"Weeks passed and then months and he worked faithfully, and the duke was very pleased with him. All his needs were fulfilled, he was looked after – he really lived like a rich man in the castle. But by and by he started feeling uneasy. In the beginning it was not clear what the cause of it was, because in fact there was no cause to be uneasy, every need was taken care of. It was like a cloud surrounding him, a heaviness, the feeling of something being missed. But not knowing exactly what it was he was confused. Then one day it flashed like lightning before him – he understood the cause. He went to the duke and said that he was leaving.

"The duke could not believe it. He said, 'Why are you leaving? If there is any difficulty you simply tell me and it will be done. I have been very much pleased with your work and I would like you to be here for your whole life.'

"The young man said, 'No, I am leaving. Please allow me to leave.'

"The duke asked, 'But why?'

"The young man said, 'Because nothing belongs to me here. Empty-handed I have come, empty-handed I will have to leave. This is a dream: nothing belongs to me here.'

"This is the point where a person starts becoming religious. If something belongs to you in this world, then you are not yet ready to be religious. Empty-handed you come, empty-handed you go. Once you realize this, like a flash of lightning everything becomes clear. This world cannot be your home – at the most an overnight stayand in the morning we go.

"Once you have the feeling that you are here only momentarily – you cannot possess anything, you cannot have anything here – it becomes a dream, what Hindus call maya. It becomes illusory. That is the definition of 'maya' – something which appears to be yours and is not, something which appears to be real and is not, something which seems to be eternal and is only momentary, something which is made of the stuff dreams are made of.

"Unless one understands it, one goes on doing things which are eventually found to be meaningless."