There was, once upon a time, a devotee who used to travel regularly from his village to another town to visit a spiritual teacher. The journey was a long one, obliging him to walk many miles each way. Nevertheless, as often as he could, he would depart early in the morning, sit with his teacher for as long as he could, and then return late at night, very tired. Everyone in his village thought it was strange that he would go so far to find a teacher, for in their opinion there were learned people in their village too.

One night, as he was coming home from such a journey, he happened to meet a priest from the local temple, who said, “What do you go so far for teaching? You could just as well come to the temple.”

“You see,” said the student, “there are benefits. These journeys have given me the ability to read people’s minds..”

“Indeed?” said the priest. “You can read people’s thoughts? That is a great claim. Then tell me, what am I thinking right now.”

“You are thinking about God,” said the student.

“You are quite wrong,” said the priest. “I was not thinking about God at all.”

“Yes,” said the student, ” and that is why I travel so far to find a teacher.”