Excellent Question!

One day, an Indian saint was asked, “How shall we measure the greatness of an individual?” Immediately came to him a question, “How tall is a lotus flower?” The saint explained that any lotus flower has a certain height and that is in reference to the depth of the water in which the plant is. There will be a thin bio-pipe line connecting the flower with the plant at its’ base, which determines its’ height. The saint further said that the growth of a human being is also determined in reference to the depth of God-consciousness he is in. This beautiful reply was in response to an appropriate question. The great thinker Socrates said that it was his father who taught him to ask right questions. He learned that excellent questions only fetch beautiful answers.

I remember another question somebody one day asked to another Indian saint. This time the Hindu saint was asked, “Why do people shout at others?” The saint replied that it is because of the distance between two hearts. People shout even if the other person is just next to them.” The saint explained, “When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other. What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small.” The saint continued, “When they love each other even more, they do not speak, they only whisper. At a more loving stage, they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all.”

We love to hear catching answers even to our wrong questions. We are not bothered about generating right questions? It is said, “Ask and you get.” It reminds us that we need to ask first. If you love to have something special, you need to ask something special. If somebody asks me to tell about the first thing an enthusiast (be from any stream) need to learn, I might answer, “Learn to ask right questions.” 

Joseph Mattappally