I first heard this ancient fable from Tara Brach . Perhaps you have heard some version of it before? Here it is….

There was this gifted thief who like to hang around the Diamond District. One day he saw a man purchase the most beautiful, clear, luminous diamond in all of the district. Naturally, he followed this man as he got onto the train. As they traveled along, the gifted thief used all of his skills to rob this man of his diamond. Nothing worked. As the mans stop approached, the thief couldn’t take it anymore, so he stopped the man and introduced himself. He said, “excuse me sir, you may not know this but I am the most gifted thief in all of the land. I know you purchased the most beautiful, clear, wonderful diamond today and I have been trying to rob you of it to no avail. This has never happened to me! I am always successful! Please tell me where you hid it.” The man said, "I know exactly who you are and I saw you following me, so I hid the diamond where I knew you would never look.” The thief said, “please tell me and I will leave you alone.” The man said, “I put it in your pocket.”

What we are looking for we already have. It’s a lot closer than we think, and, it costs nothing! I have found the way to connect with this is to get really comfortable with being quiet and still for a short period of time each day. From this place of quiet, stillness, prayer, divine oneness, open consciousness, heaven, connection with God, love- whatever you want to call it- we can align to what it is we were put here on earth to do. We are all divine beings placed here to fulfill our potential. This potential can be scary if we let it, or we can just surrender to love and trust that all is well.