Go a little deeper and you will be blessed

This is a story of the olden days. A wood merchant used to go to the forest early morning, gather some woods and sell it tirelessly the whole day in the adjacent town. He used to barely make his both ends meet after working hard all day long. Tired of his daily routine, he was looking for a way out of his routine miserable life. One day, he took a different route into the forest and found a beautiful hut on the banks of a small river. When he went closer, he saw a Sadhu Baba (monk), who was absorbed in mediation.

He paid his adorations to the Saint, and then revealed to him his tiresome situation of life. The Saint looked at his face with bright eyes filled with affection and said, “Son, go a little deeper and you will be blessed.” After saying these words, the Saint closed his eyes and went back to meditation.

The wood merchant went back, but the words of the Saints kept vibrating in his ears all night long, “Son, go a little deeper and you will be blessed”. He took the words literally, and next day while looking for woods, he went deeper into the forest. Deep inside the forest, he found trees of expensive sandal wood. He started trading of sandal wood and within no time, he became a wealthy wood merchant.

After a few months, he went back to meet the Saint and thanked him for his blessings. The Saint listened to his excited words flowing with happiness and then said again, “Son, go a little deeper and you will be blessed.” Next day, the wood merchant went deeper into the forest and found traces of gold. After doing some due diligence of the area, he found gold mines. Now, the wood merchant became a gold merchant and became extremely wealthy.

Even after living the wealthy life for many years, he was still not satisfied. When his son died in an accident, he realized that his life is still not free of miseries. He realized that he is still missing something in life – deeper peace and satisfaction. He remembered the Saint and went back to meet him. The Saint listened to him patiently and replied, “Son, you took the meaning of my words literally. Even if you listen to the Saints with faith and take their words literally, you gain in life. However, if you strive to gain the true understanding of the words of Saint, you begin your journey towards long lasting, inner peace and eternal happiness.”

“Sir, can you please elucidate on your words,” requested the merchant humbly.

“When I told you to go a little deeper, I meant to sit down with me, close your eyes and go deeper inside. So far all your pursuits in life are only in the outer world and you gained outer wealth. However, I am talking about inner wealth of divine love, satisfaction, peace and blissfulness. Such a wealth can only be attained when you begin your journey from Pranamay Kosha after learning Pranayaam, go further into the realms of Manomay Kosha, Vigyanamay Kosha and then you will find the Anandmay Kosha. This is what I meant by going a little deeper and you will be blessed.”

[Please read last month’s blog to know about these Kosha.]