The Diamond of Wisdom Is by One’s Side

The Diamond of Wisdom Is by One’s Side

Xue Mo

Long ago, there was a rich man. He was very content with his vast grassland, where a river flowed and his family lived happily. One day, a friend of his came by. As he was flaunting his wealth in front of his friend, his friend told him that the total worth of his wealth was not as much as the value of a piece of diamond and that one genuine piece of diamond would allow all his sons to become kings. Then the rich man started to hunt everywhere for diamonds. In the end, he got nothing. Later, he plunged into the sea and killed himself. After his death, his son inherited the grassland. One day, when he was playing in the river, a piece of glittering stone got his attention. So he took it home. Several months later, the friend who had told his father the story of diamonds came by. As he entered the house, he caught sight of the glittering diamond immediately. “Aha! So, as it turned out, your father had found the diamond.” “No,” the son said. “My father did not find any.” The friend went on and said, “This is actually the best of the best diamond in the world.” Then, together they went to that stream and discovered that it was full of diamonds. As the rich man was painfully hunting for diamonds elsewhere, he did not realize that he was actually sitting on the largest diamond mine of the world. The genuine diamond was with him all the time, but nevertheless he looked elsewhere. In the end, he died without any diamond. This is a real story that took place in the world’s largest diamond mine, where many of the most well-known diamonds of the world were born. But due to his unsuccessful search, the owner of the diamond mine ended his life in agony.

Now there is another story from the novel The Alchemist. A boy lived in the neighborhood of a Spanish Cathedral. He dreamed twice that God asked him to look for treasure under an Egyptian pyramid. After the boy woke up, he felt that it was strange to have had the same dream twice. As a result, he went to inquire a wise man about that. The wise man told him, “Boy, when this kind of dream omen showed up in your childhood, God is telling you your calling. Do you know what a calling means? It is something you are destined to do in life.” “Son,” the wise man continued.  “Go and seek the treasure of your destiny.” So, the boy left the Spanish Cathedral. He went through intense heat, the scorching sun, and bitter cold, then crossed the desert, and at last arrived at the pyramid. While he was digging under the pyramid, a gang of robbers came. The robbers asked him, “What are you looking for? Are you burying gold?” The boy said, “I had a dream which God told me that there is treasure in this place.” The robber burst into loud laughter and said, “You are indeed a silly boy! I too had dreamed of something twice. In my dreams, God told me that there is treasure under the tree in the backyard of a cathedral in the Spanish Plain.” From the robber’s words, the boy immediately recognized that it was his hometown, because he often grazed the sheep in the neighborhood of the cathedral. So he returned to his hometown and found the treasure under the tree in the backyard of the cathedral.

The two stories are full of symbolic meaning. Why did the rich man of the first story fail to find the treasure? Because no one told him that it was at home all along. The boy of the second story found the treasure because someone told him that it was in his hometown. In other words, transcendence did not happen in the first story, whilst in the second story a certain level of transcendence has happened. What is transcendence? It is observing the world by jumping out of one’s own living environment. I am the boy who left his hometown to hunt painfully for the treasure elsewhere and who finally realized that the treasure was right at his hometown.

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智慧钻石就在自己身边

雪漠

有一个故事是这样的，很久以前有一个富翁，他非常知足。因为，他有辽阔的草原，草原上有河流，他的家人非常的幸福。有一天，来了一个朋友，当他把自己的财富展示给这位朋友看的时候。朋友告诉他，你的这些财富虽然非常之多，但是所有的财富加起来，不如一粒钻石。然后，这个朋友告诉他，要是你能拥有一粒真正的钻石的话，那么就可以让你所有的儿子当上国王。于是，这个富翁开始去寻找钻石。他跑遍了他能到达的所有地方。结果发现，他找不到什么钻石。后来，他跳入大海自杀了。他死后，他的儿子继承了这块草原。

有一天，他的儿子在草原上的河流中玩耍的时候，突然发现河水中有金光闪闪的东西，他一看是块石头。于是，他的儿子就把这块石头捡了起来放在家中。几个月之后，以前告诉他父亲钻石故事的那个朋友来了。他一进家中，便发现了金光闪闪的钻石。他说，哎呀！原来你的父亲已经找到了钻石。富翁的儿子告诉他，不，我的父亲没有找到钻石。那个朋友说这就是世界上最好最好的钻石。然后，他们一块儿到那个小河中。结果发现，小河里到处都是钻石。那个寻找钻石的富翁，他其实并不知道，他苦苦地向外界寻找钻石的时候，自己正呆在一个世界上最大的钻石矿上。真正的钻石就在他自己的身边，但是他却向外面寻找，后来死了。他没有得到钻石。这是一个真实的故事，这个故事就发生在世界最大的钻石矿上。这个钻石矿上诞生了世界上许许多多的最有名的钻石，但他的主人却曾经因为寻找不到钻石，而痛苦地自杀了。

现在讲另外一个故事。有一本小说叫《炼金术士》。有一个在西班牙大教堂附近生活的孩子，两次做了同一个梦。他梦到上帝告诉他，在埃及金字塔下，有一个宝藏，里面藏着无数的珍宝，要他去寻找。孩子醒来之后，觉得两次做了同样的梦是很奇怪的。于是，他就去寻问一个智者。智者告诉他，孩子，当你童年时出现这种梦兆的时候，等于上帝在告诉你，你的天命是什么。什么是天命呢？你命运中注定应当做的事情。智者告诉他，孩子，去吧，寻找你命运的宝藏。于是，这个孩子，走出了西班牙大教堂，经历了酷暑、烈日、严寒、越过了沙漠，到了金字塔下。当他正在梦中的金字塔下某个地方挖掘财宝的时候，来了一群强盗。强盗问他，你在寻找什么东西？是不是在埋金子？这个孩子告诉强盗说，我做过一个梦，梦到上帝告诉我，这个地方有财宝。这个强盗哈哈大笑说，你真是个愚蠢的孩子。我也两次做过同样一个梦，梦到上帝告诉我，在西班牙原野上有一个大教堂，大教堂后院里有一颗树，树下埋着宝藏。于是这个孩子，马上从强盗的话中，听出这个地方正是他的家乡。平时，他经常在这个教堂边放羊。于是他回到家乡，就在那个大教堂后面的一颗树下找到了宝藏。

这两个故事非常有象征意义。第一个故事中的那个富翁，为什么没有找到宝藏？因为，没有人告诉他宝藏就在自己的家中。第二个故事里的那个孩子，之所以能够找到宝藏，就在于有一个人告诉他这个宝藏在自己的家乡。换句话说，第一个故事没有完成超越，第二个故事完成了一种超越。什么是超越？跳出自己的生存环境来观照这个世界。我，就是那个孩子。我离开了家乡，到外面去苦苦地寻找宝藏。最后，终于发现宝藏就在我的家乡。

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