Desires

[Guest guest]

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 emporer'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 mans 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,

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.