"On another day, as I was walking along the coastline, I found a tiny fish flapping desperately in the sand. A wave had washed it ashore. The fish’s fear and desperation evoked my sympathy. He and I were not so different, after all, and I resolved to return him to his home in the sea. But each time I picked him up, he frantically flapped right out of y hand, so fearful he couldn’t recognize me as a friend. Finally, I trapped him in my cupped hands and hurled him back into the water. Still, my sense of satisfaction was short-lived. The next wave washed onto th shore then receded back into the sea, leaving the same little fish once again flapping in the sand. Again I cast him into the water and again the next wave left him in the sand to die. The next time, with much difficulty, I held him inside my cupped palms, tread into the ocean up to my neck, and then hurled him in as far as I could. I returned to the shore and observed wave after wave washing in and out until I was satisfied that the little fish was safe.

Walking some distance, I came upon a group of fishermen dragging a net from their boat unto the sand. The net was filled with hundreds of such little fish flapping for life and doomed to the frying pan. What could I do? I stared soberly into the sea and walked by immersed in thought.

We are all like fish that have separated from the sea of divine consciousness. For a person to be happy outside his or her natural relation with God is like a fish trying to enjoy life outside of the water, on the dry sand. Holy people go to extremes to help even one person to return to his or her natural spiritual consciousness, to the sea of true joy. But the net of maya, or illusion, snatches away the minds of the masses, diverting us from our true self-interest."