De$|Re

An emperor was coming out of his palace for his morning walk
when he met a beggar. He asked the beggar, "What do you want?"

The beggar laughed and said, "You are asking me as though you
can fulfill my desire!"

The king was offended. He said, "Of course I can fulfill your
desire. What is it? Just tell me."

And the beggar said, "Think twice before you promise anything."
The beggar was no ordinary beggar, he was the emperor’s past
life master. He had promised in that life, "I will come and try
to wake you in your next life. This life you have missed but I
will come again." But the king had forgotten completely -- who
remembers past lives? So he insisted, "I will fulfill anything
you ask. I am a very powerful emperor, what can you possibly
desire that I can not give to you?"

The beggar said, "It is a very simple desire. You see this
begging bowl? Can you fill it with something?"

The emperor said, "Of course!" He called one of his viziers and
told him, "Fill this man's begging bowl with money." The vizier
went and got some money and poured it into the bowl, and it
disappeared. And he poured more and more, and the moment he
would pour it, it would disappear. And the begging bowl
remained always empty.

The whole palace gathered. By and by the rumor went throughout
the whole capital, and a huge crowd gathered. The prestige of
the emperor was at stake. He said to his viziers, "If the whole
kingdom is lost, I am ready to lose it, but I cannot be
defeated by this beggar."

Diamonds and pearls and emeralds, his treasuries were becoming
empty. The begging bowl seemed to be bottomless. Everything that
was put into it -- everything! -- Immediately disappeared, went
out of existence.

Finally it was the evening, and the people were standing there
in utter silence. The king dropped at the feet of the beggar and
admitted his defeat. He said, "Just tell me one thing. You are
victorious - but before you leave, just fulfill my curiosity.
What is the begging bowl made of?"

The beggar laughed and said, "It is made up of the human mind.
There is no secret. It is simple made up of human desire."
This understanding transforms life. Go into one desire -- what
is the mechanism of it? First there is a great excitement,
great thrill, and adventure. You feel a great kick. Something is
going to happen, you are on the verge of it. And then you have
the car, you have the yacht, you have the house, you have the
woman, and suddenly all is meaningless again.

What happens? Your mind has dematerialized it. The car is
standing in the drive, but there is no excitement anymore. The
excitement was only in getting it. You became so drunk with the
desire that you forgot your inner nothingness. Now the desire
is fulfilled, the car in the drive, the woman in your bed, the
money in your bank account - again excitement disappears. Again
the emptiness is there, ready to eat you up. Again you have to
create another desire to escape this yawning abyss.

That's how one moves from one desire to another desire. That's
how one remains a beggar. Your whole life proves it again and
again -- every desire frustrates. And when the goal is
achieved, you will need another desire.

The day you understand that desire as such is going to fail
comes the turning point in your life.

The other journey is inwards. Move inwards, come back home.
As the Year continues, are your desires enough to fill the bowl?

Take care and have a wonderful and Blessed day ahead!

"What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more."