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Once upon a time, a Master gave his disciple an uncut jewel stone. “Take it to the cheapest jewelry store in town, and try to sell it. Do not actually sell it and don’t say where you got it, just ask the price. Then come back and tell me.”

Puzzled, the disciple took the stone to a cut-rate jewelry store. Did the Master need money? He went in the dirty shop and showed it to the salesman. “Worthless!” He exclaimed, “A phony stone if I ever saw one. Don’t even bother trying to sell it; it’s not worth a dime.”

Thanking the salesman for his time, the disciple returned to his Master and reported the response. “Good,” replied the Master, “Now take it to a mid-priced store and ask the same thing.” Now convinced the Master was up to something, the disciple went to a clean jewelry store in a nicer section of town.

When the jeweler saw the stone, he began asking many questions. Not getting a response from the disciple, he became agitated. “Well, if you won’t tell me where you got the stone, I can hardly make an offer. What if it’s stolen?”

The disciple, a simple yet honest man, replied, “I assure you it is not stolen. Its owner just wanted me to make some discreet inquiries to its value. The stone is not actually for sale.” The jeweler relaxed and quoted a rather low figure, and the disciple thanked him and left.

When the disciple reported what had occurred, the Master smiled. “Now, we are getting someplace. Take the stone to the most expensive shop in town and ask the same question.” Obediently, the disciple went to the most upscale shop in the toniest part of town, and asked the manager to price the stone.

First the gemologist carefully examined the stone for some time with a jeweler’s loupe. Then he put it under a special light and examined the interior reflections. Next, he made a very small scratch with the stone on a special black emery stone. After examining it with a microscope and looking in several reference books, the gemologist fixed the disciple with an intent stare and inquired, “Where did you get this stone?”

The disciple answered, “I am not at liberty to disclose that fact. The stone is not for sale; the owner just wants to price it. What is the value?”

The gemologist took a deep breath. Then he said, “This one stone is worth more than all the gemstones in my shop together. I must purchase this stone. If I cut and polish it, it can be sold in the international auction and make us all fabulously wealthy. Please return to the owner and beg him to allow me to become his business partner and market this wonderful stone. This is the opportunity of a lifetime!”

Amazed, the disciple carefully put the stone in his pocket and returned it to the Master. After narrating everything that had taken place, the disciple inquired, “At first I wondered if you needed money. But everything you do and say is fraught with deep meaning. Surely there must be some spiritual purpose in all this.”

The Master smiled and nodded. “Indeed there is. In fact this stone is very rare and valuable. One stone like this is more valuable than hundreds and thousands of ordinary stones. But who can appreciate its value? Not the salesman in the cheapest store: he thought it was a worthless fake. Not the jeweler in the mid-priced store: he thought it was an ordinary stone and suspected you of stealing.

“Only the professional gemologist at the most expensive store in town could understand the stone’s real value and respond appropriately, because he had the education and experience to evaluate it properly. Others could not.

“The same is true of the Supreme Absolute Truth. The Supreme Absolute Truth is the most valuable thing in the world. In fact, it is more valuable than the whole material world. But when an ignorant and foolish person stumbles across it, he mistakenly thinks that it is some kind of false deception, and therefore it has no value.

“A person of average intelligence considers the Supreme Absolute Truth to be an ordinary religion, and therefore an invention of human origin, no more and no less.

“But when a truly intelligent person discovers the Supreme Absolute Truth, he realizes its infinite transcendental value. He is willing to pay any price to purchase it without delay, because he can understand that it is more valuable than anything in the world.”

Next: Event Horizon