musk deer: The true treasure

Mom Nature is all the time talking. She speaks in a language understood inside the peaceable thoughts of the honest observer. Leopards, cobras, monkeys, rivers and bushes, all of them served as my academics after I lived as a wanderer within the Himalayan foothills. The teachings they shared elevate the spirit.

One such illuminating lesson comes within the type of the Himalayan musk deer. The musk deer is referenced in Sanskrit poetry and philosophy owing to its peculiar behaviour. Prized for its distinctive aroma, musk is likely one of the world’s most costly pure merchandise, fetching greater than thrice its weight in gold.

When stag’s delicate nostril catches wind of the alluring aroma of musk, he roams the forest day and night time in pursuit of its supply. Exhausted, he by no means realises the bitter irony: the candy perfume he was chasing resided inside himself. Musk is produced by a gland within the stag’s personal navel: it was looking with out for what was mendacity inside.

The sages of India discovered within the musk deer an apt description of the human situation. We’re all pleasure-seeking creatures wandering a forest of some kind —replete with pleasures and perils alike. Furthermore, we’re susceptible to the identical form of folly because the deer: we search happiness externally.

The true treasure lies inside. It’s love. Love is the character of the Divine. It lies hidden beneath the protecting of the false ego. The aim of human life is to uncover that divine love. The fulfilment that we’re all in search of is discovered within the sharing of this love.