Desire
Desire
*
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."
"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 mans begging bowl with money." The vizier went and got some money and poured it into the bowl, and surprisingly it all 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 out of?"
The beggar laughed and said, "It is made up of the human mind. There is no secret. It is simply 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, 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 wife at home, 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 will frustrate you. And when the goal is achieved, you will need another desire to fill your empty stomach which could eventually explode, but no avail. You will always lose in the end.
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. Come to the reality...The truth is on your book shelf in a dusty corner. Open it, read it, understand it, and find a place for your self in bliss.
Come to Islam
He Subhana Wata'ala says: "And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth: For Allah loves not any arrogant boaster." (31: 18)
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for this nice story
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