The Parable of the King's Diamonds Chester was sipping his coffee as the Master walked in to join him for the morning meal. The Master pulled up a chair an sat down at the bamboo breakfast table. A large bowl of fruit was in the center. The peels of an orange lay scattered before Chester. The Master started peeling a banana. "How are your studies and contemplation's?"

Chester put down his coffee and shook his head. "I've been going over in my head what you were telling me about the soul. Those books you gave me to read haven't helped me much either. I read what they are saying but I don't understand. To me it doesn't make any sense."

After swallowing his bite of banana the Master pointed at Chester's head. "What is troubling your head?"

Chester scratched his head in reply. "Well, you say, and the books say, that everyone has a soul, but Buddha said that even the soul was an illusion. You explained that all souls are identical and thus not separate. At the core of who we really are is the same spirit. My soul is a part of God and every other soul is a part of God. God is God and there is no other. Yet if we are all the same then why are we all different?"

The Master mumbled around his banana, "Karma."

Chester frowned. "If Karma is what makes us different then what do you call that which is the same in all of us?"

The Master started peeling a grape. "Truth."

Chester was growing frustrated but he knew better than to lose his cool with the Master. He tried a different tack. "Okay, if I recite what you asked me to memorize, will you please explain it to me?"

The Master smiled. His pleasure showed on his face. His student was learning self control even when frustrated. The man that used to shout and argue had come a long way. The Master cocked his head in a half nod toward Chester and peeled another grape.

Chester closed his eyes and starting reciting in his deeper voice, "There is self and there is truth. Where self is, truth is not. Where truth is, self is not. Self is the fleeting error that creates the endless cycle of births and deaths; it is individual separateness and egotism which begets envy and hatred. Self is the yearning for pleasure and the lust after vanity. Truth is the correct comprehension of things; it is the permanent and everlasting, the real in all existence, the bliss of righteousness, and the purity that is Eternal Brahma.

The existence of self is an illusion, and there is no wrong in this world, no vise, no evil, except what flows from the assertion of self.

The attainment of truth is possible only when self is recognized as an illusion. Righteousness can be practiced only when we have freed our mind from the passions of egotism. Perfect peace can dwell only where all vanity has disappeared.

Blessed is he who has understood the Dharma. Blessed is he who does no harm to his fellow-beings. Blessed is he who overcomes wrong and is free from passion. To the highest bliss has he attained who has conquered all selfishness and vanity. He has become the Buddha, the Perfect One, the Blessed One, the Holy One."

Chester opened his eyes to see his master smiling. "Very good. I will now explain this as my Master explained it to me. He called it The Parable of the King's Diamonds."

Chester poured himself some more coffee from the urn on the table. As he stirred in sweetened cream he commented, "Well, a diamond is forever."

The Master settled back in his chair. "Once there was a King who owned the most perfect diamonds in the world. His diamonds were perfect and flawless in every way. Each diamond was priceless. Each was the size of a man's fist, and would sparkle a rainbow of shimmering hues from just the glow of a candle. Each of the King's diamonds were identical to every other diamond, yet were precious and sought after, for they were life.

If the King gave a diamond to one of his subjects, he or she was free to travel where ever they wanted without fear. The diamonds were magical and could never be lost or stolen. When his subjects were done with their travels, they were to bring their diamond back to the King and tell him of their travels and what they had learned.

The King gave two brothers each a diamond, and gave them leave of his palace to travel as far and as wide as their hearts desired. Each brother took leave of the King and went their separate ways. One brother went to the north and one went to the south. The brother who went to the north cared for his diamond every day and made sure it was washed in pure water every night before bed. He protected the diamond and didn't let even a speck of dust linger on the King's precious gift for more than a moment. He traveled far and wide and shared the story of the King's gift and brought the light of truth to all he met.

His brother went south and was proud of his gift of the diamond yet cared for it not. He traveled far and wide and let the dust of his travels coat the diamond. His sweat dried on the diamond and mixed with the dust to form a haze that blocked the beauty of the gift. He was a violent man and the blood of those he killed stained the diamond further. He stole from others and had to hide in caves. Mud from the wet dark caves covered the diamond further until it was a black rock of dried mud and blood. He grew afraid. Even though he could not lose the diamond, he hid it from others for he was ashamed of its appearance.

One day the word went out throughout the Kingdom that the King was bringing all of the diamonds back to the palace for an accounting. Both brothers obeyed their King and returned as instructed. The first brother who went north gave the diamond to the King and told him of his travels. The King blessed him for the wise and special care he took of the King's gift and gave him a position of authority and power over many more diamonds.

The brother who went south handed the king the diamond that was caked with dried blood and the filth of his travels. The King was angry and threw the evil brother into a deep dungeon and he was not allowed out until he could deliver the diamond back to him in its pristine form. The evil brother only had his tears to wash the diamond with, and he suffered for many, many years. Finally he was able to bring the diamond back to the King in its original form. The King forgave his servant but never trusted him again with another of his diamonds."

When the Master was finished, Chester just shook his head. "Was that supposed to make it easier to understand the soul. I'm more confused than ever."

The Master smiled and leaned forward. "We all have a soul that is like a diamond from the King. God is the King and we are the diamonds that can never be harmed or lost. Yet our deeds are carried with the diamond. As long as we do evil, our diamond is covered in its filth. Until we can clean our diamond completely, we are not allowed back in the Kings palace. Good Karma is like washing the diamond with pure water and bad karma is like the blood and mud. Bad karma causes suffering and good karma causes blessing. Even though we are all the same inside, our deeds are what make us different. Some have very dirty diamonds and some have very clean diamonds. Buddha learned how to clean his diamond completely by removing the lust, envy and hatred that covered his diamond. The truth that we are all part of God can be blocked by the illusion of separateness called the ego. Christ came down and died for our sins to clean our diamonds for us. But once we have cleaned the diamond with the blood of Christ, we must be very careful to not let it get dirty again. If we sin again we must ask Christ for help to clean it once more. All souls are identical but not all have the same baggage. Christ was one with the Father only because he wasn't deceived into thinking that he was separate from God. He never sinned and thus was never separate from the Father. Our sins separate us from God. He was righteous and perfect and never lost union with the Father. We are all one. This is why Christ said that he who gives a drink of water to one of his children in his name does so to Christ."

Chester stroked his chin. "Is this another one of those stories that the more you think about it the more it makes sense?"

The Master pushed back from the table and cocked his head in a half nod toward Chester, then left Chester to contemplate further the Parable of the King's Diamonds.

The wisdom of Sufism is unbounded. Sufi Masters have been using short stories to teach people important life lessons. In just a few paragraphs, the Sufis are able to convey messages that others can hardly do in hundreds of pages.

Here are some of my favorite Sufi stories:

The Fruit of Heaven There was once a woman who had heard of the Fruit of Heaven. She coveted it.

She asked a certain dervish, whom we shall call Sabar: ‘How can I find this fruit, so that I may attain to immediate knowledge?’

‘You would best be advised to study with me’, said the dervish. ‘But if you will not do so, you will have to travel resolutely and at times restlessly throughout the world.’

She left him and sought another, Arif the Wise One, and then found Hakim, the Sage, then Majzup the Mad, then Alim the Scientist, and many more……

She passed thirty years in her search. Finally she came to a garden. There stood the Tree of Heaven, and from its branches hung the bright Fruit of Heaven. Standing beside the Tree was Sabar, the First Dervish.

‘Why did you no tell me when we first met that you were the Custodian of the Fruit of Heaven?’ she asked him.

‘Because you would not then have believed me. Besides, the Tree produces fruit only once in thirty years and thirty days’.

Change the World Bayazid, a Sufi mystic, has written in his autobiography, “When I was young I thought and I said to God, and in all my prayers this was the base: ‘Give me energy so that I can change the whole world.’ Everybody looked wrong to me. I was a revolutionary and I wanted to change the face of the earth.

“When I became a little more mature I started praying: ‘This seems to be too much. Life is going out of my hands–almost half of my life is gone and I have not changed a single person, and the whole world is too much.’ So I said to God, ‘My family will be enough. Let me change my family.’

“And when I became old,” says Bayazid, “I realized that even the family is too much, and who am I to change them? Then I realized that if I can change myself that will be enough, more than enough. I prayed to God, ‘Now I have come to the right point. At least allow me to do this: I would like to change myself.’

“God replied, ‘Now there is no time left. This you should have asked in the beginning. Then there was a possibility.’”

The Sun and the Cave One day the sun and a cave struck up a conversation. The sun had trouble understanding what “dark” and “dank” meant and the cave didn’t quite get the hang of “light and clear” so they decided to change places. The cave went up to the sun and said, “Ah, I see, this is beyond wonderful. Now come down and see where I have been living.” The sun went down to the cave and said, “Gee, I don’t see any difference.”

The Dream A visitor came to a Chishti pir. This visitor wanted to demonstrate his own knowledge of the Qur’an and intended to overpower the Chishti pir in a debate. When he entered, the Chishti pir took the initiative however and mentioned Yusuf and the dreams he has had according to the Qur’an. He then suddenly turned to his visitor and asked him if he could tell him about a dream, so that the visitor may give his interpretation thereof. After receiving permission the Sufi told that he has had a dream and both of them were in it. The Chishti pir then went on by describing the following dream event: “I saw your hand immersed in a jar of honey, while my hand was immersed in the latrine”.

The visitor hastened to interpret: “It is quite obvious! You are immersed in wrong pursuits whereas I am leading a righteous life”.

“But’, the Sufi said, “there is more to the dream”. The visitor asked him to continue. The Chishti pir then went on by telling this: “You were licking my hand and I was licking yours”.

Identification is Misery Junaid was going through the market-place of the town with his disciples. And it was his way to take any situation and use it. A man was dragging his cow by a rope, and Junaid said ’Wait’ to the man, and told his disciples ’Surround this man and the cow. I am going to teach you something.’

The man stopped – Junaid was a famous mystic – and he was also interested in what he was going to teach these disciples and how he was going to use him and the cow. And Junaid asked his disciples ’I ask you one thing: who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or is this man bound to this cow?’ Of course, the disciples said ’The cow is bound to the man. The man is the master, he is holding the rope, the cow has to follow him wherever he goes. He is the master and the cow is the slave.’

And Junaid said ’Now, see.’ He took out his scissors and cut the rope – and the cow escaped.

The man ran after the cow, and Junaid said ’Now look what is happening! Now you see who is the master; the cow is not interested at all in this man – in fact, she is escaping.’ And the man was very angry, he said ’What kind of experiment is this?’ But Junaid said to his disciples ’And this is the case with your mind.

All the nonsense that you are carrying inside is not interested in you. You are interested in it, you are keeping it together somehow – you are becoming mad in keeping it together somehow. But you are interested IN it. The moment you lose interest, the moment you understand the futility of it, it will start disappearing; like the cow it will escape.’

The Path Towards God is Inwards A man has purchased a cow, and he was not accustomed to dealing with cows. So he was trying to drag the cow along holding the cow’s horns, and the cow was very resistant – obviously, this man was new. She wanted to go to her home, she wanted to go to her old owner.

A Sufi mystic was watching. He said to the man, ”It seems you are very new; you don’t know how to deal with cows. This is not the right way.”

The man said, ”What should I do, because I am not that strong. The cow is stronger; she is dragging me with her.”

The mystic gave him some beautiful green grass, and told him, ”Leave her horns. You take this grass and just move ahead of her. Keep the grass very close, but don’t allow her to eat it. As she moves towards the grass, you go on moving towards your home.” And it worked.

The cow came because the grass was so close and so green and so fresh. She forgot all about the owner; the immediate problem was how to get this grass. And it is so close, just hanging in front of your eyes. But the man went on moving slowly, the distance between the cow and the grass remained the same. And she entered into the house of the new owner, and he closed the door.

Religions have been hanging carrots in front of you. Those hopes are never fulfilled, they are hopeless, those promises are empty.

There is No Goal There is a story told by Sufis about a man who read that certain dervishes, on the orders of their Master, never touched meat and did not smoke. Since this tends to fit in with certain well-established beliefs, especially in the West, this man made his way to the ZAWIA — assembly place — of the illuminated ones, to sit at their feet. They were all over ninety years old.

Sure enough, there they were, not a spot of nicotine or shred of animal protein among them, and our hero gasped with delight as he sat drinking in the unpolluted air and tasting the bean-curd soup which they provided. He hoped that he would at least live to a hundred.

Suddenly one of them whispered, “Here comes the great Master!” And all stood up as the venerable sage came in. He smiled benignly and went into the house, heading for his quarters. He did not look a day over fifty.

“How old is he, and what does he eat?” asked the enraptured visitor.
“He is one hundred and fifty years old, and I don’t suppose any of us will reach that venerable age and station,” wheezed one of the ancients. “But, of course, he is allowed twenty cigars and three steaks a day, since he is now beyond being affected by frivolities and temptations!”

A Heap of Skulls There is a story about Bayazid, a Sufi mystic. He was passing through a cemetery and he came upon a heap of skulls. Out of curiosity he took one skull. He had always been of the thought that all skulls are almost the same, but they were not the same. There were a few skulls whose ears were joined together; there was a passage. There were a few skulls whose ears were not joined together; there was a barrier between the two. There were a few skulls both of whose ears were joined to the heart but not joined together; there was a passage running to the heart.

He was very surprised. He prayed and asked God, “What is the matter? What are you trying to reveal to me?” And it is said that he heard a voice. God said, “There are three types of people: one, who hear through one ear; it never reaches anywhere — in fact they don’t hear, just the sound vibrates and disappears. There is another type, who hear, but only momentarily — they hear through one ear, and through the other ear it is lost into the world again. There are a few souls, of course, who hear through the ears and it reaches to the heart.”

And God said, “Bayazid, I have brought you to this heap of skulls just to help you remember it when you are talking to people. Talk only to those who take whatsoever you say to their hearts — otherwise don’t waste your energy, and don’t waste your time. Your life is precious: you have a message to deliver.”

One day I also understood — not by going to a cemetery and coming across a heap, but by looking into alive people. There are three types; Bayazid is right. The story may be true or not; that is irrelevant. I looked into thousands of people, and I found that only a very few are there who will take the seed to the heart, who will become soil to it, who will absorb it. And others are just curiosity-mongers, just entertaining themselves. Maybe the entertainment is religious, but it is meaningless.

So here I don’t exist for the masses. Let it be known once and forever: I am not interested in the crowd, I am interested only in individuals. And you have to show your mettle.

The Banquet A poor man dressed in rags came to the palace to attend the banquet. Out of courtesy he was admitted but, because of his tattered clothing, he was seated at the very end of the banquet table. By the time the platters arrived at his seat, there was no food left on them.

So he left the banquet, returning several hours later dressed in robes and jewels he had borrowed from a wealthy friend. This time he was brought immediately to the head of the table and, with great ceremony, food was brought to his seat first.

“Oh, what delicious food I see being served upon my plate.” He rubbed one spoonful into his clothes for every one he ate.

A nobleman beside him, grimacing at the mess, inquired, “Sir, why are you rubbing food into your fine clothes?”

“Oh,” he replied with a chuckle, “Pardon me if my robes now look the worst. But it was these clothes that brought me all this food. It’s only fair that they be fed first!”

We Are Already God Rabiya, a great Sufi mystic, was passing…. It was the street she used to pass every day on her way to the marketplace, because in the marketplace she would go every day and shout the truth that she had attained. And for many days she had been watching a mystic, a well-known mystic, Hassan, sitting before the door of the mosque and praying to God, “God, open the door! Please open the door! Let me in!”

Rabiya could not tolerate it that day. Hassan was crying, tears were rolling down, and he was shouting again and again, “Open the door! Let me in! Why don’t you listen? Why don’t you hear my prayers?”

Every day she had laughed, whenever she had heard Hassan she had laughed, but it was too much today. Tears…and Hassan was really crying, weeping, crying his heart out. She went, she shook Hassan, and said, “Stop all this nonsense! The door is open — in fact you are already in!”

Hassan looked at Rabiya, and that moment became a moment of revelation. Looking into the eyes of Rabiya, he bowed down, touched her feet, and said, “You came in time; otherwise I would have called my whole life! For years I have been doing this — where have you been before? And I know you pass this street every day. You must have seen me crying, praying.”

Rabiya said, “Yes, but truth can only be said at a certain moment, in a certain space, in a certain context. I was waiting for the right, ripe moment. Today it has arrived; hence I came close to you. Yesterday if I had told you, you would have felt irritated; you may have even become angry. You may have reacted antagonistically; you may have told me, ‘You have disturbed my prayer!’ — and it is not right to disturb anybody’s prayer.”

Even the king is not allowed to disturb the prayer of a beggar. Even if a criminal, a murderer, is praying in Mohammedan countries, the police have to wait till he finishes his prayer, only then can he be caught. Prayer should not be disturbed.

Rabiya said, “I had wanted to tell you this, that ‘Hassan, don’t be a fool, the door is open — in fact, you are already in!’ But I had to wait for the right moment.

Sources:

1. Unknown
2. Hsin Hsin Ming: The Book of Nothing, by Osho
3. Unknown
4. Unknown
5. The Sun Rises in the Evening, by  Osho
6. God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth, by Osho
7. Be Still and Know, by Osho
8. The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol. 4, by Osho
9. Unknown
10. The Dhammapada, Vol 1, by Osho”

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