Parable from Ramana Maharshi Prescious Necklace

[Guest guest]

A woman had a precious necklace round her neck.

Once in her excitement she forgot it

and thought that the necklace was lost.

She became anxious and looked for it in

her home but could not find it. She

asked friends and neighbors if they

knew anything about the necklace.

They did not. At last a kind friend

of hers told her to feel the necklace

round her neck. She found that it had

all along been round her neck and she

was happy. When others asked

her later if she found the necklace

which was lost, she said,

'Yes, I have found it.' She still felt

that she had recovered a lost jewel.

 

Now, did she lose it at all?

It was all along round her neck.

But judge her feelings. She was

as happy as if she had recoverd a

lost jewel. Similarly with us, we

imagine that we will realize that Self

some time, whereas we are never

anything but the Self.

 

>From Be As You Are Teachings from Ramana Maharshi

by David Godman.