Go forward! Go forward! After sandalwood is the copper mine,
after that is the silver mine, and after that, gold, diamond…
A woodcutter used to collect wood from the forest and pass
his days in great misery. One day he was carrying thin pieces of wood on his
head, having cut them from the forest.
Suddenly, a passerby called out to him and said: “O man, go forward!”
The next day, the woodcutter followed the advice of that
passerby and having gone forward some distance, found a forest with thick wood.
He cut as much wood as he could, sold it in the market and made much more money
than the other days.
The next day, he thought to himself: “That person had asked
me to go forward. Well, why shouldn’t I go forward a bit further today?” He
went further ahead and found a sandalwood forest. He carried the sandalwood on his
head, sold it in the market and made much money.
The next day, he thought again: “He asked me to go forward.”
He went forward furthermore that day and found a copper mine. Not stopping at
that, he progressed further ahead every day, and eventually found silver, gold,
and diamond mines. He thus became very wealthy.
The spiritual path is similar. Keep moving forward.
– Sri Ramakrishna
– Sri Ramakrishna