"This is a story of a guy who is moving out of his village in India, and he sees what we in India call a sannyasi. The sannyasi is the wandering mendicant. This is the person who, having attained enlightenment, understands that the whole world is his home and the sky is his roof, and God is his father and will look after him, so he moves from place to place the way you and I would move from one room of our home to another.
"Here was this wandering sannyasi, and the villager, when he meets him, says, 'I cannot believe this.'
"And the sannyasi says, 'What is it you cannot believe?'
"And the villager says, 'I had a dream about you last night. I dreamt that the Lord Vishnu said to me, "Tomorrow morning, you will leave the village around 11 o'clock, and you'll run into this wandering sannyasi." And here, I've met you.'
" 'What else did the Lord Vishnu say to you?' asks the sannyasi.
"And the man replies, 'He said to me, "If the man gives you a precious stone he has, you will be the richest man in the whole world." Would you give me the stone?'
"So the sannyasi says, 'Wait a minute.' He rummages in his little knapsack that he had. He asks, 'Would this be the stone you're talking about?' And the man couldn't believe his eyes because it was a diamond — the largest diamond in the world.
"He holds the diamond in his hands and he asks, 'Could I have this?'
"And the sannyasi says, 'Of course, you could take it. I found it in a forest. You're welcome to it.' And he goes on, and sits under a tree on the outskirts of the village. The man grasps this diamond, and how great is his joy.
"This is the way our joy feels, isn't it, the day we get something we really want? Do you ever stop to ask how long it lasts? You got the girl you wanted, right? You got the boy you wanted, right? You got that car, huh? You got the degree. You were first in your university class. How long does the joy last? Let's measure it. I mean that. How many seconds? How many minutes? You get tired of it, don't you? Then you are looking for something else, aren't you?
"Why don't we study this? It is more valuable than studying the scriptures — because what good is it to you to study the scriptures and crucify the Messiah on the basis of them, as Jesus was, if you've not understood this? If you've not understood what it means to live, and to be free, and to be spiritual?
"So, the guy has the diamond. And then instead of going home, he sits under a tree, and all day he sits, immersed in thought. And toward evening, he goes to the tree where the sannyasi is sitting, gives him back the diamond, and says, 'Could you do me a favor?' 'What?' says the sannyasi.
" 'Could you give me the riches that make it possible for you to give this thing away so easily?' "
