The Drop of Water Who Wept

(As told to the opera singer, Emma Calve who was repulsed at the thought of the loss of her ego/individuality.(from her autobiography, My Life, 1922, Appleton)

The Swami said to her:

One day a drop of water fell into the vast ocean. When it found itself there, it began to weep and complain.

The great ocean laughed at the drop of water. 'Why do you weep?' it asked. `I do not understand. When you join me, you join all your brothers and sisters, the other drops of water of which I am made. You become the ocean itself. If you wish to leave me, you have only to rise up on a sunbeam into the clouds. From there you can descend again, little drop of water, a blessing and a benediction to the thirsty earth.'