The Rishis of yore, the great saints, Men of God, the ancient texts and sacred scriptures, all teach us the same truth – that the Almighty Power of God which exists everywhere, also exists within us. The entire Cosmos is contained within ourselves. The macrocosm reflects the microcosm within us. This can be experienced by us in the depths of meditation when we go within ourselves. Then we discover the great truth about ourselves – that we are One with the Light and what is within us is also everywhere around us. The Universal Soul and the soul within us are same and they exist together in unity and non-duality at all times. To know and experience this truth is finding the greatest treasure of the Universe. By doing so, we become ONE with the Universe and Divinity. We feel and experience the combination of the Eternally Formless with the eternally formed.
We learn through repeated experience and disillusionment that money, gold, silver, land, diamonds etc do not satisfy us as we keep yearning for more and more. Such wealth is not a treasure. Something which is eternal and fills us with contentment and bliss is worth searching for and is the greatest treasure of the universe. The story of the woodcutter and the sage teaches us this great truth:
Once, there lived a poor woodcutter who lived at the edge of the forest. He used to go into the forest daily and cut wood and sell it in the market to earn his living. Every day, he would pass by a Sage sitting in meditation under a large tree in the forest. The joy, peace and contentment on the face of the Sage used to attract the woodcutter but he never dared to speak to him. One day, he decided to seek blessings from the Sage. The Sage asked him: Go deep into the forest and went into meditation again. That day, the woodcutter went deep into the forest and found many large sandal wood trees. The sandal wood he cut and sold on one day gave him enough money for a week. So he began to cut sandal wood just once a week.
After some days, the woodcutter recalled the words of the Sage and decided to go deeper into the forest. There he found a silver mine. He was very happy. He collected some silver and ran back to the Sage to give his thanks. The Sage merely repeated his words: Go deeper into the forest.
The next day, the woodcutter went further to the silver mine and found a gold mine in the deep forest. He pinched himself to make sure he was awake. He wanted to collect all the gold he could and become a rich man. Then suddenly, he recalled the words of the Sage: Go deeper into the forest. So he went deeper into the forest. The path was not easy. He could hear the howls of wild animals. It was very dark in some places. But something within him kept on pushing him to move deeper into the forest. At times he felt that he could easily sell the gold and silver and have a comfortable life and why go so much within and face danger? But he persevered and finally came across a diamond mine.
The woodcutter was delirious with joy. He sat under a tree and reflected. Just weeks before he was very poor and could barely earn enough to feed himself and his family. Now he was the richest man in the country. And it was all because of the blessings of the Sage. The Sage knew that the sandalwood trees, silver, gold and diamonds were found here. Yet he sat under the tree in meditation. Surely he had something far more valuable with him! He went back and fell at the feet of the Sage and asked for his blessings again. The Sage touched his face lovingly and said: I was waiting for this day. Now sit here in meditation. Go deep within yourself. On the way you will see beautiful things, lights, colors, siddhis and powers. The path will sometimes be dark and dangerous and you may feel scared. But keep on going deeper. You will then find Yourself – that You are one with God! This is the greatest treasure of the Universe!
Let us also seek the greatest treasure of the Universe. Let us be regular in our practices of SitaRam mantra, meditation and following the teachings of the Guru and go deep within ourselves. We too will find the great treasure waiting for us to uncover it.
