An old man had been begging by the side of a road for many years.
One day a stranger walked past, and the beggar looked up at him, pleadingly. "Spare some change?" he mumbled, mechanically holding out his cap.
"I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he turned his head and asked, "What's that you are sitting on?"
"Nothing," replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember."
"Have you ever looked inside?" asked the stranger.
"No," said the beggar. "What's the point? There's nothing in there," he said.
"Have a look inside," insisted the stranger. The beggar got up and managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.
***
I am that stranger who has nothing to give you, but who is telling you to look inside. I am not telling you to look inside any box, as in the story, but inside somewhere even closer: inside yourself.
"But I am not a beggar," I can hear you say.
Beggars are those who continue to look outside themselves for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love.
Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth.
However, every one of us holds a treasure-trove of gold within ourselves, which is infinitely greater than anything the material world can offer.
