By Merrmade

My friend John has been associating with devotees for over three decades. I was surprised when He suddenly announced that he has been putting off his fire sacrifice. For years, I had been hinting and cajoling him to take initiation.

I felt that the fruits of my preaching had finally ripened. I relished the result of the patience that I had practiced over the long term of coaxing him to become very serious about his spiritual life. I felt very proud that he, indeed, had taken my suggestion to heart and was even considering having the fire sacrifice.

I wanted to encourage him to have it right away - before he changed his mind - so I asked him, “John why are you delaying the fire sacrifice.” He said, “I don’t want to be cremated until the very last second.”