There is an instructive story from Leo Tolstoy. There was a peasant in Russia who owned a small plot of land. He led a life of peace and contentment until one day he began to envy his brother-in-law who was a rich landlord. He watched as his brother-in-law bought more and more land and had more and more tenants. The more prosperous he grew, the more the peasant began desiring to do the same. He started saving his money to buy some land. When the peasant had raised enough capital, he started looking for land to buy. He heard there was some cheap land in a neighbouring territory. When he travelled to see the land, he found that the people living on it lived a nomadic life.

The peasant brought some gifts for the chief in charge of that territory. The chief thanked him for the gifts and said he could have as much land as he could walk around before sunset. The agreement was that he starts out in the morning and whatever distance he could walk by sunset, the peasant could keep the land. The peasant was overjoyed at the possibility of owning such a great amount of land. The villagers gathered to watch his race against time. He started out walking extremely fast so he could cover more ground. When the sun was high in the sky it became extremely hot. But the peasant did not want to waste time stopping for food and water. He thought if he kept going, he would get more land. The peasant was trying to cover the largest area he could by walking in a large circle, which ended up being a long distance. His legs grew more and more tired, but he refused to take any rest. Finally, the sun was about to set. The crowd began to applaud his victory. As he returned to the starting point, exhaustion and thirst overcame him to the point that he collapsed. Before the crowd realized what had transpired, he had died of exhaustion and thirst. Sadly, the people prepared for his funeral. They buried him on the same spot on which he collapsed. Thus, the only land he needed was the six feet by four feet of land in which his body would be buried. This sad story of greed is not much different from the lives of many of us. What do we do? We spend our lives in a rat race to make as much money as we can, accumulate as much property and possessions as we can, or gain as much power as we can, only to find the race ends at time of our death. Few people find contentment and peace in their lives. People think a time will come when they will finally have enough so they can sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour. But most end up leaving the world before they can find such peace. The peasant was content until he began to envy what others had. Then he began a race that ended in his demise. Before we know the whistle blows and the race ends before contentment. If we can be still and tap within, we will find riches far greater than any available on earth. We do not need to exert to find them. We can go about our daily life, earning our honest livelihood, providing for our families, and making enough to share with others, and still enjoy the peace and contentment within ourselves. We need not sacrifice that inner peace in the pursuit of outer riches which may or may not come, or which may or may not provide the happiness we think it will give us. The peasant did not take even a moment for rest and drink. Similarly, do we take moments in our lives for spiritual retreat, rest, and a drink from the fountain of Light within us? There is a fountainhead of bliss, love, and peace within us. Do we ever take a moment to stop and drink from it?
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