man and God

There was a rich man in a town. He enjoyed the best of life, but something worried him. It was merely a doubt: what is the difference between man and God? He posed the question to whomever he met, but none could give him an answer; the answers he got from a few could not satisfy him.

He had heard about a learned philosopher in the adjacent town. So , he decided to go and meet him. After traversing a long distance, the rich man reached the philosopher’s house, only to be told that he was away. His servant asked him to sit down. The man made himself comfortable in a chair and waited.

After sometime, the philosopher returned. The moment the rich man saw him, he told him: “Sir I’ve come a long distance only to get an answer to a question that has been bothering me. Please tell me, what is the difference between God and man?

Without answering him, the philosopher turned to his servant and, raising his voice, he said angrily: “throw him out!” the rich man had the shock of life. He quickly moved away to reach the door.

However, before he took another step, the philosopher said in a soft voice: “that’s the difference between man and god. Didn’t you get scared and wanted to move away? If instead, you had remained calm, you would have been a god, and I would have been a mere man. You aren’t aware that there is god in every living being. That is why most of us remain ordinary beings. There’s no difference between man and god. Only he should be able to identify the divinity in him.