The Oasis

Sometimes when I sleep, I dream that I’m talking to people. Here is one story that I dreamt recently: There was a man who bought a house, and he realized there was a serious shortage of water. So he did some research and found a place to dig for water. He bought a spade and started digging, but it was very hot and difficult. One day, it reached the apex. He had been working in the heat, and he was so thirsty that he realized if he didn’t get water soon, he would die. So he started yelling, “Water, water, water.”

Somebody heard him, came to him, and said, “Come with me. I will take you to water.”  Then that person took him by the hand behind his house and around the nearby mountain, and there was a huge river flowing with beautiful, clear water. When the man saw the water, he jumped into the river. He cooled himself, drank the water, and was content. Then he came out, thanked the person who had helped him, went back to his house, picked up the spade, and continued digging his well.

The river was not that far from his house. After he found the river, he didn’t need a well, but he was so into digging that it became more important than finding the water itself. So much time and energy had been put into it that, even after finding water, he kept digging.

My experience says that if I have discovered a river, I don’t need to dig a well. The river is much more beautiful. Maybe I didn’t know that there was a river so close, and I didn’t create that river, but somebody helped me discover it.

Like that river, there is a joy that is the same for everyone—the real joy. The real joy is not about accomplishments. The real joy is about discovering the peace within your own self. Find the river within you. Find the joy within you.

You might say, “I don’t think there is anything within me; it’s all outside.” What about the people who for centuries have been saying, “What you are looking for is inside of you”?

Maybe you’re digging the well, and you are hot. All I am saying is there is a river in your backyard. Would you really say, “River or no river, I’m going to dig this well. I have a spade, and I have already spent so much time on this. I can’t stop now.”

Our lives have been what they have been. In a desert, there is sand everywhere, but there are also incredibly beautiful flowers waiting for rain to come. Then it will become an oasis. Maybe in our lives all we have seen is sand, but let the rain of understanding come and turn this desert into an oasis. Let the seeds germinate that have been waiting and waiting.

Make your own decision how important peace is to you, how important it is to be fulfilled. This is a process of discovery. You can’t say to a thirsty person, “But you’ve just had water.” Not unless he’s actually had water can he feel satisfied. It is the same way for you.

There is a wonderful possibility within you—not in a book or on a mountaintop, but within you. Discover that possibility, be fulfilled, and enjoy this existence. Learn while you can learn. Grow because you want to grow. And feel peace because you want to feel peace.

If you want that, I can make it possible. This is what I do. I know peace is possible. Why? Because it resides within you.