One of the most famous stories is about a young man who wanted to meditate and get what they call atma gnana, the knowledge of the Self. He meditated under a tree in the jungle for twenty years and got hold of the highest powers. Then a crow dropped something on his head, he was disturbed, became angry, opened his eyes and looked angrily at the crow. And the poor crow was instantly burnt to ashes. He was very pleased.
He said, "This is the culmination of my sadhana."
Such powers, you know, you look at a crow and it is burnt.

He walked towards the city. And saints are supposed to beg for their food. They do not work; they do not grow anything, you see. So he knocked on the door of a house.
A young lady came and said, "What do you want?"
He said," I want food."
She said, "Wait I am coming."
She came after two hours. He became more and more angry all the time, you see. Finally when the young lady came, he looked at her.
And she said, "Do not think I am the crow in the forest that you can burn me with a look of your eyes."
He was shocked.
He said, "How do you know about it?"
Then she said, "My son." He was an old man. She was a young lady, you know, but she said, "My son, you have learnt nothing yet. You are angry with me because I was late, but I am a married woman and my first duty is to my husband. Until I could finish my work for him, I cannot attend to you. Now, if you want to learn from me how I learned what I know about you, in the next village there is a saint, go and see him and learn from him humility, understanding and the ultimate science of the spirit.
"He said, "How shall I recognize him?"
She said, "He is the only butcher in that village."

So you see, what we do, how we do it, all these things are irrelevant. You can be a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, anything you see. I say this because there are some funny notions in the West about this too, you see, forgetting that anything we do we should do well. Doing it, too, as a sadhana so that it will remove our ideas of good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant. And the essence of that teaching is to get rid of the ideas of good and bad. …

Source: Heart to Heart, Volume 3, pp.126-127, P. Rajagopalachari, 1994, Shri Ram Chandra Mission

Q: This story is about a boy who developed great powers as a result of his efforts. Yet he did not have the simple human qualities of humility and patience and thus a deeper spiritual understanding. Why are humility and patience important?

Q: How can you maintain humility in your life? Do you think that having power and being humble can go together?

Q: The boy thought that he was learning about the Self, and thus developing spiritually, whereas really he was not on the right track. The young woman sent him to see a saint in the next village. Why is it necessary to receive guidance and teaching from someone else in order to rise above our own limitations?

O, Master!
Thou art the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves of wishes
Putting bar to our advancement,
Thou art the only God and power
To bring us up to that stage.