POWER OF NOW

A beggar had been sitting by the side of a
road for over thirty years. One day a
stranger walked by.
“Spare some change?” mumbled the beggar,
mechanically holding out his old baseball
cap.
“I have nothing to give you,” said the
stranger. Then he asked: “What’s that you
are sitting on?”
“Nothing,” replied the beggar, “Just a box. I
have been sitting on it for as long as I can
remember.”
“Ever looked inside?”
“No,” said the beggar. “What’s the point?
There is nothing in there.”
“Have a look inside,” insisted the stranger.
The beggar managed to pry open the lid.
With astonishment, disbelief and elation,
he saw that the box was filled with gold.
I am that stranger who has nothing to give
you and who is telling you to look inside.
Not inside a box, as in the parable, but
somewhere even closer: inside yourself.
“But I am not a beggar,” I can hear you
say.
Those who have not found their true
wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being
and the deep, unshakable peace that
comes with it, are beggars.
They are looking outside for scraps of
pleasure or fulfillment, for validation,
security, or love, while they have a
treasure within that not only includes all
those things but is infinitely greater than
anything the World can offer.
-Eckhart Tolle-
( From his book the POWER OF NOW)