Once u‮op‬n a time, there was a man who fell into a drunken sleep while far from home with a friend. His friend stayed by him as long as he could, but being compelled to go on, and fearing that his drunken friend might have difficulty finding his way, this man hid a valuable jewel in his drunken friend’s garment.

When the man recovered, not realizing that his friend had hidden a precious jewel in his garment, he wandered in poverty and hunger from place to place trying to find his way home for a long time.

Many years after they parted, the poor man met his friend again. After hearing his many stories of woe, the friend told him about the je‮ew‬l which had been in his garment all along.

Like the drunken man of the story, so many of us wander about suffering in this life, unconscious of what is hidden away deep inside of us, pure and untarnished—the priceless treasure of divine nature.