INDIAN VILLAGE TALE

Daily Inspiration

A sannyasin of great spiritual attainment came to the outskirts of a village in India. He was camped under a tree for the night when suddenly a villager came running to him, screaming, The stone! The stone! Give me the precious stone! Which stone? asked the sannyasin. Last night, Lord Siva appeared before me in a dream, said the villager, and told me that if I went to the outskirts of the village at nightfall, I would find a sannyasin who would give me a stone which would make me rich for the rest of my life. The sannyasin rummaged through his knapsack and took out a stone. Probably he talked about this, he said, extending the stone to the villager. I found it lying on the path in the forest a few days ago. Take it, I give it to you, offered the sannyasin with all simplicity. The villager looked at the stone in amazement it was an enormous diamond. He took the diamond and went away quickly. All that night he tossed in his bed and could not sleep. The next day at dawn he woke up the sannyasin, returned the gem and asked, Give me the inner wealth which has made it possible for you to part with this diamond so easily.