What is the treasure we seek as we pursue healing and spiritual growth? Stories can help us to answer this primary question. When we read or listen to stories, we can feel excitement as we are reminded of what we truly desire and the different paths we can take in this life. Stories remind us of what is important and what will quickly pass away. We need these stories for inspiration on a daily basis as much as food.

This story from India can help us gain a stronger feeling for what we are really after. Read the story here:

Once on the outskirts of a village, a holy man slept against a gnarled tree. As the sun rose over the forest, a man from the village ran to the sleeping man and shook him awake.

“The gem, the gem, where is the gem? I had a dream in which Lord Shiva told me to find a holy man at the edge of the forest who had a gem that would keep me wealthy for the rest of my days.”

The holy man reached into his bag and produced a diamond the size of a coconut. “I suppose you mean this?” he said. “I found it on the path.”

The villager took the diamond and ran back to his home. There he paced and paced through the day and all that night. Early the next morning the villager was back at the gnarled tree.

“Please,” he asked the holy man, placing the gem at his feet, “share with me the wealth that allows you to give away this gem so easily.”

In our own ways we are all searching for the wealth described in the tale above: That connection to, and experience of, what is sacred, timeless, mysterious, and love-filled.