– Well now, I have taught you enough, now I shall do the ask­ing! – said the teach­er, well sat­is­fied. His dis­ciples, of course, lost their nerve: what was com­ing now? Only then did it dawn on them how easy their pos­i­tion had been when their only task was to ask ques­tions, though to ask well is a great art. They knew well from their mas­ter's teach­ing that a fool can ask far more ques­tions than a sage can answer. Now they were caught in a trap: what ques­tion would their teach­er fire at them? And how would they ever answer it?

– If it were up to you which com­mand­ments man should obey, what would you ask for? What are the three rules you would require, if you were the good Lord?

Mute silence. They had not expec­ted this. Per­haps some intric­ate philo­soph­ic­al ques­tion, or a del­ic­ate point of the sac­red tra­di­tion – but com­mand­ments? At last the bravest of them spoke up.

– I could gath­er only two on the spur of the moment: Treat oth­ers as you would like them to treat you, and think of those who come after you, too! – every­one nod­ded with sat­is­fac­tion.

– Love your­self – said the next, – respect oth­ers and be grate­ful for what you have received! – first a faint hum, then a sat­is­fied mur­mur. Then a clev­er voice spoke up:

– Know thy­self, and me, and the bond between us! Once you have under­stood this, please come to me! And please, be com­pas­sion­ate towards oth­ers!

– Do not live in the past or the future that your psyche has cre­ated, but in the etern­ity of the present moment! – so said the dis­ciple with the most intric­ate mind of them all. – Com­plete self-sur­render is pos­sible only if you accept that everything comes from God, that every arrange­ment is his will, and it is wise to accept it without inner res­ist­ance. And finally: Endeav­our to come to exper­i­ence the joy of self-real­isa­tion, and do not try to grasp it with your intel­lect!

– I would ask that you serve oth­ers, not your­self; strive for per­fec­tion; and radi­ate love! – said a thin voice, and one could sense he was try­ing to coun­ter­point the intric­ate argu­ment with prac­tice. Then a level-headed dis­ciple spoke:

– Endeav­our to value and devel­op the good qual­it­ies in your­self and in oth­ers! Strive always to give the very best you can! And, yes, be cheer­ful! – his last thought won undi­vided approv­al, and at once the next dis­ciple joined in, a dreamy, poet­ic nature:

– Sing to me every day! Glad­den me every day, and paint your home in cheer­ful col­ours!

With that he brought a smile to every face. The most bois­ter­ous dis­ciple came next:

– Be sin­cere! – a few thought­ful hums. – Be nor­mal! – laughter. – And take it easy! – every­one burst out laugh­ing. He may be the most bois­ter­ous, and yet inside he is per­haps the gentlest of them all. The wily one spoke:

– Serve me alone! Tell oth­ers, too, to serve me alone! Do noth­ing else!

Every­one sensed the jest in his words, but the earn­est­ness too. His good friend spoke up:

– Indulge your delights as beau­ti­fully as you can, just as I do! – At this every­one snorted in protest. – Do not worry, in the end you will under­stand everything… – and at that the indig­na­tion sub­sided.

– Live simply! – said a firm voice. – Hon­our nature, do not des­troy! Serve me, if you too see fit.

What a per­missive law! Not a com­mand­ment at all, more a plead­ing request.

– Be con­scious, whatever you do! Be free and grate­ful! Love me, for I love you too… – the last words, in a fail­ing voice, could only just be heard, but every­one did under­stand them. Last of all came a dis­ciple, res­ol­ute, good-humoured yet ser­i­ous, whom every­one loved:

– Give me your heart and your devo­tion! See me in everything and in every­one! And wait for the third com­mand­ment, so that I may tell you some­thing new! – at this appre­ci­at­ive applause broke out at last, and the mas­ter smiled too.