Every one of you is a prince or princess of the universe. You have forgotten this and therefore you feel frustrated again and again, you feel depressed and dejected. You are not aware of your true self for you are enclosed within a shell of ignorance. Break the shell and you too will know. You too will experience the life of a prince, a life of freedom and fulfilment
I well remember how one day a man came to Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani and said to him, 'I am an utter failure. I have suffered a nervous breakdown. I am suffering from an internal incurable disease. I have lost my job, my house is sold out, my furniture and belongings are mortgaged. My friends and relatives have deserted me, I have lost everything in life.' And to him Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani said, 'You say that you have lost everything. You have not lost everything, you have but lost the things that come and go, you have but lost the things, which the world gives, and the world takes away. Within you is the power that can heal any internal disease. And within you is the treasure that can deliver you from any financial crisis. Within you is a tremendous power. Trust it and though the heavens fall yet it will deliver you, it can never fail in delivering you.'
Within every one of us is the power of our greater self, but we are unaware of it. We spend so much of our energy telling ourselves we are not doing good enough, we have very little time and energy left to look inside and discover our true potential.
There is a beautiful story told us in the ancient books, of a king's son. He is only three years old when the king decides to send him away to a far off city. The father wants the prince to rub shoulders with the common man so that he may be acquainted with their struggles and their strivings, so that he may know the troubles and tribulations through which they have to pass. A nurse is put in charge of a prince who takes him to a far off city. There he studies in a school. He grows in years and has finished his education. And now he is asked to earn his own livelihood. He has to face the struggles of life; he earns his livelihood to pay for his food, to pay for his lodging, to pay for his other expenses. He comes in contact with some friends, who take him to the nightclub. There he experiences the excitement of life in nightclubs, he gambles, he drinks and he has affairs with many girls. Gradually, he becomes a habitual gambler. Almost every day he returns home very late at night and now he appears to be frustrated with life, this life which is sunk in pleasure.
“You are not aware of your true self for you are enclosed within a shell of ignorance. Break the shell and you too will know. You too will experience the life of a prince, a life of freedom and fulfilment”
One night he returns very late; he sits outside the door of his house out in the cold. In his hands, is a knife. He is about to pierce it in his chest when the nurse who is watching him from the window quietly opens the door, comes and meets him and says to him, 'You are late again.' And this man says, 'Yes, I am late again, I did not wish to disturb you at this late hour.' And after sometime the young man adds, 'I am frustrated with life. I find that life has no meaning. I find that life has no significance why should I not end this life?'
The nurse places her hands on his shoulders, she looks straight into his eyes and says to him, 'If only you knew who you are, you would not be the man that you have become.' And in sheer astonishment this young man asks, 'Who am I?' And the nurse says to him, 'You are the future king of our country.' 'A king! How may that be?' And the nurse reveals to him his true identity. When he hears that, the royal element within him is awakened. He goes to the woods and lives there in solitude for a week. When he returns, he says to the nurse, 'I want to go to my father and thank him for having given me this wonderful experience.' It was a bright sunny day when the father and the son, when the king and the prince met together on the steps of the palace amidst rejoicing and music.
Every one of you is a prince, every one of you is a son of the king, the king of the universe. You have forgotten this and therefore you feel frustrated again and again, you feel depressed and dejected. You are not aware of your true self for you are enclosed within a shell of ignorance. Break the shell and you too will know. You too will experience the life of a prince, a life of freedom and fulfilment.
by Dada J P Vaswani
