Bhavani Shankar
For a long time we have been fascinated with diamonds. Long before James Bond proclaimed, ‘Diamonds are Forever’, there was the poem, “Twinkle twinkle little star…like a diamond in the sky”. Between wonder and fantasy, there is a story told by Russell Conwell – “Acres of Diamonds”. Often a story is the shortest distance between understanding a concept and its implementation in the real world.
It is the story about a man who hears about diamonds from an old priest, who had travelled across the world. When the priest says to him, “A diamond is a congealed drop of sunlight”, the fire of his desire is stoked. For a long time he was a farmer who would get by with his meager earnings, living a contented life. But that night he would sleep poor.
He asks the priest, “Will you tell me where I can find the diamonds?”
“Well, if you find a river that runs through white sands, between high mountains, you will always find diamonds there”.
The man sells his property, leaves his wife and children under the care of his neighbor and sets out to find diamonds. He spends all his money but can’t find any diamonds. Finally he dies a poor man.
Meanwhile, the person who bought the farm, takes his camel to the fields for water, there he finds a stone that sparkles with rainbow colors. He picks it up, brings it home and places it on the mantle.
One day the old priest passes by and knocks on the door, the person opens the door, and the sunlight falls directly on the stone, and a dazzling light fills up the room.
The priest says excitedly, “Ha!! The farmer has returned, he found the diamonds at last”.
The person responds, “No, this is a stone I found near the water.”
The priest and the person go to the water where the stone was found, and they dig to find many more diamonds in the very field abandoned by the man in search of diamonds.
It is worthwhile to read the original work, and I promise you the gist won’t ruin it for you.
So, why this story?
It is that time of the year, when we are at the door steps of a New Year with all hopes and aspirations for a better life. This is the time we resolve to make something of us. We want to do something or we want to be something.
How is this New Year any different? The current year too was once a New Year. What changed? How are we going to make a difference this time?
Most often we are like the farmer who sold his land in search of the diamonds. But let us try something new this year.
Let’s set goals in three areas of our lives.
One for the body – exercise. This is the doing.
One for the mind – let’s read. Let us have the knowledge.
One for the heart – let’s meditate. Let us be, all prepared to identify the opportunity.
In short – “Do, Have, Be”.
Start anywhere but complete the circle of being, doing and having.
There is an old saying, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also” (Matthew 6:21).
In this context another book comes to mind, “The Alchemist”, by Paulo Coelho.
To know where the heart is we must learn to look into it. That is meditation.
Really speaking, what we are seeking is the treasure within.
With Heartfulness relaxation, we ease and learn to release all the stresses of life. With meditation, we learn to look within and find our true potential, we dig deeper, and manifest our strengths, and we shape our destiny. With rejuvenation, we remove our roadblocks that stand in the way of our treasure.
To summarize:
1. Meditate – try Heartfulness, treasure
2. Read books – “Acres of Diamonds”, “The Alchemist”
3. Exercise a bit
From all of us at the Heartfulness Institute, We wish you a purposeful and fulfilling New Year.
Please register for the three Heartfulness meditation masterclass sessions guided by the world teacher of Heartfulness, Kamlesh D. Patel, which allows you to meditate from the comfort of your homes. Register here- masterclass and meditate with us on January 1st, 2ndand 3rd.
