A guru left his disciple in a beautiful garden, with food, drink, and a beautiful woman named Shyama.
The guru later returned and asked, "Do you have any wants or needs?"
"I have everything," replied the disciple.
"Then tell me what is this," said the guru, pointing to Shyama's hands.
"The hands of Shyama."
"And this?" He pointed to her hair.
"The hair of Shyama."
More questions: eyes, mouth, and so on.
"Everything is of Shyama," said the disciple, realization dawning. "But who is this Shyama?"
"Everything is of God," said the guru. "Now you must learn who is God."
Inspired by: Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna
Notes: This is story 133 in the book. You can find out more about Ramakrishna at Wikipedia. The name of the woman in the parable is nicely chosen: the word "shyama" (Sanskrit श्याम ) means "dark, dark-blue, dark-black," and it is one of the epithets of the god Krishna and also of the goddess Durga.
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