The Diamond in Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance

Gangaji
Gangaji is an American-born spiritual teacher dedicated to sharing the path of freedom through simple and direct self-inquiry, as taught by the legendary sage Sri Ramana Maharshi of India. In 1990, Gangaji (then Antoinette Roberson Varner) entered this lineage through Sri H.W.L. Poonjaji. Since that time, she has traveled the world, holding gatherings and retreats with spiritual seekers of all faiths.

There is a story my teacher liked to tell about a consummate diamond thief who sought to steal only the most exquisite of gems. This thief would hang around the diamond district to see who was purchasing a gem, so that later he could pick their pocket.

One day he saw a well-known diamond merchant purchase the jewel he had been waiting for all his life. It was the most beautiful, the most pristine, the purest of diamonds. He was very excited, and so he followed the diamond merchant as he boarded the train, getting into the same compartment. He spent a three-day journey trying to pick the merchant's pocket and obtain the diamoond. When the end of the journey came and he hadn't found the gem, he was very frustrated. He was an accomplished thief, and although he had emplyed all his skills, he still was not able to steal this rare and precious jewel.

When the diamond merchant got off the train, the pickpocket followed him once again. Finally, he just couldn't stand it any more, and he walked up to the merchant and said, "Sir, I am a renowned diamond thief. I saw you purchase that beautiful diamond, so I followed you onto the train. Though I used all the skills of my art, which have been perfected over many years, I was not able to find the gem. I must know your secret. Tell me, please, how did you hide it from me?

The diamond merchant replied, "Well, I saw you watching me in the diamond district, and I suspected you were a pickpocket. So I hid the diamond where I thought you would be least likely to look for it - in your own pocket!" He then reached into the thief's pocket and pulled out the diamond.

The treasure that I invite you to receive, that I will continually be pointing to throughout this book, is in your pocket right now, the pocket of your heart. The heart that I speak of is even closer to you than your emotional heart. It is the heart that is the core of your being. Ant step to go somewhere to find it it implies that it is not already right here where you are. Simply see the radiant bounty of your true nature, accept that bounty, and then you will share that bounty quite naturally.