Sabre and arm - an anecdote

We are told that under the reign of the ottoman sultan Mehmet II, known as ‘the Conqueror’, there was a warrior who became famous after winning twenty-two victories over enemy armies. It was at a time when fighting was done with sabres. And so one day the sultan asked for this all-victorious sabre to be brought to him, as he thought it must possess exceptional qualities. So the sabre was brought to him. He took it, turned it this way and that… It was a completely ordinary sabre. The sultan, disappointed, returned it saying he had no use for such an ordinary weapon. When the hero who had emerged victorious from so many battles learned of the sultan’s reaction, he exclaimed, ‘But he saw only the sword; he didn’t see my arm. It is my arm that won the victories.’ A spiritual Master also gives you a sabre by giving you methods, but they will be effective only if you apply them. Even a tiny penknife can be extremely effective if you practise handling it every day, and a single match can set a whole city ablaze. You can work wonders with a very simple method: it is all in your ‘arm’, in other words in your will.