The Eagle's Lesson

A queen was about to remove her diamond necklace and hang it on a peg when an eagle came and snatched it away. Seeing the glittering diamonds, the eagle thought it must be something to eat. It perched on a tree near a stream and tried to eat it. Diamonds are hard, and when it pecked, it groaned in pain. It realized it was useless. It left the necklace hanging on the tree and flew away.

The queen loved the necklace as much as her life. She told the king to find it immediately, or she would stop eating and drinking. The king promised to have another necklace made, but she insisted that she wanted the same necklace. Everyone searched for it, but no one found it. The queen went into the chamber of anger. Defeated, the king even declared that whoever found it would inherit half the kingdom.

A competition ensued. The king's officials and subjects, eager for the half, began searching for the necklace.  Suddenly, someone spotted the necklace in a dirty drain. It was visible, but it smelled bad. Yet, driven by greed for the kingdom, a soldier jumped in. He struggled mightily, but couldn't find it. Then the commander noticed and jumped in too. Seeing them, some enthusiastic citizens jumped in, followed by the ministers.

In this way, more people were standing inside the drain, pondering the loss of the necklace than those outside. People kept coming and jumping, but no one found it. As soon as someone jumped in, the necklace would disappear, and they would come out, exhausted, and stand on the other side. The greed for half the kingdom was so intense that even the wisest men and the king's prime ministers were ready to jump in. They were all fighting to be the first to jump in. It was a strange competition.

Just then, the king heard the news. Fearing the loss of half his kingdom, he jumped in too.

A saint passed by. He was astonished to see the king, his subjects, his ministers, and his soldiers all covered in mud. He asked, "Is there a tradition of jumping into the drain in this kingdom?" The people recounted the entire incident.

The saint laughed, "Brother! Has anyone looked up? Look up, he's hanging on a branch. What you see below is just his shadow." Everyone, including the king, felt deeply embarrassed.

We are all behaving like the people of that kingdom. The worldly things we see as happiness, peace, and joy are actually like that necklace, which appears as a shadow in the form of temporary pleasures. We live in the illusion that if we get a particular thing, our lives will change and everything will be fine. But this cycle is endless. Worldly things cannot provide complete happiness. Peace and happiness are indeed a diamond necklace, but they can be attained only by merging with God. Everything else is just its shadow.

Read more : -  The True Treasure