An Old Story about a Cook

Long time ago (no one knows exactly how long) there was a ruler, who was known to have had employed the best cook in the whole world. The cook was discerning and mild in manners, never over or under cooking, using the elements and the spices in the right proportion. However, there came a time when he felt stagnated - he felt that there was nothing more that he could learn or perfect himself in his art, everything was just too perfect.


So, one day he went to the known wise man and complained about his feelings. Well, the wise man had thought for a while and asked the cook to make something for him. The cook just took the minor ingredients that the wise man already had at his disposal and made something truly tasty and amazingly nutritious. After trying the dish, wise man was baffled by the perfection that the cook had achieved. He said, "Yes,  there really is so much magic in your skill that you could make even a dead mammoth happy with your cooking, much more so a human. There is only one small flaw." The cook was surprised, and intrigued. He went back to his residence and started to think and experiment. So he did for a while, then came back to the wise man and asked him to check out his cooking once more. So the wise man again asked him to prepare a dish, which of course turned out to be even better than the previous one. The wise man said, "Yes, this is definitely even a better dish than the previous one. It is in fact so good, that if you feed hungry ghosts with it they would feel perfectly content and not feel hungry anymore. But there is one small flaw!"


The cook became very serious now, as he was clueless as to what could be wrong with his cooking. He went back and started to think and experiment even more. He did so for a while, and then came back to the wise man to see if he made any progress. Needless to say, the newly prepared dish was fit for some Celestial Beings much more so for any human beings. The wise man was very happy, he was laughing with vigor and praising the deities that they have allowed for this companionship to take place....."however..." he said, "there is one small flaw....." The cook looked at the wise man with the eyes full of sadness and silent prayer. He asked, "Please tell me what is it? I am out of ideas! My life would not be fulfilled if I don't figure out the answer to this riddle!" The wise man looked back, smiled as he always did in those special moments, and uttered "Dear Cook, you are too perfect, you have never let go of your skill, therefore you are bound to be a Divine Cook...." The Cook was intrigued, but these words only produced a laughter in him. He said, "But isn't that what I want?" "Isn't that what I am?" The wise man said, "Yes.....and no". "Unless you let go of that you can and know you will not reach the ultimate. That is how I feel now."


After this conversation the cook wasn't distressed anymore, but he stopped all that he was doing. He quit his job at the palace and became a yogi. To his close circle he became known as the Blissful Magician and had a reputation of being a really good cook.