There was a so-called master, maybe even a supreme master. He was supposed to be very virtuous and also very clean and pure. For example, you couldn’t offer anything to this master; otherwise your I.D. card would be confiscated. So he was that kind of master, and he happened to have a wife and kids and an ordinary life. Many masters have wives and kids. I have a lot of children, just no husband. That’s the only difference!

So now this guru had a wife and kids and so on, and he was very famous for being incorruptible, and very pure. And some of the politicians [in his country] like in many countries, professed democracy. In such democratic countries people can vote for whoever they want to govern their country, district or state. So in this master’s state some of the people were advocating themselves for the governorship of that state.

So one day, these politicians came to the so-called master’s house and tried to talk the master into telling his disciples to vote for them because many of the teachers or masters had a lot of big followers, which made a difference. Even one vote could make a difference! So they came to try and woo the master’s disciples, but they also knew that this so-called supreme master could not be talked into bribery or taking things.

So they tried the wife. Normally this worked because the wives were always the ones who made the arrangements for any big officers or very great personages. So these subordinates came and talked to the wife, saying, “Please, help us! Just tell your husband to do this one thing for us, and then anything else you want later will be taken care of!”

But the wife said, “This is very difficult. You know my husband! He’s a very clean and pure teacher; he won’t accept this. I don’t dare tell him. How can I do it? He’ll scold me! Do you know that many people get their ID card confiscated because they give him some chocolate? Just one bar of chocolate and their I.D. card is gone. How could I tell him anything like this?”

So the politicians said, “Oh, madam, you can! You can try. Just tell us what the teacher needs, and we’ll do it! Just try; at least try. We won’t blame you if it’s not successful. Just try!”

So perhaps the master’s wife was infected by the husband or was just very compassionate by nature or from the teaching, and she said, “Alright! I’ll try. I’ll tell you something that might work: My husband was born in the mouse year. According to the Chinese zodiac, he’s a mouse. So now go home and make a golden mouse for his birthday next week, and I’ll try my best!”

Then the politicians were very happy and said, “Oh, yes! Yes! Thank you, Madam, let’s go!” And after they got home, they went to the jewelry store, where they had a golden mouse made. It was exactly like a mouse, but solid gold. The wife had already instructed them, “It must be solid, not gold-plated. We don’t accept false things; we’re teaching the Truth!”

So the following week, the politicians brought the golden mouse to the wife, and the wife tried to find a way to give it to the teacher. But he asked, “Where is it from? How did you get the money to do this?” So the wife had to confess everything. She said, “These people are absolutely sincere, and their devotion is so overwhelming that I couldn’t refuse. So I told them that this week is your birthday and that your Chinese zodiac sign is the mouse. I told them to make a golden mouse for you so please accept it!”

But the teacher was very frustrated and angry and raising his voice he said, “Ah! After all these years I’ve been teaching you, you still don’t have any wisdom! Why did you tell them that my zodiac sign is the mouse? You should have told them that I belong to the buffalo sign!” (Audience laughs and applauds.)

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