Children, three things are essential in life: knowledge, health and wealth. Many of us believe that if we are wealthy, we have everything. But what if we lose our health? We do not appreciate the value of health until we become ill.
Knowledge is even more important than the other two. Even if we have health and wealth, without knowledge we will think and act indiscriminately, and this can ruin us.
Suppose we are the Prime Minister of a country. One careless word is all it might take to lose our position. An uprising might break out, causing thousands to lose their lives. Therefore, wisdom is of paramount importance. Even when life becomes full of suffering, we can face every challenge with confidence if we have true knowledge.
Once, there was a righteous king who loved and protected all his subjects like his own children. His virtues endeared him to his subjects, who revered him as if he were God. His fame spread in all directions.
The neighbouring kings became jealous, and they jointly conspired to destroy him. They bribed the king’s minister, promised him position and power, and thus bought him.
With his help, they launched a sudden and swift attack on the kingdom and captured the king. He was not given any special consideration but thrown into an ordinary jail with other prisoners.
But even there, the king remained joyful, without any sign of distress. Seeing this, the enemy kings became disheartened and asked him, “Even though you have lost your power and wealth and are languishing in prison, you don’t seem affected at all. Why?”
The king said, “You can defeat me in battle, imprison me, and torment me physically. But I am free to decide whether I want to be sad or happy. I have gained the highest knowledge, which makes even intense sorrow insignificant. I know who I am and I know the nature of the world. Knowing this, I have brought my mind completely under my control. You can do nothing to me.”
No matter how much physical health, wealth or education one has, only spiritual wisdom can bring true happiness. We need to purify the mind, make it one-pointed, and destroy ignorance to see this truth.
Just as a dusty mirror does not reflect our image properly, an impure mind cannot fully reflect the light of the Self. Our tendency is to become like a judge when it comes to others’ flaws, but to argue like a lawyer when it comes to our own. Instead, we should try to correct our faults, just as we look into a mirror to try to make our face as beautiful as possible.
Similarly, we should have the wisdom to see our inner tendencies and focus our mind on changing ourselves first. We must reach the experience of the eternal truth within to be able to witness the nature of the world without. Once we have gained this knowledge, we will be able to overcome any circumstance.