies: passion, anger, greed, attachment, and egotism. These five cowered with fear at the sight of the Master and would have fled but, tied by many tightly woven invisible threads, they could not detach themselves from the couple.”
The sword of Nam
“The Master now presented to each of the couple a most beautiful sword, a sword of the finest steel, finer than the finest blade of Damascus. And the sword was so constructed that if one listened carefully, he could hear, emanating from it, the sweetest strains of music. On the golden hilt of each sword was engraved in a shining white, the letters: Nam. The Master bade them take this sword to fight the five deadly enemies.”
In contrast to the fading joys of the previous storyline, the couple now embark on their lives as young disciples of a true Master. They wield the sword of Nam (that is, meditation,which leads to conscious contact with Shabd) so as to overcome the temptations which otherwise assail us as humans and confine us to repeated births in the physical realm:
“With the radiant form of the Master always at their side, the couple grew stronger while their enemies grew weaker. At last the battle was over, the victory won. When at last their victory was complete, they stood upon the heights of dazzling splendour upon the plains of Daswan Dar. The Master’s approval was their greatest joy. But their journey was not yet finished. They followed the Master until at long last they entered the realm of immortal life and immeasurable happiness.”